35W BRIDGE COLLAPSE

UPDATE 9/24/2007

From KARE 11 News:

Benefits help two families devastated by 35W bridge collapse

Nearly two months after the collapse, it's not just the 35W bridge that needs rebuilding. Those who lost loved ones and those who survived also need a great deal of help.

Two benefits Sunday night raised money to help a couple of those families.

Proceeds from the first benefit at Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis went to Mercedes Gorden, who was seriously injured in the collapse.

"It makes me wanna cry, which is why I wore waterproof mascara," Gorden says with a smile.

She was one of the last survivors to leave the hospital. Her vertibra was fractured and basically everything below her knees was shattered in the collapse. She currently depends on a wheelchair to get around.

"My fiancee can't work now," she says. "He's my full-time caregiver, so he doesn't have a salary coming in."

(Heh. HeavyHanded's daughter can be seen in the video. She is standing in the background, next to the door entry with paper (flyers) in her hand while Mercedes , in the wheelchair, is getting a hug from someone.)

I got to give her a hard time about her cameo appearance on the news clip.

Also from KSTP News:

Concert raises money for 35W bridge survivor

The 35W bridge benefit concert, held in honor of survivor and hero Mercedes Gorden was a success Sunday night. On Aug. 1, Gorden was on top of the world. She had just received a promotion and a raise from her job at Best Buy's headquarters and she was heading home. Gorden almost made it that day, the car in front of her made it, but Gorden's Ford Escort plunged nose first 60 feet straight down to banks of the Mississippi. Gorden was to be married in September, but postponed the wedding so that she would have time to recover in order to dance with her fiancé. On Sunday, Gorden enjoyed the music that was played in her honor at the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis. The concert's proceeds will go towards Gorden's recovery. The Fine Line Music Café raised thousands of dollars through music and also through an online auction. Everything was donated. "It's astonishing to see all the support," said Gorden.

UPDATE 9/23/2007:
HeavyHanded and one daughter went down to the Fine Line Music Cafe to check it out and make our contribution. Another one of my daughters was handing out flyers at the door as you entered. The place seemed quite active and a quite a few people came through the door, it seemed to me. Music had the place rockin' and rollin. And of course, I had to sample the beer.

Donations can still be made:

While Mercedes has insurance, the recovery process will be long, with inevitable unforeseen (and uncovered) expenses. If you are interested in providing financial assistance during Mercedes’ recovery, please send donations here:

Online:

www.paypal.com
ID: almostredd@hotmail.com

Note: PayPal charges a one-time fee and a percentage of the total amount you donate. If you want the full amount of your donation to go to Mercedes, we urge you to use the address below. Also, these donations are not tax deductible.

By Mail:

Mercedes Gorden Recovery Fund
Midwest Bank
108 West Main
Dalton, MN 56324-0278
attn: Julie

A portion of all proceeds collected will be turned over to the American Red Cross – MN Chapter

UPDATE 9/21/2007:
The benefit show for Mercedes Gorden is this Sunday, September 23rd at the Fine Line Music Cafe, downtown Minneapolis. It starts at 6pm but I was told that the doors open at 5pm. There is a $15 suggested donation fee at the door.

Six bands are playing:

6:15 COACH SAID NOT TO
6:50 THE DEATHS
7:30 SO IT GOES
8:15 OCEAN BLUE
9:00 MELISMATICS
10:15 TAPESNTAPES

There will also be a silent auction.

All proceedings will go to Mercedes Gorden and to the Red Cross.


UPDATE 9/01/2007:
News video from KARE 11 News, Minneapolis
Neighbors build wheelchair ramp for 35W bridge collapse survivor

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As some of you may know because of an earlier post, one my daughters was very fortunate, thank God, in that she was on the way to the Minnesota Twins baseball game, on that very route, 1/4 of a mile from the bridge, stuck in traffic, when it went down. She had had a power outage earlier at her apartment that put her and her fiancee a little behind their intended time of departure. We are grateful for that.

Others, as we all know, were not as fortunate. My son's girlfriend's neighbor lost his son in that tragedy.

Another daughter of mine has a friend and co-worker that was on the bridge when it went down. She had just crossed the bridge when it buckled in front of her and underneath her and she dropped 60 feet and hit a bridge support. The car directly in front of her made it safely across the bridge.

Click to enlarge photo.

She (Mercedes) is still in the hospital -- on Wednesday it will be 2 weeks. It has been horrific for her. She was not able to get out of her car on her own. She suffered shattered feet, ankles, and shins, and a fractured back. She has suffered from excruciating pain, obviously; and when she does get out of the hospital, she will be in a body cast, and in a wheelchair, with many months of therapy. The doctors told her and her fiancee that if this would have happened 10 years ago, they would have had to amputate both of her legs.

She was to be married in a few months. Not sure of the status of that. If the time frame remains unchanged, she will be getting married in a wheelchair.

Her fiancee (Jake) is trying to set up a fund raiser at the Fine Line Music Cafe in Minneapolis for some time in September. Last I heard, they were still looking for bands to volunteer to play at the fund raiser.

There is a website http://www.caringbridge.org/ where you can go and where Jake is posting updates on how Mercedes is doing. It has pictures of her car, the bridge and of her after the accident.

You can sign the guest book if you wish, or you can leave messages for her to lift her spirits and to show your support. You don't have to know her in order to wish her well. The outpouring from complete strangers can do wonders. To enter her journal, look under the banner and pictures and on the left side of the page where it says 'Visit a CaringBridge website', you will see a window and a GO button. In the window, enter: mercedesgorden (just as I have typed it with no space between her first and last name.

It is a sad, but compelling story. Mercedes was into yoga and dancing prior to this accident. Now, it will be next to a miracle that she might walk again.

There is a second website for her where you can go and donate money to help them out if you have the resources to do so. (Any donation made on the first mentioned website, CaringBridge, goes to keep that website up and running - which is cool, too - but does not go toward helping Mercedes and Jake with their expenses.)

To donate money to help Mercedes, go here:
http://www.howwastheshow.com/mercedesinfo/

Let's keep the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Update:
The Fine Line benefit is now officially booked for Sunday, Sept. 23rd starting at 6:00. The band lineup will be confirmed by Wednesday of this week and will start contacting volunteers for flyering and the silent auction at that time.

Please pass this web address along to as many places as you can, including friends, blogs and message boards.

This message will be posted at the top of this site until Sept. 23rd. Please scroll down for recent postings.