THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 1, 1994 TAG: 9411300173
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
IN 1971, 20-YEAR-OLD Pat King was newly married, living in her ``dream home'' and enjoying a new job as a dental assistant.
That was before the accident that changed her life.
King and her then-husband were traveling in their car in Newport News when another driver forced them off the road. Their car hit a tree, and Pat King suffered serious injuries.
``I broke my neck, and they weren't expecting me to live,'' King said. ``At that time, there was no law about wearing a seat belt, and I wasn't wearing one.''
King was in Riverside Hospital in Newport News for eight months before her transfer to the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center in Fishersville, where she remained for 22 months.
``I went through every emotion there was. I was ready to leave the center. I was angry, hurt, and went through denial. I had to learn to use my hands again. In fact, I had to learn to do everything over again.''
Although she is a quadraplegic, King has come a long way since that fateful day 23 years ago. Today, she works full time and often travels to area churches to present inspirational talks.
A receipt control clerk at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, King was recently nominated and selected as the shipyard's Outstanding Disabled Employee of the Year for the second time. She also was chosen in 1989.
King's ability to become independent and apply for employment began at the rehabilitation center. Therapy helped her to learn to use her hands, move her legs, sit up, and turn over. Social activities and classes in various job fields also were available.
King was assigned a counselor and attended classes in business management. A graduate of Forest Glen High School, she had received a certificate as a dental assistant at the Career Academy in Washington, N.C., in 1969.
``I learned to write from a girl who had no arms, and I can type by using a mouthstick on a computer. A lot of things I picked up on my own because I'll try things. In my job, I have typed 539 documents in a day, but I average 300 to 400.''
Another positive development took place while King was living in Fishersville. She met her second husband, Gerald L. King. A paraplegic, he had also been injured in an automobile accident.
The couple was married on Pat King's graduation day at the center. Today, Gerald King is a data information clerk at the Norfolk Naval Air Station and engraves brass plaques for naval ceremonies.
The couple moved to Suffolk in 1975, and Pat King became involved in volunteer work and attended classes at Paul D. Camp Community College.
``One day, one of my counselors told me that the shipyard had a program to incorporate disabled people into their work force and would I be interested in a job? I told him I'd give it a shot.''
King is a former volunteer for an outreach program for disabled people and a member of the NAACP. She also is an auxiliary member of the Venture Van Club in Portsmouth whose members participate in parades and strive to help the elderly and needy.
Her hobbies include shopping, puzzles, painting, collecting teddy bears and outdoor activities with family and friends.
A member of the Mineral Spring Baptist Church, King recently composed a poem entitled ``Re-awakening.'' Last summer, she was notified it had been published in the 1994 edition of the National Library of Poetry in Owings Mills, Md.
``It's about my life,'' she said, ``the struggle and survival.'' ILLUSTRATION: U.S. Navy photograph
Pat King has been selected as the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's
Outstanding Disabled Employee of the Year for the second time.
by CNB