Florence man has close call with death
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
Robert Johnson, 66, of Florence, decided to attend the Walnut Valley Blue Grass Festival in Winfield Friday and Saturday. He had never been there.
As it turned out, he spent most of the time in a Winfield hospital.
Johnson has lung disease but did not have a handicapped-parking permit.
When he arrived at the festival's parking lot, it was almost full, and he had to walk a long way to get to the action. His cousin and wife, Joel and Alice Hayes of Florence, met him at the grandstand. He was breathless.
Joel and Alice offered to bring a car up to take him to the camp, but he insisted he felt strong enough to walk back. He returned to the campground with Joel, who offered him a place to rest in their air-conditioned RV.
Joel returned to the festival. Minutes later, Johnson found himself hardly able to breathe. He opened the door and called for an ambulance.
The Hayes' daughter, Kathy, a doctor, and several EMTs arrived on the scene, and soon Johnson was on his way to William Newton Memorial Hospital.
An X-ray revealed a hole in a collapsed lung (possibly created when Johnson coughed) and a chest cavity filled with air pressing against the other lung.
Doctors inserted a tube to gradually release the air. They said Johnson may have died if he had arrived at the hospital five or 10 minutes later.
Johnson spent Friday night in intensive care and was released Saturday afternoon to go home.
Although disappointed at having missed the festival, he didn't miss out on the action altogether. Hayes' son, Joel Hayes Jr. of Denver, Colo., is a guitar player and band leader and was participating in the festival. He and a group of friends went to the hospital Saturday and gave a concert for Johnson in the ICU.
"Bob was thrilled," Alice said. Her husband later took him home where he is said to be doing better.
Joel and Alice go to Winfield before the festival each year to reserve a camping site for about 25-30 of their musician friends. The get-together is the highlight of the year for them.
Johnson's brush with death made this year's event even more exciting than usual. They are thankful he survived.
