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The Carl Johnsons Story: An Adair Co. family's valiant fight back Life was so perfect until a massive heart attack struck Carl Johnson. This is a story of relatives, friends, community and colleagues, a dedicated church family, and extraordinary doctors and health care. It is a story of losing so much, but never losing hope. It is a story of incremental victories back from the abyss of "the blackest day," and in that, it is truly a story of Thanksgiving Photos: The Johnson family. Carl in Shanksburg, PA after 9/11; + 2 Trinity UMC related pictures By Ed Waggener ed@columbiamagazine.come Sherri Johnson will never forget Tuesday morning, August 9, 2005. She started her day thinking, "Life has been so perfect." It was, in every way. She had been happily married to her high school sweetheart for 20 years. She and Carl had two beautiful children. She had a job she loved. Carl had a stressful job, but it was his chosen career. She was living in a beautiful new home on the crest of the hill on the Johnson ancestral farm, with a caring extended family right at hand. Faith had always played a big part in her life, and now that was perfect, with all four a very much involved part of the Trinity United Methodist Church family. But the day would bring shattering news of her husband's massive heart attack, near death, and prospects which could have destroyed anyone of lesser faith. One senses these people are made of something way out of the ordinary. That he has a strong will to recover from the secondary injury from the massive heart attacka profound brain injuryand that she is driven by a deep love for Carl and an extraordinary faith and determination to help Carl recover all that he possibly could of his previous life. "She is a rock," her sister-in-law and Carl's only sibling, Leslie Stephens says of Sherri Johnson, whose nurse's training is a major asset as the family works together in Carl's slow recovery. Leslie is an R.N. at Westlake Primary Care in Columbia. Sherri and Carl were high school sweethearts Sherri McLean and Carl Johnson were high school sweethearts. She is the daughter of Columbia contractor Gerald McLean and Betty Yates McLean. He is the son of J.C. Johnson and Donna Loy Bryant. They dated throughout high school. Both were in the Adair County Marching Band. And Carl was in a band with three buddies, Mike Webb, Ray Martin, and David Murrell. They called the band "Equinox." Music would always be a big part of their lives. Before the massive heart attack, he played the guitar, the tuba, and bass guitar. On Sunday, August 7, just two days before the heart attack, Carl had played the guitar and Sherri had sung a solo, "Who Am I?" and also "I Can Only Imagine," in the praise and worship service at Trinity. 'Let's get married. I want you to come to Texas' After graduation from Adair County High School he attended the University of Kentucky for two years, then he joined the U.S. Army. He spent a year in Monterey, CA, in language school, and next he was stationed at San Angelo, TX. She attended Western Kentucky University. He called me up and said, "Let's get married. I want you to come to Texas." She agreed, but on one condition, "I'm getting married in my church. I had started going to Trinity when I was 13," she said, "and I wanted Bro. Bill (Davenport) to marry us." And she got her wish. They moved to San Angelo, and then were transferred to Germany. After the tour in Germany, they moved back to the U.S., and both completed college degrees at the University of Maryland. Carl's job came with a major in Soviet Area Studies and a minor in Russian. Her degree prepared her for a career as a dietitian. Carl served eight years in the military as a Russian linguist Carl applied, and qualified, for a career in the FBI. About one year after the military career, he met the rigorous requirements for service in the FBI, and was in his eleventh year as an agent. "He speaks Russian, English and German," Sherri said. He is a very intelligent person." He enjoyed the FBI career. It had taken him to Oklahoma City after the Murrah Office Building bombing, and to the Pennsylvania 9/11 crash site area. But there was stress with the work. He had orders to go to Afghanistan in January of 2006, and he was really looking forward to that. "But other job stress was the cause of his heart attack, we were told," Sherri said. "Carl didn't have any other heart attack risks except stress. Job stress. Nothing else." Carl was in Ft. Knox when the accident occurred "Carl was working in Ft. Knox," Sherri remembers. He was driving his work vehicle when he had a heart attack which was massive. That is, his heart stopped completely."Fortunately, he was with two FBI co-workers who are both trained in CPR. His partner Neil was able to stop the car. They almost had an accident." Carl was taken to Ireland Army Hospital on the base. The doctors there stabilized him and got him ready to be airlifted to Louisville. Sherri was in Somerset; Carl's mother and sister were in Columbia "It was very important for me to get there quickly. When I was notified in Somerset, I had no idea it would be so serious," Sherri recalls. "I was expecting him to be alert and talking." Carl had always told her, Sherri said, "That if anything ever happened to him, the FBI would take care of everything." And they were true to what he had told her. For two weeks, Sherri says, they provided 24-hour assistance.Shortly after, she was to learn what that meant. "An FBI agent picked me up in Columbia and raced me to Louisville, with sirens sounding and lights on. I thought how exciting this would be under other circumstances. No family members," she said, "Are ever allowed to get in an agent's car." She had driven from Somerset to Columbia. Just before the agent picked her up in Columbia, she got a call from Leslie, who told her, "You need to get here." Leslie and Donna had gotten to Elizabethtown Leslie Stephens and her mother, Donna Bryant had been notified and had gotten to Elizabethtown without having full directions to the hospital in Ft. Knox. They spotted a Kentucky State Policeman and went over to him. Leslie told the trooper the situation. She handed the trooper her cell phone so he could talk with the FBI. "When the trooper fully understood the situation," Sherri said, "he escorted Donna and Leslie from E-town to the Ft. Knox hospital." When they got there, Carl was being carried onboard the helicopter. "I actually arrived at the hospital in Louisville shortly after Carl did," Sherri remembers, "and before his mother and Leslie did." "The angels were with us," Sherri commented about the rides the family members took that day to be with Carl. People were waiting on her in Louisville "When I got to the hospital in Louisville," Sherri said, "there were people waiting on me. They took me into a chapel and explained how serious it was." "A Dr. Smock, a trauma doctor, and the FBI agents went into a chapel to explain how the attack had happened." "We had to wait for them to let us go back and see Carl," Sherri said. "And by that time, Bro. Troy Elmore was there. He's a close family friend who is the assistant pastor at Trinity, and chaplain at Lindsey Wilson College. "We were gathered in a chapel room," Sherri said, "The FBI agents had taken this just as hard as we did. They were in another room." "When we got to go back to see Carl," she said, "he was in a lot of distress. On a ventilator. His breathing was labored." Then she went over to comfort Carl. "He squeezed my hand and did seem alert to the sound of my voice. But at this point, I probably still didn't know how serious the attack was." A nurse, she remembers his name as Manny, was attending Carl, and he asked her,"Do you know how serious this is"? "I was still in denial," Sherri says, "but I said, 'You just tell me how it is.'" And Manny said "It will take a miracle." "They thought Carl would die," Sherri said. And at that point, she remembers, the devastating circumstances became apparent."Dr. Smock had only told me that Carl had a massive heart attack and that they were stabilizing him. They didn't give details. "Manny told me they had given Carl eight shocks. He said Carl had been in code status for 45 minutes." A turning point didn't come until four days later The next four days were black ones. "I had given up hope," Sherri said. "We had discussed end-of-life care for him. That was the 13th. But Barbara Shepherd came to visit that morning. She reminded me of her own miraculous story." Barbara Shepherd is her close friend, fellow Trinity congregant, and she has, herself held off a life-threatening rare tumor which grows out of control and which intertwines with the muscle. Barbara was with Sherri during the interview, and recalled the events leading her to take the trip to Louisville that day. "I had been up all night. I just didn't think it was right for him to leave us. I was told by God to go there and pray for Carl. Blake and I got up early in the morning. I just wanted Sherri to know not to give up." "It was a turning point for me," Sherri said. "He had been suffering with a case of aspiration pneumonia. It was difficult for him to breath. It was horrible to watch him suffer and all I could think of was how much I wanted to trade places with him, to relieve him of his pain." "We had literally thought to take him off the ventilator," she said. "There was no question that God had sent Barbara to me and I said to myself, 'Hold on. Give God a chance.' "We prayed that day with Bro. Troy, and the next day Carl was a lot better. You could see it on the 14th," Sherri said. "I told the doctors we'd made a mistake. I want us to do all we can for Carl." On that day, she wanted everything for him. There was another trying moment: Bringing the kids to see their Daddy "When we brought the children up to see Carl it was a very trying day," she recalls. The first few days had been extremely intense. Bro. Troy and I were discussing how to bring the children to see Carl.""I remember that I looked at him and said, 'Bro. Troy, is this the worst thing you ever had to do?' and he just broke down in tears," she remembers. "It was the hardest day of all for me." A wonderful physician, Dr. Stephanie Hill, offered the right advice There was a caring resident physician, Dr. Stephanie Hill, who was treating Carl. She also had good advice for telling the children. "We knew there was something special about her from the beginning," Sherri remembers. "She cried with us. We felt she was there for us only. I knew she was special. And then I learned that her grandmother was my fourth grade English teacher, Wanda Hill. "Dr. Hill suggested talking to the kids and preparing them, and we followed her advice. We told them their Daddy would have a lot of tubes. That he would need help breathing, and he wouldn't be able to talk or hug them, but, we said, 'He's still your Daddy'" Before they reached Carl's room, Connor said, "I want the old days back when Daddy could play with me." Baylee is 13, and they had thought she could handle the situation best. "But at the room, Baylee couldn't bear to go in," Sherri said, "but Connor, the Johnson's five-year-old went over to his Dad and told him he loved him." As it turned out, the children became more accepting of the situation in the ensuing weeks. Baylee later came to Louisville and stayed for three days. For Connor, it's grown a bit more difficult. "He understands what the reality is, now," Sherri says. After UL, Carl was granted three weeks of rehabilitation at Christopher East. "It's a long-term care facility, designed for patients like Carl, whose diagnosis now is severe diffuse brain injury, or anoxic brain injury. He was deprived of oxygen during the heart attack. The good news is that his heart has recovered. His heart is pumping at a normal rate, they learned before leaving the UL hospital for Christopher East. The Christopher East stay was to help Sherri learn how to care for Carl. With the FBI, the Johnsons had excellent coverage, except for one gaping hole. "He didn't have long term care insurance," Sherri said. That meant the family would be responsible for doing a majority of the work that would have normally been done by professionals, or face an impossible financial hardship. The grant was to help the family learn how to care for Carl "The three week grant was to teach us," Sherry said .They had thought that he might actually stay there for a year, Sherri recalls, "But we wanted to take more personal care of him. But they did miss the therapy at Christopher East. "That was wonderful," she said. And she's thankful that at Christopher East, she did learn about caring for a brain injured patient. "I learned the equipment," she said, "And I know more now about what he needs from the instruction at Christopher East." There were lots of doctors; but only one in charge "Carl had so many physicians. Dr. Hill stood out. We'll never forget her care. Her personal support. There were lots of doctorscardiologists, neurologists, pulmonologists, gastro-entologists. Was one of these in charge"? she asks, and answers, "No. I had to keep this in mind: The head doctor is not one of them. It is God." In late September, he was showing wonderful physical recovery from his heart attack. The big cloud in his recovery was the brain injury. One neuropsychologist told Sherri, "When it comes to brain injury, it takes six months for the dust to settle. "At this time, plans were being made to bring Carl home. But there was one more physical crisis. "On September 24 Carl sent to the ER at Baptist East. I got a call that there were blood pressure spikes. When we got there he was obviously alert. Eyes wide open. Like he was scared," Sherri says. "Don't leave me" Sherri and his mother went to his bedside. "For about three hours he grasped me and his mother like, 'I'm scared. Don't leave me.'" The reassurance had a palliative effect. "He changed that day. I couldn't stand the thought of him being so afraid. I called a friend of mine, a therapist, and asked him how comfortable he was with Carl coming home." Sherri was reassured they were ready. "We brought him home the 28th of September," Sherri said. Home is the dream house Carl had planned for his family since boyhood "Home" is Adair County. It is a Columbia, KY 42728 address. But more specifically, it is down Hwy 704, a state designated scenic highway. Today many refer to the area as Fairplay. It is closer, though, to the old post office at Gadberry. And many call it Tabor, after the school and church just north of the Johnson family farm. Coming home was coming back to the Johnson lands that have been in the family for 107 years. This land is home to Carl's father, J.C. Johnson. It is home to his grandfather, Joe Johnson, and it was home to his great grandfather, Morrison Johnson. Before it was home to his great great grandfather, Leslie Johnson. In all, six generations of Johnsons have lived in this same spot since Leslie Johnson bought the land in 1898. The road in front of Carl's home follows one of the most pleasing valleys on KY 704, which is a bold statement. There are so many on the road. The dream house Carl and Sherri built commands a spectacular view, high above 704 of their own pleasing valley. The idea for the home had been a childhood dream of Carl's. For him, presenting the idea for the house on the hill was to be a big event, and it was. "I didn't even know this was here," Sherri said. "Carl had never talked about it. But one day he asked me to walk up with him. We got to the top of the hill, and he said, 'This is where I want our house to be.' I was swept away. It was hard to imagine how wonderful it could be." This was to be their retirement home. They were living in Somerset. But as they talked more about it, the idea seemed more and more practical for them to do immediately. With the FBI, Carl could live almost anywhere in a large area. Sherri's job as a dietitian would take her to Campbellsville, Jamestown, and Somerset on different days of the week. They did a lot of their own work on the house. Sherri's father is a retired builder. And his mother, Donna Bryant, is one of those people who just know how to take advantage of sites, how to design, how to decorate, how to create showplaces. With the family's help, with their own ideas incorporated, and with hands-on work in the construction, they were able to move into their perfect home. The house is two-full stories upstairs. The downstairs had been planned as a den. The den was just right for Carl's room. It is ground level on the back side, is spacious, has airy windows, and can be made as open or as private as his needs require. The children have their Daddy in a more familiar setting. The care is superb. Three family members, Sherri, his sister Leslie, and his mother can administer Carl's feeding and medications. Support medical people make house calls, as does their Johnson's family doctor, Sherri's cousin Dr. Phil Aaron. "We have tremendous support from family, church, and the community," Sherri said. They get special help from friends like Barbara Shepherd and Carla Pyles (Craig's wife). "She's been huge," Sherri says. "I say, when she comes, 'Carl got Carla therapy today.'" The congregation at Trinity has been tremendous. Every evening, different members have volunteered to bring the family's evening meal. On the evening of the first interview for this article, Rick and Sandy Wilson came with a kids' favorite pizza meal, and Rick joked with the kids that he had bought them porcupine pizza. Life has settled into a routine of around the clock patient care, punctuated with little victories. It is still tough for the kids. More than anything, they want their father back with them, for life to be as it was. Sherri has gone back to work, part-time. Family, friends, FBI colleagues, neighbors and the church continue to help. There is more prayer than ever. And a hope that remains strong that this outstanding young husband and father will be restored to the life he so richly deserves. November 23, 2005: An afterword from Sherri: With the help of speech therapist Jon West, Dr. Phil Aaron removed Carl's trachabout three weeks ago. He is more comfortable now and we are hoping for more and more words. He usually only says "Mom," or "Hun," or just moanswhen he is in pain or needs something. He also communicates with eye blinks. One blink is "yes," and two blinks mean "no." He is also just starting to take some soft foods by mouth. The occupational and physical therapists with home health say that Carl is progressing. He is regaining strength in his muscles. He is holding his head up better (He only barely moved his head for the firsttime on September 25th) And he can balance himself on the side of the bed fora few seconds. I wish I could say more, but Carl still has a very long way to go. I am thankfulto God, though, for his life and that he has come as far as he has. I have faith that God has kept him here for a reason and that the ending will be a good one. Related item, Poem, "Where I Come From," by Baylee Johnson This story was posted on 2005-11-24 06:45:49
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