The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Gary Bowne knows he's lucky to be alive. And he knows that his luck was given a big assist by the Sisters EMTs who first got to the scene of his 2011 accident.

Bowne was hit by a car on the McKenzie Highway near Sisters High School.

"I remember no details of the accident as I was knocked out when my head hit the top of the car while my back broke the windshield," Bowne noted in a letter to Sisters paramedics.

The Sisters teacher recently visited the Sisters Fire Hall to personally thank paramedics.

"First-responders from Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire and Rescue got me off the site quickly to an AirLife helicopter. I was flown to the emergency room at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. An excellent neuro-surgical team removed half my cranium to treat massive head trauma and bleeding from the right side of my brain. No one expected me to survive. I was told later, If not for the efficiency of the EMTs from Sisters, I would have most likely been pronounced dead at the scene."

Instead, Bowne was in the hospital for five weeks. His recovery is ongoing, involving regular physical, occupational, speech and psycho-therapy sessions.

His recovery has been remarkable.

"After about six months of rehab, my right optic nerves healed," he said. "I passed a battery of tests for eye-sight, hand-eye coordination, physical response time, brain function and motor skills. The Rehab Medical Team released me to drive under the condition I take some drivers-ed classes and the driver's test with Oregon DMV, which I successfully completed. I immediately drove to SHS to help my students with their production of Peter Pan!

It was important to Bowne to impart a message to the first-responders: "You are all heroes to me and my family! Your teamwork, commitment to excellence and service to the Sisters-Camp Sherman communities is immeasurable. Thank you for saving me and affirming the sweetness and purity of life."