Toughest person you know?

[bigride]

I know someone who has endured double-digit surgeries without pain meds and without a bunch of whining.

This person has also had multiple treatments that include multiple injections directly into the eye while completely conscious. When asked how it went, the reply was "it really wasn't that bad."

This person broke 2 bones in the ankle and finished duties at a 3 day conference before going to the emergency room for x-rays. Three days of hobbling to finish the task at hand. A promise was made...and kept.

This person followed this up by breaking the other leg and a bone in the ankle coordinating a funeral dinner for a couple hundred people at church. Worked six hours on a bum leg to finish the dinner before heading to the hospital.

This "tough guy" may be a little accident prone and may face some other challenges I won't get into in detail (dialysis, renal failure, cancer). No whining. No complaining. No quit. All the while managing to encourage other people in all the waiting rooms and treatment rooms and hospital rooms, both patients and medical staff.

More amazing is that this tough guy is not even a guy. It's my wife...and she's my hero. Her attitude challenges me to keep my attitude in check.

Perhaps her most difficult task of all is just putting up with me...and it's a life sentence...of which she has faithfully served 26 years. When I want to complain about some piddly situation, I come home to the toughest person I know. I walk in the door, she smiles, and I realize that I don't really have anything worth complaining about.

So who's the toughest person you know?

 

[Rustyt1953]

Two, actually.

Ruthie's sister Sharon and her husband Gene. Sharon has cerebral palsy and has been in a wheelchair since birth. Gene has a rare form of Dystonia. (800 known cases) All the muscles in his body are solidifying. He watched his mother slowly draw up in a ball and suffocate. He knows he's next.

Sharon and Gene are in constant pain and their days of assisted living are coming to and end as we are looking into nursing homes.

They have tried to be as independent as they could and have spent the last thirty years completing each other. Gene hasn't been able to speak for years..he can only grunt..but Sharon has learned to interpret and speak for him. They are both facing an agonizing end and want to do it together.

They have never played the "pity" card.

They are why Ruthie and I never complain about anything and never will.

They are the two toughest people I know.

 

[BC38]

It may sound like bragging but in terms of dealing with injuries, I don't know anybody tougher than me.

I had a guy open a 3 inch gash across my forehead with a claw hammer in a fight, and I still beat the tar out of him.

I've had multiple stitches in a fingertip to sew it up without novacain or painkillers.

I've spent a whole weeknd with two broken bones in my right hand, one of them a complete dislocation break, before going to the doctor to have the bones set.

I've worked 6 hours to finish my shift after shearing the end of my right thumb nearly off - right across the center of the thumbnail.

I mashed the end of my right ring finger so bad it burst open like a popped balloon when I dropped a truck axle on it and mashed it into the concrete, but kept wrenching for 6 or 7 more hours to finish the axle swap, and never did go to the hospital.

I waited 15 hours to go to the hospital after shattering my right knee falling from a ladder (took 4 hours of surgery and 4 months on crutches for that one to heal it was broken so badly)

I decline the novacain when they stick a large guage needle into the joint of my knee (for arthritis injections) - multple shots every 6 months.

I tease my kid and tell him I'm tougher than boiled owl droppings.

 

[chud333]

My Mother. She raised myself and my two brothers mostly
by herself when Pops was stationed overseas three different
times. She never complained about it and she never took to
the bottle as most would had to have done.


Chuck

 

[Tom S.]

Beyond a doubt, my daughter. I'm not going to post her medical history on line, but I'll clue you in on a few things. When she was born, they immediately called in a specialist who gave her 24 hours to live. She has spent her life proving Dr.'s wrong and paving the way for others with similar conditions. She is now 43, the oldest living person with her condition and her remaining kidney is down to 12% function, thus on dialysis. Due to her other medical problems, she is not a candidate for a transplant. She has died twice and been brought back to life. She spends her good moments, what few she has, doing the things she wants to do, and the rest of the time, does her best not to be a burden. Because of her condition started at birth, she endured a lot of cruel teasing from other kids, but dealt with it on her terms. Her surgeries number in the hundreds.

She's my hero, and I couldn't imagine enduring 1/1000th of what she has been through. We both lost our best friend when her mom, my wife, died last year, and she became the rock I needed to get though the loss. I have no idea what I'll do if she goes before me.

 

[jscheck]

Wow. Threads like these remind me how blessed I've been! They serve as a reminder that you never know what the people you see on a daily basis are going through. As I've gotten older I've tried to remember not to complain so much about my own insignificant problems. In truth I've had a very fortunate life. Prayers for those of you going through these tough times.

 

[forindooruseonly]

I have a friend who compound fractured the bones in his hand, the tips of bone sticking out the top, not the palm.

The man took a nail clipper and trimmed them till they weren't protruding and then went about his business...

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.

 

[Arik]

I've cut my self open in several places pretty bad and just washed it out, bandaged and back to whatever I was doing. Completely closed a car door on my thumb once...that was fun! Got bit by a large dog on the hand. But I see that as normal guy stuff. The toughest I've seen were 2 people. My mom, who's had root canal done several times and all without novocaine! Hell no!!!! And a friend's dad who did exploratory surgery on himself to dig out shrapnel and a few bullets. He doesn't like doctors. His exect words were "why should I pay him when I can do it myself". Nope nope count me as one of the people to go directly to the hospital

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Rangerpat]

In the 1980's I was on a wildfire assignment in Medford, Oregon, working on a handtool crew cutting firelines on the side of a mountain.

Our fire crew had left Florida a day before and we were now working in heavy smoke at around 5,000 ft. elevation, air temp. in the 80's and humidity in the teens. Needless to say we were sucking wind big time trying to get acclimated to the elevation.

While working about 16 hours a day with very little sleep for about nine days, fatigue was kicking in. I noticed one of our crew members was popping a pill every morning when we stopped to take a break.

I informed the crew boss that this man was taking "something" and he might want to keep an eye on him. The next day the crew boss observed the wildland firefighter pop a pill, and the crew boss confronted the man.

The firefighter told us it was an antibiotic, and when we asked why he was taking it, he lifted his shirt and showed us a puncture wound on his abdomen that had a bunch of stitches. He explained that his girlfriend had stabbed him
four days before we left Florida!

That man was one tough individual to be able to work under those conditions.

 

[Muss Muggins]

Me . . . . .

 

[Gulfecho]

The strongest person I know is named Joe. He was a Captain in the Alaskan crabbing industry. I've seen him lift things that defy imagination. For some reason he likes me. I would not want to be on his bad side. He can be ornery as a Grizzly Bear but generally a good natured fellow.

 

[Maxshield]

+1 for Mom.

 

[allthumbs]

My grandson, who is now 8 years old. He has had at last count 28 surgeries and needs more, when he was born until he was about 4 years old he never spoke 1 word, they diagnosed him with severe autism, fast forward to them finding out his intestines were not working right, after his 1st surgery, he woke up in bed and could speak whole sentences. The Dr said he was in so much pain it would be like a human being pregnant with a full grown elephant and then giving birth to it. He is smart as a whip and never complains or even cries for that matter, if I ever start feeling sorry for myself I just have to think of him and that snaps me back into reality and makes me realize how lucky I really am. He will be with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life, and face many more operations, but he don't know anything different so he just takes it all in stride. He is only 8 but he is my hero !

 

[growr]

For ME....it is and will always be my mom. 22 surgeries in 19 years and NEVER EVER a complaint. She was hit in a car accident that should have killed her...it didn't thank the good lord.

She died last September at age 84 and will forever be missed. It is from her that I draw whatever strength I have mustered.

Randy

 

[timn8er]

That would have to be Dad. He has dealt with things too numerous to go into here, & he just keeps on keeping on. This morning when I was walking down the hall to the kitchen, I could hear him racing around. I've tried to get him to slow down, at least a little bit, & he promises to try, but he doesn't change. The only thing I've really seen affect him was my Mother's illness, Alzheimer's. I know he misses her terribly, and he goes to see her at least six days a week & would stay there(at the retirement home)with her all day if my sister & I would let him. He is definitely old time tough, as we say here in Texas.

 

[BearBio]

Mine was likely my Executive Officer in the Army. Went from NCO to an officer with a battlefield commission from Westmoreland. Airborne Ranger with 3 tours in the 'Nam. Purple Heart with clusters/leaves. A couple of MUCs and PUCs. Gave me a LOT of defensive tips (I know from private conversations, he killed at least one VC with a knife)

Ironically, one of the quietest, mellowest man I've ever met.

 

[JSR III]

That's easy, your wife. If you came near my eye with a needle I would scream and run away like a little girl...

 

[Protected One]

That would be Mr. Jim Harrison. Read his bio and you'll see why.
jimharrison

 

[Grayfox]

My Father.
Damned near blown to pieces by German artillery during WW II. They never thought he's make it to the aid station much less survive. Multiple medical issues for the rest of his life which resulted in many stays at the VA hospital during my childhood. Those injuries eventually caused the lower half of his right leg to be removed in the 1960s.
Had a stomach ulcer hemorrhage in the late 60s. Projectile vomiting blood and nearly bled out before the ambulance could get him to the hospital. Lost half his stomach to that.
FOUR heart attacks and underwent SEVEN bypasses at one time. That surgery was so rare at the time doctors flew in from all over the country just to watch.
Never heard him complain once. He was a kind, loving and good natured man who just dealt with it.
And despite all this and the fact that he had a Disabled Veteran license plate, he would not park in a Handicapped space. When I asked him why, he replied "Son, there are people who need those."

 

[30-30remchester]

I have had the privilege to worked with many tough men in my career. I watched my dad get the handle of an 18" pipe wrench shoved through the palm of his hand. He finished his job, drove 10 miles to the doctor, did not like that doctor, so he drove another 40 miles to another doctor. He got in a car wreck which shoved his knee cap to his upper thigh. Not a winch, I picked him up a couple hours after it happened and drove him 70 miles to his doctor as he did not like the doctors in the ER.

Worked with a tough skinny Colorado cowhand. This is the only man I knew who actually strangled a bobcat to death.

Kinda grew up with a skinny old Italian, was my best friends dad, and Alvin worked from sunup to sundown doing hard physical labor. When he was 75 I stopped by his house. He was up an apple tree pruning. He had 3 bungee cords wrapped around his waist. I assumed they were there to assist in the pruning operation. I was wrong. A few months before he was trying to roll a large boulder from a hole, again he was 75 years old, and he ruptured himself, giving himself a double hernia. The bungee cords were around his waist to hold his guts from falling out. He said he was too busy to get it repaired till he slowed down come winter time.