I’m in Columbia right now, staying with Joey, Alex, and Jim.  Since I came down in the middle of the week, I have to keep myself busy while the guys are in class, or in today’s case, doing psychological studies for money.  I was wandering around campus, and I gave Jim a call to see where he was.  “I think I broke my ankle,” he said when he picked up the phone.  I didn’t think he was serious.  He explained to me that he was going down a hill and tried to make a left turn while going too fast.  He leaned in too hard on the turn, and the bike slid out from under him.  Somewhere in the midst of this, he hurt his ankle too bad to walk.  He told me that some construction workers asked him if he needed help when he fell, and he just responded “No, I’m fine'” and then continued to lay there in the grass.  I told him I would start walking to try and find him, but he said he’d be fine, and that he’d call if he couldn’t make it.  By the time I’d walked to where the crash happened, Jim was gone.  I figured I’d see him back at the house.  As I came up on the turn for their street, I saw a pair of shoes hanging out from behind a telephone pole.  I then noticed some flannel sticking out from the same spot.  It was Jim Lewis, laying in the grass on the side of the road with his bicycle.  “Oh, hey there Joe,” is how I was greeted.  Apparently, he tried to make it back home on his own, and just gave up to lay there and die.  Luckily, I came along to save him.  After having some cereal back at the house, Joey took us to the hospital and Jim and I waited patiently.  They made him put on a dress and take off his pants.  He wasn’t too psyched on that.  I remember saying to him “There’s no way your ankle is broke.  You would know if it was broke.”  Later, after I left the hospital, Alex texted us to let us know that Jim broke his fibula.  Now, he is laying down on the couch I’m supposed to be sleeping on.  I think he’s bummed, but he should just be happy to be alive.  That is the story of when I found Jim and helped him save his life.

Joe Hodges