The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-01-31
WITH BROKEN NECK, She
IS THANKFUL PATIENT
WOMAN IN HOSPITAL SINCE AUGUST
WILL he ABLE TO SIT Up
TODAY.

A Thanksgiving sermon preached
from q he'd of pain BY woman who had
smtlingiy accepted suffering and tried
to think OF others in her agony is being
lived to-day by Mrs. Margaret Clarke, a
patient in the Womans Homeopathic
Hospital
IL you were to see Mrs. Clarke. you
might think she had little to be thank
fnl for. Her body is apparently parai-
yxed, her arms are almost useless. she
IL unable TO move about and her head
is incased in a special support. She is
& living exemplficaton of the surgeon
skill. and for this very reason--that
science has kept her alive--she Is the
most hopeful and grateful patient In
the hospital.
For three and a half months the wo-
man has been kept alive by advanced
surgical treatment, and her case is re-
garded as q remarkable one. On Aug
use last Mrs. Clarke fell downstairs
at the home OF Jos. scanlin, Eleventh
ard Danpifin streets. where she was
acting as housekeener. Her neck was
apparently broken and she was taken
Immediately TO the Womae's Homeo-
pathic Hospital.
The vertibrae high up in the neck
was shattered, and is was not believed
she would survive the ride IN the ameu-
lance. bur In spite OF the apparent
hopelessness OF the case Mrs. Clarke
fingered on until the next day. and then
the patients. persistent fight fer -affe
was taken up by DR. J. r. Rochester
and DR.. Walter Strong. surgeons at the
hospital. who have lent every efrort
and focused every particle of their
skill upon the task of keeping her
alive and restoring her. so far as pos
sible. to condition in which life Will
be bearable.
The surgeons worked over their pa
tient. and. after discovering that the
spinal cord was not severed. they re-
newed their hopes of her recovery.
For weeks she was kept on a water
mattress. unable to move muscle.
Gradually she regained a partial use
in her legs. and later her arms began
to relax. At first the patient was COM
pietely paralyzed from the neck down
the back. and brace was adjusted to
keep her body rigid.
In the last few weeks the condition
has given way to incessant treatment
and the surgeons now believe they VIII
soon be able to discharge her, after
removing the support
Apart from being physical and a
surgical wonder. she has been an in
spiration and an example of uncom-
planning patience to all who come in
contact with her.
Nurses ard physicians have been
amazed by the woman's patience. by her
smiling acceptance OF her fate. and by
II OF the grim determination to be a
martyr, but which has all the sweet
ness OF one who puts aside her own
suffering in consideration Of others.
Mrs. Clarke has a cheerful philosophy
that is all her own. and Yet Il is not
her own. for those about her attribute II
to her intense religious nature. She Is
a devout Catholic and sees the work
ings. of a divine will in all misfortune.
Mrs. Ciarke's accident had lucky as
we'll as an unlucky side to IT.. and the
notice OF her misfortune. which appear
ed I'm the papers in August. WAS directly
responsible for her being reunited to a
sister living in the west. whom she had
not seen for years. The, sister hurried
10 this city and has been living here
ever since and Is q daily visitor at the
hospital. She plans to remove the In
valid to her home as soon "a the hospi-
tai authorities have agreed to discharge
her--The North American.