OGDENSBURG – A Colton woman who broke her back and neck in a car accident and who didn’t think she would survive has begun walking again and wants to show her doctor he was wrong.

“I am looking forward to the day that I will be able to walk up to that doctor in Burlington who told me I would never walk again and show him that he was wrong,” said Connie Bates.

Last October she was out running errands when the brakes on her car failed and it flipped.

Bates broke her back in three places, broke her neck in two places and sustained a head injury. The jaws of life were used to separate Bates from her vehicle and she was transported to Canton-Potsdam Hospital. She was later airlifted to Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont where she underwent three surgeries.

“I didn’t think that I would survive,” recalls Bates. “I had to have my back fused, my neck fused, and my skull fused to my neck. The doctor told me that I was paralyzed from the neck down and would never be able to walk or take care of myself again.”

For a person who was has provided daycare services to over 400 children in 35 years, this prognosis was unacceptable. “I did not give up hope and started moving my arms and legs a little bit while in Burlington,” said Bates. “I then decided that I would like to go back to St. Lawrence County for therapy so that I could be closer to my family.”

Bates began her inpatient services at RiverLedge Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in January and is steadily making progress, according to RiverLedge officials.

“Angel Sharlow and I have had the privilege of working with Connie consistently since her admission to RiverLedge,” said Physical Therapist Assistant Tammy L. Rupert. “Connie truly is an amazing person and has the motivation to regain as much function as possible. The amount of strength and will it takes to come as far as she has is tremendous. We are so glad we have had the opportunity to assist Connie with her therapy.”

Through determination and perseverance, Bates can now walk 14 feet with assistance. “The therapy department at RiverLedge maintains the same optimistic approach that I do,” Bates said. “They are very encouraging and hopeful that I will reach my personal goal of being able to walk again.”

United Helpers offers subacute rehabilitation at its RiverLedge Campus in Ogdensburg and Maplewood Campus in Canton.

Info: 393-0730 for RiverLedge Campus and 386-4541 for Maplewood Campus. RiverLedge and Maplewood Campus are members of the United Helpers family of services.