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Road to recovery

FD man hit by car starting to walk again

-Submitted photo Jacob Berube, of Fort Dodge, stands with the help of his crutches following a recent physical therapy session. Berube suffered serious injuries to his legs after he was hit by a car in October 2020. He has since been able to walk some without crutches.

Darkness — that’s the only thing Jacob Berube can remember after he was hit by a car while riding a Razor electric scooter.

Berube, 23, of Fort Dodge, was on his way home on Oct. 17, 2020, from his dad’s house.

“I fired up my scooter and made my way slowly home,” he recalled. “By the time I got to the 169 exit ramp (the ramp that takes traffic from Second Avenue South to the northbound lanes of U.S. Highway 169), I had a couple of vehicles’ headlights that shined from behind. I pulled over to let them pass. One waved at me. And then I was going to the top. As soon as I got to the top, it went all dark. Everything blacked out.”

Berube was hit from behind by a car driven by James Goodell, of Humboldt. The Iowa State Patrol reported the scooter didn’t have reflectors. Goodell came up the ramp behind Berube and didn’t see him, according to the ISP. The crash was reported at 9:28 p.m.

Berube suffered serious injuries to his legs. He was eventually airlifted to a Des Moines hospital.

-Submitted photo Jacob Berube, of Fort Dodge, stands without the assistance of crutches recently. Berube was seriously injured in October 2020 after being hit by a car while riding an electric scooter.

“The only thing I remember is waking up in the hospital with vision more fuzzy,” Berube said. “I had no clue what was going on. I looked at my legs and they were covered in cast and I wondered if this was a dream. I had no memory of what happened during that time. The only thing I can truly remember, it was pitch black. Before I blacked out I don’t remember seeing any kind of headlights at all.”

Berube said he chose to ride the scooter because the trails nearby were closed at the time. He said the scooter was his only mode of transportation.

Berube’s grandma, Becky Hanson, recalled watching Life Flight fly over her Fort Dodge home the night of the crash. At that time, she had no idea it was her grandson in the helicopter up above.

“My daughter called me that Sunday and she said, ‘Are you sitting down?’ and that I needed to sit down,” Hanson recalled. “She said Jacob was hit by a car. We could have lost him very easily. They said he lost a lot of blood.”

Hanson believes a quick response saved her grandchild.

-Submitted photo Jacob Berube, of Fort Dodge, is seated while waiting to complete physical therapy.

“I am glad the gentleman that did hit him, stopped, because that’s probably what saved him,” she said.

Hanson said Fort Dodge firefighters working the red shift told her Berube could have lost his legs. She said doctors weren’t sure if he would be able to walk again.

But about three weeks ago, Berube got up out of his wheelchair at Walmart and started walking toward Hanson.

“I heard something and turned to see what it was,” Hanson said. “He had those boots on and was walking toward me. I am going, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re walking. He said, ‘Yeah, I had to prove them wrong.’ He was walking toward me and I am crying, of course. We hugged and I told him he’s doing a great job.”

After several surgeries and multiple physical therapy sessions, Berube is slowly but surely gaining strength back in his legs.

He has been walking with the assistance of crutches — sometimes just one. His left leg had more severe injuries.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), I saw him walking without crutches,” Hanson said. “He went out and got himself some real nice tennis shoes. It’s just an overwhelming feeling. When I saw him with his legs all wrapped up and painful — he went through a lot of pain. That hurts to watch your grandchild hurt.”

Berube continues to push himself during physical therapy, which he goes to twice a week at E3 Millennium Therapy Sevices in Fort Dodge.

“So far I’m healing up pretty good,” Berube said. “They were quite surpised I was able to recover from such a devastating accident. This tested my determination and how much I can push myself. From here on out I still feel determination to recover more and more by the day.”

Berube also thinks his backpack helped him absorb some of the impact of the crash.

“I always carry a backpack on me no matter where I travel,” he said. “My backpack took the heaviest hit of all so it protected me. Getting hit at 45 (mph), the backpack took some of the hit. They were surprised there was no heavy trauma to the head.”

Throughout the process, Berube is thankful for his family’s support.

“I would like to tell people all around, if you’ve ever been in a situation where you think all hope is gone, stay determined,” he said. “Family, love and support will hit you harder and you will feel it all the way through recovery. I was lucky enough to be alive and my family was happy to see me.”

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