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Apr 18, 2008 12:10 pm US/Mountain
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Motorcycle Accident Victims Get Pay It 4ward Gift
Written for the Web by CBS4 producer Libby Smith
The idea behind CBS4's Pay it Forward Colorado project is to give $1,000 to a Coloradan (or group of Coloradans) who will use the money to change someone else's life. Submit your ideas
on YouReport
. Below lies CBS4's April 17 report.
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - CBS4's latest Pay It Forward project goes to a good Samaritan who was trying to help in the face of a tragedy.
"I was touched for the Keyes family deeply," Sharon Anderson told CBS4.
Anderson was touched by the shooting at Platte Canyon High School that left 16-year-old Emily Keyes dead. The shooting happened Sept. 28, 2006 and every year since then, motorcyclists rally to raise money for the Keyes' "I Love You Guys" Foundation.
"I was just very, very touched, totally. It was more of a need, a mission, a desire. I was drawn. I had to do it," Anderson said of the 2007 motorcycle rally.
Sharon and her husband, Danny, were riding together in the rally when they lost control of the bike. The couple rolled nearly 60 feet on the pavement, but those on the scene first say the wreck didn't seem too terrible.
"When I was there they were conscience. They were talking a little bit. It wasn't gory at all. It just looked like they took a bad tumble from a motorcycle," Chris Hanson told CBS4.
Despite wearing full protective gear including a helmet, leather, gloves, and boots, Sharon received a traumatic brain injury. Her speech, memory, and motor skills are still severely impaired.
"There are some things that will never come back. Some things we'll have to just adjust to and accept, my short term memory will never come back, and there are gaps in my long term memory," Sharon said.
"It's been tough. My wife is frustrated a lot, and I try to help her out as much as I can," Danny Anderson told CBS4.
As Chris Hanson and his wife, Mindy, got to know the Andersons, they wanted to help too.
"I think the hardest thing for me is seeing her try to do the things that we all take for granted every morning. She told me the other day it took her 20 minutes to get her shoes on," Mindy Hanson said.
Impressed by Sharon Anderson's strong spirit and giving nature even in the face of one of the toughest times of her life, the Hanson's asked CBS4 for $1,000 to help the Andersons.
"We wanted to give them something to make their lives a little easier," Hanson added.
The Andersons were surprised and thankful for the gift, but what they really want is to find the people who helped them the day of the accident so they can say "thank you."
See high-resolution images from the crash scene provided by the Hansons which show the people who helped the Andersons:
Photo 1 |
Photo 2 |
Photo 3 |
Photo 4 |
Photo 5.
Additional Resources
• A fund has been set up through FirstBank Colorado to donate to the Andersons. Put a note on the check: "The Sharon and Danny Anderson Benefit Fund."
(© MMVIII CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)