Friday, April 19, 2024
In his 50 professional years, Tumbleweed has interviewed some true Texas characters and assembled the largest private collection of oral history in the United States. He writes a syndicated weekly newspaper column and teaches broadcasting at the university level.
When Kenneth Phillips was in his mid-40s he lost all of his fingers and toes due to frostbite. This was not in the arctic or some other frigid place.
It was in San Angelo, Texas. He faced years of hospitalization and depression, then one day decided he was tired of inactivity and feeling sad. He applied for several jobs but when they saw his hands, they didn’t hire him (even though a sign in the window read hiring now). He finally got a job at Dollar General and later worked as a cashier at McDonalds for six years. Last year he started a company doing mowing and edging. He named his company ALL THUMBS LAWN CARE. He told me how he got into this situation.
“About eight years ago I was living in San Angelo feeling depressed because I was in so much back pain from an oil field accident. One winter night I went out to the lake and started listening to gospel music. After about an hour I got to feeling better so I started home. It was about midnight. I made a wrong turn and ended up in the water. It was about three feet deep, fairly close to shore. I got out of the car and went about 30 yards on dry land and passed out from the cold. They didn’t find me until around noon or 1 o’clock the next day. I woke up a week later in a Lubbock hospital. My fingers and toes were black and some of them were gone. I was in the hospital several months and when I left, I had no fingers or toes. Then I went to rehab for six months.”
One of the reasons he was depressed was the death of his mother while he was in rehab. He was on some heavy medication and finally when he decided to try to improve his life, he went through withdrawal by himself for three months and moved to Big Spring to be with his daughter and son-in-law and their four children. “I couldn’t do anything without them. My grandkids are my best friends. My nine-month job at Dollar General showed me I could work, and I gained some confidence. I realized that God gave me thumbs so I could do something. I discovered I could do nearly everything other people can do. It may take longer because I have to figure things out. I don’t like people telling me I can’t do something.”
He doesn’t wear shoes with laces or shirts with buttons. He wears casual pants without buttons or zippers but with an elastic waistband so he can just pull them on.
“Doctors said I was the worst frostbite victim in Texas. They had never seen anything like this. I think it has made me a better father and grandfather. I can write and like doing carpenter work. My grandkids help me a lot. They’re my fingers.”
Kenneth does beautiful lawn care. When we agreed on a price for him to mow and edge our lawn, I gave him a little extra. He left, then came back and told me I had given him too much money. I asked Kenneth if he could stain our deck and an exterior wall of our house. He said he could. Then I asked him if he could remove a large dead bush with branches the size of my arm. He took care of that, too. His grandkids helped pick up the pieces and load them in Kenneth’s pickup because he has trouble gripping things. “I don’t think you should ever be afraid to ask for help.”
