‘Taking the high road’

She is determined to “take the high road.”

“I’m resolved to fight no matter what it takes, besides, taking the high road just means the view is better,” says Suzanne Cole.

The events that occurred on April 12, 2007, at 3:35 p.m. changed her life forever.

Cole was motorcycling with friend, Jesse Norman, as a passenger, on a Harley-Davidson Fat Boy that Norman purchased the previous Christmas. Norman had only logged 150 miles on his motorcycle and was anxious to take it for a cruise on that beautiful spring morning.

According to Norman they planned to travel only a very short distance to grab some lunch. Normally, Norman says he always wears a helmet, but that afternoon was so beautiful that he thought it would be fun to ride free.

Norman made a quick decision not to put on helmets – a decision he now regrets.

Only four blocks from his home, the former long-haul truck driver was hit by a truck broadside that ran a stop sign at Buckles Road and Highway 41.

According to Norman, he knew he had to hold the motorcycle up and power it forward by opening the throttle; otherwise he feared he would be pulled under the truck.

Norman and Cole were thrown 42 feet from the motorcycle. They narrowly missed hitting a stop sign and landed in the parking lot of the Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall in Rathdrum.

“I believe we landed in the hands of God,” Norman says. “We both know we are very lucky to be alive.”

Norman, who had no insurance, broke his left ankle and leg, and walks with a cane and a limp.

Although the accident left Cole in Harborview Medical Center for two and half months with severe pain, and struggling with a decision to have her left leg amputated, Cole says she has never shown any animosity toward the driver who hit her.

“Knowing what he might see when he shuts his eyes each night – I can only pray for him,” says Cole.

Cole now has a prosthetic leg, which her girlfriend’s son calls, Lincoln’s robot – words she plans to have inscribed on the back of her prosthetic leg.

“People approach me differently now, especially children,” says Cole. “But I’m not about to fall prey to self-pity. My heart, my love is for people who have gone through what I have gone through.”

Future plans include establishing a nonprofit organization with the goal of working with local police departments to educate people about the importance of wearing a helmet and consoling others who have lost their limbs.

“Idaho does not require persons over the age of 18 to wear a helmet while riding or operating a motorcycle or ATV on or off road,” says Cole.

According to the Idaho Transportation Department’s Motorcycle Operator’s Manual, “one out of every five motorcycle crashes results in head or neck injuries.” The manual further states that accident analysis shows that head and neck injuries account for a majority of serious and fatal injuries to motorcyclists and that most crashes happen on short trips, less than five miles, and just a few minutes after starting out.

“I know I was one of the lucky ones,” Cole says.

Although Cole had insurance, there were many expenses insurance did not cover. It was Norman’s idea to host a benefit ride to help Cole with those unpaid expenses.

The two remain good friends and feel they will forever have a special connection.

“I want to do everything I can to help Suzanne,” says Norman, who owns Buck’s Road House in Hauser Lake, and who has had his own share of financial challenges since the accident.

As a result of his injuries, Norman lost his job as a truck driver because he was unable to pass the truck driver’s DOT physical requirements.

Cole maintains an upbeat attitude, cracks jokes, and has a tremendous reservoir of positive energy.

“The next time I take a $15,000 helicopter ride over the Cascades, I intend to be awake,” says Cole with a chuckle.