Last week, I wrote a letter to the editor regarding the City of Centralia’s lack of maintenance of their sidewalks and apologizing to the citizens who use wheelchairs for not thinking of them.
I wasn’t wrong to apologize to them, but I should have included the ordinary pedestrians also.
I walk Cooks Hill road and Mellen Street quite often. Last Saturday, on my normal walk, while attempting to cross the drive into the police training facility, I made a misstep on the handicap ramp that had been removed and replaced with gravel.
As a result of that misstep, I now have several broken ribs, several stitches, innumerable bruises and a facial fracture that will probably require reconstructive surgery.
I would like to thank the two good Samaritans who stopped to help me and contacted emergency personnel to take me to the Providence Centralia Hospital emergency room. I did not get their names but their actions restore one's faith in the citizens of Centralia.
I am now in a great deal of pain from the fractured ribs and not in the least looking forward to what possibly may have to be done to repair my face.
I hope the city saved enough money by not repairing sidewalks that they tore up to make that pain worthwhile.
James E Howe
Centralia
