By Patrick Tepoorten

Recovering from tragedy can bring out the worst in anyone; it can also bring out the best. Locally, two people have been recovering from almost unspeakable tragedies. But Susan Anderson and Nancy Swanson are using the strengths they possess within to bring out the best in themselves, and others.

Swanson celebrated her 45th birthday earlier this month. When she looks back on her 44th year, it would be easy to wish it never happened. She was badly injured in a car accident on the morning of Dec. 28, 2006, in North Branch. Her car was so badly damaged she had to be extricated, and her injuries were extensive: a crushed right foot, ankle, and knee; broken ribs; a punctured lung; fractured hip, pelvis, and arm; a broken neck; and a nine-inch laceration to her head. Doctors were unsure if she was going to make it at first.

Not only did Swanson make it, six months later, and despite being in the middle of excruciating physical therapy, she is as upbeat as ever, focusing on the positive.

"I'm vertical," she said with great excitement last Thursday. "My foot is still really a mess, and my big toe is messed up, it took a ‘whoopin'.' But I can get up and walk around my apartment."

Swanson still has surgeries to go, mostly to improve mobility in badly damaged limbs, but she said she can finally begin to see the end of the painful process designed to regain as much functionality as possible.

"Things will never be normal for me," she admitted, but Swanson doesn't focus on that too much. Instead she focuses on having made it to her birthday, the expected arrival of a grandchild, and - most of all - being able to return to work.

"I'm going stir crazy, climbing the walls," she said, and added that she misses deeply the interaction with people. RiverBank in Wyoming, which Swanson referred to as "awesome" has been keeping a place for her, and she hopes to return, at least for a few hours a week, by the end of August.

So how does a person who has suffered so much adversity maintain such a positive attitude and cheery disposition during what is arguably the darkest period in her life? In a word, "faith."

Swanson admits to having her faith challenged greatly in recent months, and once even indicated to her mother that she would have been better off had God not spared her.

"Mom let me have it with both barrels," said Swanson, who was reminded by her mother of all the people whose lives would be emptied without her presence. "That really got to me," she noted, "that it's not all about me."

Now, despite her challenges, she is facing her recovery knowing that whether she understands it or not, it is part of God's plan. "There are a lot of points we don't get as humans. Sometimes life just has to slow down."

In having her own life slowed, Swanson has gained a much deeper appreciation for what is important. "No one at your funeral talks about what a great house you had. At the end of your life it's about how well you cared for people. That message is loud and clear to me."

It's uphill for Swanson, like it has been, like it will be for some time to come. But that's no reason to be glum. "It's not that I don't have days," she said. "But you got to make a choice. I have to live my life. That's just who I am."

If Swanson derives strength from faith and family, Susan Anderson, 10, of North Branch, gets it from her youth and vitality.

Anderson was badly burned in May of 2006, when the cabin she was staying in with father, Mark, exploded. She suffered severe burns to her shins, arms, hands, buttocks, and torso. Even with such injuries, Anderson's primary concern to first responders was that they take care of her father.

After the explosion, Anderson suffered through skin grafts that required the use of every inch of unburned skin on her body, daily bandage changes, pressure garments, and over a year of almost constant physical therapy to regain mobility in her limbs.

Today, the recovery goes on for Anderson, but is far less intensive than it has been in the past year. The day in, day out grind of physical therapy is mostly over, but not quite. She had surgery recently to repair a skin graft on her hand that had shrunk, and receives therapy to improve mobility. She wears the pressure garments only occasionally now, when steroid shots to reduce scar tissue necessitate them.

Her face and neck have made a complete recovery, she returned to school before summer vacation, and is currently spending a good deal of her time out in the yard, where a kid her age belongs.

While there is certainly damage to her tiny frame, what most people notice these days about Anderson is not how she has changed, but how she has not.

"People remark that it's still the same Susan," said Anderson's grandfather Woody Walters, who added that she is as popular with friends as ever, and has gained some notoriety for the challenges she has faced. "People seek her out," said Walters.

When asked if he thought his granddaughter was the "same happy kid" as she was before the explosion, Walters responded, "Absolutely. Her smile is ear to ear."

Clearly proud of her, Walters talked at length about how Anderson is maturing and handling the curve balls thrown her way. "She has handled this episode so well," he said and attributed much of that to her youth and energy.

Anderson still has limitations. Her very sensitive skin keeps her out of the sun, and her goal of spending a day at a water park has yet to be realized due to the recent surgery, but she's working on it, and Walters said the family is "blessed" she has come as far as she has.

"She hasn't reached the top yet but she's on the way," he said.

Comment from Cele Schoeberl, 7/13/07

Awesome article. I think Swanson hit the nail right on the head.....life is not all about us!

It's nice to read positive things.