OSU homecoming parade survivor learns to walk again one step at a time
Almost four years ago, the unthinkable happened in Stillwater, Oklahoma, when a time-honored tradition became a crime scene the community won't forget.
But for one woman, who lives with the scars of that day, there's not much she can actually remember about the events of October 24, 2015.
Sheri Bates sat down with Neile Jones to talk about the day she became a survivor.
From the outside looking in, you might think you're just watching a trainer put his client through the usual paces.
But for Sheri Bates, every move is as much an awakening as it is a victory, "I just woke up, and I don't even remember. I don't remember the first thing I saw. I have no idea what my first words were."
Bates says most of her memories from the OSU Homecoming Parade in October of 2015 come from other people.
"I kind of remember the OSU band marching by; they were at the beginning. I remember seeing some miniature horses and the homecoming court was riding in some old cars, some classic cars, and I kind of remember that, that's it," she said.
She'd come to watch her daughter march in the parade, and at one point, moved into an intersection with her husband and some friends, but then everything went dark.
"My skull was cracked from the back of my head almost all the way to my nasal cavity," she said.
She later learned she suffered a brain injury, a broken femur and a fractured vertebra along with many other injuries. "They told me I would never be the same... they would get me as close to normal as possible, but I would never be the same."
Bates says she knew one thing: she wanted to go home, "I was just trying to get my life back."
And she did. She started with standing, then steps using a walker and then walking, "I knew in my head, I knew how to walk. I'd done it for years, but my body wasn't working right."
Although still a bit shaky, she would eventually walk into this gym and a man who helped her put the pieces together, "I wouldn't be doing as well as I'm doing if it weren't for Tadd."
Born with Spina Bifida, Tadd Parrett trains both able and non-abled bodies, so, for many reasons, these two make a great team.
"I was complaining, and he showed me one of his scars, pulled me right out of whatever funk I was in, and I was like, 'OK. It's a scar. Big deal. I'm here.'"
Here with a positive attitude and a grateful heart, "I was a victim at one time. A victim is helpless and cannot do for themselves, and yes, I was very much a victim. Not anymore. I'm a survivor, and there are lots of us."
Sheri says her faith, husband, family and friends, even prayers from strangers, all helped her.
And by the way, she finished an entire 5K in Stillwater.