Forty-seven-year-old Gary Belyea sat in his wheelchair as his wife, Donna, began to tell the story of the day that changed their lives forever. A day Donna would like to forget, but can’t. A day Gary is unable to remember.

It was a cold December day when a freak accident destroyed the Belyeas’ life as they knew it and left Gary a quadriplegic. “It was December 21, 1994,” Donna recalled, tears slowly filling her eyes. “It was very cold and there was a lot of black ice on the roads.

We had already heard about one or two fatalities on the police monitor, so we knew the roads were bad.” She paused a moment before continuing. “Gary was on his way to work, but when he got to the overpass, he noticed a pick-up in the guard rail. The driver had swerved out of control because of the ice. Ever the Good Samaritan, Gary got out the safety flares and went to see how the driver of the pick-up truck was. He told him that maybe he should get out of the truck and away from the guard rail for safety.”

Then, as Gary was setting up the safety flares at the accident site, another truck hit the ice and went spinning out of control. As it headed down the  bankment, it struck Gary and sent his helpless body into the ditch.

“You say to yourself, ‘It will never happen to me,’ but then it does and you have to learn how to face it,” said Donna, 44, an employee of Woman’s Life Insurance Society since 1994 and a member of Club 11, Port Huron, since 1995. “I never would have been able to manage without the love, support and financial help Woman’s Life gave to me, a brand new employee at the time.”

As fate would have it, Donna actually passed the accident scene as she was taking her son, Kevin, to school. “I saw Gary’s Suburban there and said to Kevin, ‘Well, Dad’s out helping someone again,’ so I called his work to let them know he’d be late,” Donna said.

Shortly after she arrived at her desk at Woman’s Life, a friend would come to tell her the news and take her to the hospital, where doctors were working to save her husband’s life. Within a few hours, Gary was transported by  helicopter to the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor where he underwent surgery for five broken bones in his neck, a severed spinal cord, damaged hip socket, and torn tendons and knee ligaments.

The latter proved irreparable. Gary also suffered a closed head injury, which caused some shortterm memory loss. He remained in the hospital nearly four months; his doctors’ bills totaled more than $400,000.

Gary can’t recall anything about the accident, but for Donna, it’s all too clear even three-and-one-half years later.

“Every Sunday was family day,” Donna recalled. “I’d take the boys and drive the two hours to Ann Arbor. Sometimes it was hard for them to see their father lying helpless.”

Today, Gary is classified as a C-7 quadriplegic. He still has all the charms and the sparkle in his eyes that he did before the accident. But he’s confined to a wheelchair. He has very limited use of his hands and must exercise to keep them as limber as possible.

“I have my good days and my bad days,” Gary said. “There are days when you get sort of frustrated. I used to like working on trucks, but Craig (my son) does most of it for me now. I’ve had to make a lot of adjustments.”

Donna had been working in the payroll department at a local nursing home until the Fall of 1994 when she heard about an opening in accounting at Woman’s Life Insurance Society. She had made friends with a few of the women who worked there and was thrilled when she was offered the position.

“I really believe things happen for a reason,” Donna said. “I don’t think I would have been able to keep working after the accident if I was anywhere else but Woman’s Life. They made it possible for me to keep working and helped my transition into the family’s primary breadwinner.”

Donna is living proof of the need for women to take control of their financial futures. “We were just going along, happy as clams, and then, boom, we went from a dual-income family to a single income – and it was mine!” Donna explained. “I didn’t understand what membership in an organization like this could mean until I lived through a very difficult time. Now, I can’t imagine life without Woman’s Life.”

Once avid campers, the Belyeas rarely get the chance now to enjoy the outdoors. Gary’s body can’t process the heat because of his injury, so he has to be in comfortable temperatures. And there’s a lot more to pack. Still, they occasionally camp out at the local KOA, where they can stay in an air-conditioned camping cabin.

“We’re just learning his limitations,” Donna explained. “At first, we had thought things would be a little better – that Gary would be able to play ball with the boys again. But it didn’t happen. Our biggest adjustment is just getting  through the little things – like watching the boys play sports. We can’t just jump in the car and go anymore. But the kids are very understanding. We’re very fortunate to have the kids we do.”

Gary still drives, only now it’s an impressive fire-engine-red GMC four-wheel-drive pick-up truck, rigged with a special driver’s side lift and all the gadgets he needs for safe motoring. One of his favorite places to visit is still the Clyde Township Fire Hall. “I man the radio when they’re out on a call,” Gary said, “so somebody is at the hall in case another call comes in. This way it frees up an able-bodied person to be at the scene.”

Throughout the entire ordeal, Donna said the staff and members of Woman’s Life Insurance Society were like an extended family. Donna said without the support of members of Woman’s Life, her family couldn’t have made it through such a tragedy. Their comfort and support helped give her the strength she needed to go on. She said what she’s learned most from her husband’s accident is to take every day as it comes – and pepper it with a good sense of humor.

“It’s not a matter of, ‘Today, I’m going to do this’ … you have to go with the flow and take what you’re dealt. Even your best-laid plans can come crashing down on you,” Donna said. “And you have to have a sense of humor. You have to laugh, or you’ll cry.”

For Woman's Life Magazine Fall 2004 ...

By Trish Kinnee