Fall leaves GR women grateful

It was a Tuesday morning, around 1 a.m.

Pamela Spivak, who is paralyzed on the left side after a stroke she suffered in 2011, was in bed when she started reaching for her cell phone on the nightstand next to her bed.

"I guess I was too close to the edge," she said.

As she reached for it, she fell from her bed, knocking her phone to the floor and falling onto it.

"I was able to hang onto the bar," she said, referring to the bed rail on the right side of the bed.

"I knew I had fallen on my phone," she said. "I got scared sitting on my telephone."

Spivak said she had no choice but to push the button on her Medical Alert necklace.

Once the button is pushed, people on Spivak's emergency contact list are notified. Spivak said first her neighbor Maria Redondo was alerted and then Brenda Cronk was alerted. Lastly, emergency personnel were notified. In this case, Castle Rock Ambulance Service and Green River Police Department.

Within 5 minutes, GRPD Sgt. Mark McDonald arrived at Spivak's house. Shortly after his arrival, Castle Rock Ambulance EMT's Keisha Robinson and Anney Burroughs arrived.

Spivak said McDonald was able to help her get her feet underneath her body so she would be able to stand. While officer Cronk was helping Spivak, Redondo arrived and was told by emergency personnel that they were taking care of Spivak and she was not hurt.

"I am so grateful to them because I am so helpless because of my stroke," she said. "They were so professional."

Spivak said her dog, Shadow, was with her the whole time making sure she was OK. Shadow did growl at McDonald, but let him help her up.

"The emergency response team, they're outstanding," he said. "They deserve all the credit they can get."

After all the emergency personnel had left, Cronk also showed up to check on Spivak.

Spivak could not speak highly enough of how fast emergency services arrived and how professional they were.

Not the first fall

Spivak, who is glad to be living in her own home, said this wasn't the first time she had fallen while in the house. Her first fall occurred in April of 2014, when she was walking down the hallway.

"It's 50 steps from my bed to the kitchen table," Spivak said.

Since she is paralyzed on her left side, she uses a hemi walker, a device designed to help her move her paralyzed leg. Unlike her recent fall, Spivak said she was able to get her feet back under her and continue down the hallway.

Her most recent fall occurred after the Tuesday fall. It happened the next night, Spivak said she once again was too close to the edge, but since she is paralyzed on that side she must not have noticed. This time she fell, but was able to hold herself up with the bedside bar.

She dumped her table over and knocked a light off of the nightstand, which broke.

This time, she was injured. She had a couple of bruises on her left side, but she was OK.

Even though Spivak has had a stroke, she still considers herself lucky.

"God took half of my body with this stroke, but he's blessed me with angels," she said. "I have all of those angels who take care of me."

She said her angels are Redondo, Cronk and Chris Barrera. She said Redondo and Cronk are constantly checking on her to make sure she is OK.