Public Employee Press

A painful road to recovery
Hit by an 18-wheeler

By JANE LaTOUR

March 7, 2007, was a vacation day for Local 1549's Tiffany Evans, a Food Stamp worker at the Human Resources Administration and the mother of two-year-old Eric.

Life was looking good as she drove her Mitsubishi Eclipse to a New Jersey store to furnish her new apartment - until an 18-wheel tractor-trailer crushed her car. Evans has no memory of that horrific experience, but endless painful memories of her long road to recovery - undergoing multiple surgeries and pushing herself through agonizing years of physical therapy as she relearned how to move and become self-sufficient again.

Surgeries on her shoulder, arm, leg, knees and foot required lengthy hospital stays, dedicated health care professionals, and strong support from her family. Evans will always carry the rods and screws doctors implanted to make her whole.

Reliance on others was a necessity. "I needed help doing everything," she said. The surgery and therapy started at Hackensack University Hospital and continued at the Burke Rehabilitation Center in White Plains. "My brother Jason moved in there with me and stayed a whole month. My father, Reginald, took care of Eric for two years," she said.

When it seemed that she would make no further gains in her ability to function, Evans pleaded with her doctor to let her return to work. The Eligibility Specialist III came back to HRA's Melrose Center and resumed caring for Eric. She cemented her bond with her boy as she got involved at his Highbridge Head Start school, began to volunteer on its policy council and won awards for community service.

As she balanced the demands on her time and body, management charged her with excessive absence. This time the support came from the union. "I was impressed by her courage," said DC 37 Rep Kenneth Mulligan, who is representing her. "Despite all the suffering she has gone through, she was so happy to return to work. I call her a true working-class hero."

Now, the most important thing for Evans is to live each day to the fullest. "Never let anything consume you," she said. "There's always someone out there suffering more than you."