Man Says Paralyzed Wife Ejected From Fair

The Harn family prior to the accident that left Rose Harn, in blue, paralyzed.

(Courtesy Harn family)

A Life Forever Damaged

Harn, 57, was in the passenger seat next to her daughter on the night of April 4, 1986, as the two returned home after dropping the Harns' sons off for a night of roller-skating.

"Two other teenagers was out partying, they ran a stop sign at 100 mph," Mike Harn said, and hit Harn's car on the passenger side.

Mike Harn, 64, said the impact pushed his wife so hard "it pulled her neck so far it pulled her brain stem loose."

His wife's head smashed into their daughter's neck, breaking it. Upon recoil, Harn was thrown back into the door's post, nearing tearing off her ear.

The brain swelling, Mike Harn said, began almost immediately. She spent two months on life support, in a medically induced coma. Two tubes were inserted into Harn's head that drained about 1 ½ gallons of brain fluid every eight hours for about a month. When doctors took her off the medication and life support, he said, they expected her to die.

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But she didn't. She spent 14 months in a coma at home while her family talked to her and kept a radio on in the background.

Their daughter, who was two months pregnant at the time, was unconscious for 12 days. A special body cast had to be made for her to accommodate her growing body. The baby was born four months premature and weighed 1 pound, three ounces.

Both mom and baby are now fine, though the Harns' daughter still suffers from residual nerve problems in her hands and feet.

Before the accident, Harn was a vibrant mother who was licensed to work in refrigeration, electrical systems and welding, which she did for a railroad. She spoke three languages and boxed.

"She was super active," Mike Harn said. "She had a photographic memory and now she can't talk at all."

She can answer yes or no questions by blinking for "yes" and shaking her head for "no."

"And she sticks her tongue out to tell you that she loves you," Mike Harn said.

The couple spend a lot of time on the road in a tour bus retrofit for Harn's needs. They've been all over North America, including to New York, Mexico and Canada. At home, they spend time in the backyard where the family plants a tree for Harn every year.

"She understands everything that is going on," he said. "She just can't talk."