Hero who lost legs looks forward to coming home

Posted 6/29/00

By KATE STEVENSONReporter Three months and hundreds of hours of grueling physical therapy later, Dean Johnson will return home to his family tomorrow.His life has taken a detour, following a devastating accident on the New York Thruway outside of …

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Hero who lost legs looks forward to coming home

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By KATE STEVENSONReporter Three months and hundreds of hours of grueling physical therapy later, Dean Johnson will return home to his family tomorrow.His life has taken a detour, following a devastating accident on the New York Thruway outside of Albany April 9, but he is now eager to move on. He had stopped his pickup truck in the midst a freak spring snowstorm to help a car that had spun out and was stuck in the passing lane facing oncoming traffic—the third car he had stopped to help that day. But when he returned to his own vehicle to look for flares, he looked up into the mirror to see a truck barreling towards him. Dean decided to try to make a run for it. The semi jack-knifed before it struck his pickup truck, and Dean was trapped against the guardrail, both of his legs crushed."Ever see those Bugs Bunny cartoons and Wile E. Coyote goes off the cliff and holds a sign that says "Oh sh—' or something? I was thinking about holding up a little sign before the truck saying "Oh sh—," he joked.Dean, a communications specialist in the Army who had returned from Bosnia only a month before the accident, had to have both of his legs amputated below the knee and has been rehabilitating at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C., since mid-April. Undertaking an intensive physical therapy routine that has him exercising for several hours per day, Dean said his days have been sometimes monotonous. "Day in, day out, same thing," he said. "Every once in a while I go to the mall. That's a big deal now."But his grandmother, Jean Johnson, has been "awesome," he said. She has been by his side since day one, only occasionally leaving to go home for a few days.Once he returns home Friday, he will live with his uncle, Lenny Johnson, in Warwick but hopes to move out on his own in about a year."But right now it's best if I live with somebody," Dean said.Lenny was in the midst of a building project Wednesday afternoon, in anticipation of his nephew's arrival."I put a new bathroom in for him," he said. "I put a handicapped shower and everything for him in there."Dean's room will be in the downstairs of the house where he will live with Lenny and his family."It's tragic in a way," Lenny said of the accident. "But he's taking it very well. He's still got a sense of humor about it. He jokes about it."But the news that his nephew had been in an accident was devastating, he said. When he got the phone call, he said he thought it was some sort of sick joke.The care Dean has received, however, has been great, Lenny said.The City of Warwick has been especially helpful by speeding the processes necessary to receive permits for the addition Lenny is building for Dean. People in Albany have been very considerate too, he said."The cards and stuff coming in from people—it's unbelievable," he said. "He's like a hero up there."But Dean prefers not to be given such a title."I don't consider myself a hero," Dean said. "It's not like I purposely threw my truck in front of that truck. I just stopped to help someone and ended up inadvertently saving their lives."Even so, Dean's presence at the scene definitely saved the lives of the family in the other car, Lenny said."If his truck wasn't there, the [other] truck would've hit the car with the same force and it would've disintegrated it," he said.As it turned out, the semi only grazed the disabled car.Dean said he has had some contact with the family, who he said is very grateful for what he did.The family has visited him, along with several army generals, Sen. Jack Reed and many other politicians. He said he also talks to his army friends a lot."I always hear from them. I wish I could tell them to stop calling," Dean said with a laugh.Coming home, however, will be a welcome relief, he said."The first thing I want to do is stop and get a Del's lemonade," he said.Once back in Warwick, he also will begin more physical therapy at Kent Hospital. He also hopes to go back to school to study to be a history teacher.Dean said he has no regrets about what happened."In the same situation," he said, "even knowing the outcome, I would've done it."

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