BERNARDSVILLE, N.J., Jan. 28, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- There were no cuts, no bruises, no blood spilling onto the ground, but Scott Remington was not okay. His body was crushed, and what began as a normal morning became an arduous, heartfelt struggle with paralysis. Amy Montgomery tells his story in Just an Accident (now available through AuthorHouse).
On May 25, 1999, Remington, a logger and outdoorsman, was working in the Adirondack Mountains in a remote area of Upstate New York near his tiny hometown when the top of a massive tree snapped off, swung through the air and smacked him squarely in the back. His insides were crushed. When his brother, Earle, found him, Remington was literally folded back in half, his head and neck resting on the tree top, his legs tucked grotesquely behind his back. He floated in and out of consciousness, reeling from the pain and drowning from the massive internal bleeding.
Montgomery relates the harrowing story of how Earle was able to get help and the painstaking trek paramedics endured through the unforgiving terrain. Remington was airlifted to the nearest trauma center, and doctors labored to save his life. He later learned the freak accident had left him paralyzed from the chest down, and he began the long road to recovery. He refused to receive treatment from anywhere but the Kessler Institute where Christopher Reeve had gone after his accident.
Remington's inspirational story is a journey of how he slowly overcame his terror, sadness and self consciousness to rediscover the things he loved, such as hunting, snowmobiling, and coaching Little League. Just an Accident is an emotional journey that takes readers inside the devastating tragedy to emerge with rediscovered hope. His effecting story has earned adulations from many, including Reeve himself just weeks before his death.
"In an instant both Scott and I became members of a club that neither of us would ever have wanted to join. But instead of self pity, Scott has demonstrated relentless energy, drive and willpower that no disability can diminish. Montgomery has captured not only the drama of an accidental tragedy, but the power of the human spirit to overcome it," Reeve said.
A New Jersey based freelance writer, Montgomery has a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University and a master's degree from the University of Michigan. She has also worked as a radio reporter, press secretary and adjunct professor. It was on an assignment for the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation that she had a chance meeting with Remington, whose courage and harrowing story led her to write Just an Accident, her first book.
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