After Serious Accident, Crowder Is Thankful For Every Day
Although this Thanksgiving might be a bit untraditional for some people because of COVID and social distancing concerns, Larry Crowder of Culbertson knows every Thanksgiving and every day is a time to be thankful.
About a year and half ago, on July 4, 2019, Crowder came close to losing a leg or even his life due to a boating accident at Nelson Reservoir close to 20 miles outside of Malta.
“It went through my mind,” said Crowder, the superintendent of schools and mayor of Culbertson. “I felt how it would impact my family. That they would always think of that for the Fourth of July.”
Crowder, the father of three, explained a lack of communication between him and his brother resulted in the serious accident when Larry went behind the boat to gather skis. “I thought he turned the motor off,” Crowder said. “Luckily, for me, the motor stalled when it went into the back of my leg. It’s nobody’s fault but my own. I knew better.”
The Crowder family acted quickly and raced Larry with a pickup, about 100 miles per hour, to the hospital in Malta. The sheriff’s office escorted them part of the trip.
Larry credits medical personnel at the hospital, flight team and Denver hospital for saving his life and leg.
“After my bad moment of decision making, everything went perfectly,” Crowder said. “As part of the fire department, I’m used to working with victims, not being the victim. It was a different perspective in trying to remain calm.”
Despite his first trip ever to an emergency room, Crowder feels he stayed calm during the ordeal. “Others may tell a different story,” he added.
He underwent four surgeries in eight days once in arrived in Denver. Because of the hospital stay, he missed one council meeting but didn’t miss any school board meetings. “People back here were understanding. I was able to work remotely,” Crowder said.
When he came back home, he says he received excellent treatment from professionals both in Sidney and Culbertson.
“I got great care everywhere. Oh my goodness, I got great care,” Crowder said. “It puts your mind at ease to have people like that to help you if something happens.”
Although he made a total recovery, Crowder won’t forget how precious life can be.
“You look at life with a little more care and optimism and hope,” Crowder said. “And a lot more understanding of how things can turn in a blink of an eye.”
He stresses that we all should appreciate what we have.
“Keep looking forward to waking up the next day knowing that you have the love of your family and the hope of the future,” Crowder said.
He feels such events don’t stress a person’s faith but rather exposes their faith.
“People who aided me were spot-on in their decision making,” Crowder said. “There’s no way that I survived this without a greater power. Things didn’t just go right, they went perfectly.”
