Giving thanks to a kind community

To the Editor:

On Good Friday, March 21, my husband Walt Newman was driving himself to St. John's Lutheran Hospital from our home in Troy. He has had a problem with bleeding from a vein in his stomach area. He usually can stop the bleeding himself, however this Friday he started bleeding with a very heavy flow of blood.

He pressed a towel to his stomach area and drove as fast as he could to the hospital. But as he approached Libby, on U.S. Highway 2 near the strawberry patch, he knew he was going to pass out. He pulled off the road, got out of the truck and waved at an oncoming car that passed him. He then passed out.

When he woke up a woman, a nurse, was kneeling over him putting pressure on his stomach where the blood was coming out. There also was a man there. Cell phones don't work in this area but someone had a phone that worked and called for an ambulance.

At St. John's, Dr. Nelson treated Walt. He told me that Walt did not have any blood pressure when he arrived at the hospital and that he was near death.

Stacy, at the hospital, called me to tell me my husband was there and would be all right. I am a resident at Mountain View Manor Good Sam's Nursing Home in Eureka, as I have Multiple Sclerosis and am wheelchair bound.

Walt and I would like to thank all the people who stopped to help him on the highway, as they saved his life. We would also like to thank Dr. Nelson, Stacy, and the staff at St. John's Hospital.

Thank God we live in Montana where people still care about other people and aren't afraid to stop and help a stranger who is bleeding. God bless you all.

Walt and Annette Newman

Troy