Wednesday, May 15, 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.
Dene Sheppard of Big Spring fell in her bathtub and was in it four days before being rescued. She got in the tub on a Friday afternoon. She was having trouble with a shoulder muscle that made it difficult to maneuver. Her phone was in another room and her grown children were out of town. She lived alone. Dene is a woman of deep faith.
“My back was where the faucet is,” says Dene, who was in her late 70s at the time. “I couldn’t believe where I was, and it took a few minutes to figure out what was happening. The pain was so excruciating from my shoulder, and I couldn’t use my right arm at all. I couldn’t lift myself out of the bathtub. I tried every way possible. Even though I realized I needed to get out of here and get some help, I finally settled down and thought OK, I am Dene Sheppard. I’m a child of God. I’m a strong woman and will figure out a way to get out of this. I relaxed, prayed, sang hymns and thought good thoughts.
“In my bathroom I have a skylight. I went into the bathroom around one o’clock that afternoon and didn’t turn on a light because there was plenty of light in the room. But as night came, the room got very dark. Saturday morning came and some light started coming through the skylight, so I just sat there and talked to the angels. All during this episode I never thought about being hungry but over the next few days I felt myself getting weaker. I just refused to focus on it.
“I was able to turn on the water to get a drink or wash away the urine. When our kids were young and had to have a bowel movement in the tub, they would pile the stuff on a bench outside the tub. This is so gross, but this is what I did. When I got chilled, I was able to retrieve a bathmat and cover my upper body with it.
“All through this I could hear my cell phone and house phone ringing but of course there was no way I could answer either one. Saturday night came, then Sunday morning. That’s when I really got serious about praying and singing hymns and thinking about all the good times we had traveling with the kids to Six Flags and other vacation spots. I must have dozed off a few times, but I can’t recall sleeping for very long. Sunday night came, then Monday.
“About one o’clock Monday afternoon my grandson Tyler Shepard came in the house. I heard him open the back door and call out Na Na. I said Tyler I’m in here and I need help. And that’s when I broke down and really cried.”
Her grandson called 911 and she entered the hospital for a short stay. Doctors were amazed at her sound physical and mental states.
“They didn’t know what a determined person I am. I knew this, too would pass.”
Dene has made a fifty-minute recording of her ordeal in hopes that it might give someone ideas on how to survive an unexpected bad situation.
