A columnist recounts a personal injury incident from Labor Day weekend when they tripped over an electric scooter, resulting in a fractured elbow. The narrative explores the theme of gratitude for bodily function through everyday tasks that become challenging with limited mobility, such as dressing and preparing food. The article also highlights the perseverance of Josh Turek, a Senate candidate born with spina bifida who became a Paralympian despite significant physical challenges, to illustrate the resilience of those living with disabilities permanently.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
ON THE SUNDAY EVENING OF Labor Day Weekend, after a delightful dinner with close friends, I tripped over one of those ubiquitous electric rent-a-scooters.
asserted
I → trip → scooters
I went down hard, landing on my knee and arm, though luckily not hitting my head.
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I → go → head
At home that night, I couldn’t even bend my left elbow enough to remove my earrings or necklace.
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I → bend → earrings
For those who know me well, the surest sign of injury is that I couldn’t summon the strength in my left hand or arm to floss my teeth.
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I → know → teeth
A couple of days later, I got an x-ray and confirmed that the arm was indeed fractured at the elbow.
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arm → get → elbow
I relate this tale not to seek your sympathy—though who doesn’t welcome a little lovingkindness in this world?—but to make a point about gratitude.
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who → relate → gratitude
I am thankful that, for the most part, my body works.
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body → work → part
Without a functioning left hand, it becomes a challenge to do ordinary things like pull on your socks, pants, shirts, and jackets.
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it → function → socks
Tying shoes is a task!
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Tying → tie → shoes
Simple gestures like plugging the charger cable into your phone require contortions.
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gestures → plug → contortions
To fasten a seat belt on the driver’s side, I have to reach over my left shoulder with my right hand.
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I → fasten → hand
You can’t unscrew a soda bottle or a jar of peanut butter—to say nothing of mixing, stirring, chopping, slicing, and the various other two-handed motions involved in preparing food.
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You → unscrew → food
And speaking of opening things, the fiends at the Kenvue consumer health company have designed Tylenol bottles to be child-proof—which also means that they are impossible to open with one hand.
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they → speak → hand
My pain and inconvenience are temporary though, which is a good reminder of the people who live with disabilities forever.
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who → live → disabilities
I had been marveling just last week about Josh Turek, who’s running for Senate in Iowa.
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who → marvel → Iowa
Born with spina bifida, Turek would go on to become an Paralympian in wheelchair basketball.
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Turek → bear → basketball
This man has an iron will.
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man → have → will
Here’s a description of his early years from the New York Times:
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description → ’ → Times
The Tureks’ oldest boy [Josh] had surgery after surgery on his clubfoot, his faulty hips and his stunted spine.
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boy → have → clubfoot
He didn’t crawl until he was 3.
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he → crawl → ?
He didn’t walk until he was 5.
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he → walk → ?
He lugged his legs with a herky-jerky gait until he started using a wheelchair at 10.
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he → lug → 10
He was bullied so badly that he moved to Missouri for middle school, living with his great aunt and attending the Christian school where she taught.
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she → bully → school
When he was campaigning door-to-door for a state House seat in 2022, Turek would sometimes drag himself and his wheelchair up stairs to knock on people’s front doors.
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Turek → campaign → doors
This caused more than a few eyebrows to rise in amazement.
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eyebrows → cause → amazement
“Always, the first question is, ‘How in the world did you get up here?’” Turek recounted.
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Turek → get → world
“And I say, ‘I dragged my wheelchair up here.
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I → say → wheelchair
That’s how important your vote is.’”
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vote → ’ → ?
Sen. Bob Dole lived 77 of his 98 years without the use of his right arm and hand.
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Dole → live → arm
Serving with the 10th Mountain Division in Italy during World War II, Dole was struck by a German shell that shattered his collarbone and shoulder and damaged part of his spine.
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that → serve → spine
He was paralyzed from the neck down when medics reached him.
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medics → paralyze → him
Assuming he would die, they gave him the biggest possible safe dose of morphine and drew an M on his forehead in his own blood to warn other medics against accidentally killing him with more.
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they → assume → more
Transported back home to Kansas for treatment, he spent three long years in military hospitals, relearning every task of life.
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he → transport → life
The paralysis gradually receded, but Dole never regained the use of his right arm or hand.
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Dole → recede → arm
He habitually carried a pen in his permanently closed fist to deter people from attempting to shake that hand.
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He → carry → hand
Throughout his life, he struggled with dressing, eating, and personal care.
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he → struggle → dressing
Also treated at the same hospital was Daniel Inouye, who lost his arm fighting in Italy, and Philip Hart, who was wounded on D-Day.
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who → treat → Day
The three became friends and later served together; Inouye as senator from Hawaii and Hart as senator from Michigan.
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three → become → Michigan
Many people suffer with handicaps that are not obvious to the naked eye.
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that → suffer → eye
I recently learned that a friend has tinnitus.
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friend → learn → tinnitus
…and 3 more, not listed.
