This morning I canvassed a precinct in Raytown, MO, with a woman named Karen who came all the way from Oklahoma City. And she suffered a broken hip doing it. Story below...
I teamed up with Karen, who had come up from Oklahoma City to help turn Missouri blue. Karen is a wonderful, salt-of-the-earth substitute school teacher, in her early 50's. She had to do something in a state that could make a difference, so she hitched a ride with another volunteer from OK City.
The morning had gone pretty well, and Karen showed true grit on her first weekend ever canvassing. She went straight up to folks and got them talking and ID'd a bunch of voters that we had no data on. She had to meet her ride home at noon, so we were busting through the final street of our turf pack. I was about half a block from her, putting up a door hanger. I heard what sounded like kids yelling, but as I got back on the street I saw a shape laying in the road. It was Karen, hollering for help. I busted my 46-year-old ass into a sprint and got to her. She was in real pain, and could not straighten her right leg. I slid her off the pavement onto the road verge while she told me what happened. The street we were on had no sidewalks, and Karen had to move off the asphalt to avoid a car. Her foot hit some wet leaves and pine needles, and down she went, landing in the road on the point of her hip.
We hoped that it was just a bruise, and waited a few moments for the pain to subside, but no go. Karen was terrified of needing an ambulance, because she is unable to afford health insurance.
But there was no choice. We could not shift her, as the slightest movement of Karen's leg caused her agony. By now, several of the neighbors had joined us. While I called the campaign office to let them know what was happening, a resident called the Raytown EMS. Let me tell you, this little burg has one of the best ambulance services going. They were on the scene within a couple minutes of being called. In a couple more minutes, a firetruck arrived and the combined team of the EMS folks and the firefighters got Karen on a board and into the ambulance. In a few moments they took of for Research Hospital in Kansas City.
While the emergency people did their job, I talked with a voter. She was an Obama supporter, mainly because of his stand on health care. The sentiment was shared by many of the onlookers.
When I got back to the Obama office, all the volunteers put their names on some get-well cards. The big 2 pm canvass was launched by Star Jones (yes, that Star Jones) and Star signed her own card to send along to Karen.
My wife and I delivered the cards to the Emergency Room, where we learned that Karen had broken her hip. She was to have surgery this afternoon, so we got all the phone numbers traded and promised to stop in to visit her tomorrow. Some retired Raytown folks have volunteered to drive her home to Oklahoma when she is fit to travel, and we will make sure that her enforced stay in the KC area is comfortable.
Another sad thing is that Karen will probably not be home in time to vote. (Anyone from OK know what we can do to help her vote from KC? Is that even possible?)
So, Karen literally left it all on the road to help change this nation. Let's make sure that our GOTV effort honors Karen's pain, and make sure that in a future America, no-one ever has to worry that an ambulance trip could ruin them financially.