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SubmittedApril 24, 2012

I've run up and down my front steps for 25 years without incident, but on a cold, windy day in January I mis-stepped, falling face down into the yard. A quick trip by ambulance to the emergency room and X-rays showed a broken ankle. I'd be laid up for six to eight weeks. How could I manage that with a son at home to care for and no health or medical insurance? Not to worry -- I made a phone call to my friends at the church and they all took over from there...

Ella Jean Pleasant

I've run up and down my front steps for 25 years without incident, but on a cold, windy day in January I mis-stepped, falling face down into the yard.

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A quick trip by ambulance to the emergency room and X-rays showed a broken ankle. I'd be laid up for six to eight weeks. How could I manage that with a son at home to care for and no health or medical insurance? Not to worry -- I made a phone call to my friends at the church and they all took over from there.

As my foot was placed into a cast and I was issued crutches, a couple entered my room to usher me back home. On the way they stopped at the pharmacy, filling my pain prescription I'd surely need in the days and weeks ahead.

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