opinion

Teen's triumphant walk to graduation after horrific crash

LANSING – As her daughter struggled to survive a horrific December accident that fractured her pelvis and both legs, Delsa Chapman kept a vision of hope.

She prayed to see her daughter walk across a stage in her red Sexton High School cap and gown to collect her diploma. That vision became a joyful reality last weekend when Jocelyn Chapman not only strode across the stage at the Don Johnson Fieldhouse, she did it in 4 1/2-inch high heels.

Delsa Chapman, a Lansing School District administrator, presented her daughter with her diploma in an emotional moment on the fieldhouse stage.

"There were many times I didn't know if I was going to graduate. I didn't know if I was going to be alive. I didn't know if I was going to walk. It was very emotional for me to get over that big milestone and walk that stage." – Jocelyn Chapman

And the entire battalion from Lansing Fire Station No. 1, who responded to the accident scene, showed up in a fire truck to cheer Jocelyn's triumph and to give her a graduation gift.

"I was very emotional," Jocelyn said. "There were many times I didn't know if I was going to graduate. I didn't know if I was going to be alive. I didn't know if I was going to walk. It was very emotional for me to get over that big milestone and walk that stage."

The accident that critically injured Jocelyn also took the life of her father, Glen Chapman, 46, a barber and musician. Jocelyn's car had run out of gas on a busy I-496 off ramp, where Cedar, Larch and Pennsylvania converge. Her father was trying to fill the tank. A car exiting the ramp slammed into both Glen and Jocelyn as they stood next to the car.

Glen Chapman died the next day. It was Dec. 11, Jocelyn's 18th birthday.

In the six months since, the family, which includes her older brother, Ellis, 21, has focused on Jocelyn's recovery. A big part of that was making it to Jocelyn's graduation.

Jocelyn said she was determined. She spent five weeks in the hospital immobilized from a badly broken pelvis and multiple compound fractures in both legs. Then her recovery continued at home, working with a homebound teacher. In late March, she returned to school in the afternoons.

"I came a long way to 'about graduate' and I just wasn't going to not graduate," she said.

When she started to put weight on her feet March 24, she asked her skeptical physical therapists to help her get back into her beloved high heels in time for prom. She began with strength exercises on baby heels.

Not only did she wear heels to her graduation, she attended her April 25 prom and two other proms in heels.

She is clearly delighted by the accomplishment.

"I think it catches everybody off guard," she said.

Delsa Chapman was participating in the graduation ceremonies not only as a parent but as the magnet schools coordinator for the district. The plan was to surprise Jocelyn and have Chapman be the one to step up to hand her daughter the diploma on the stage.

"As I saw her enter the ranks to walk across the stage, I came out of high school administrator mode, and I definitely was 100 percent a mom who literally could see a miracle walking across the stage," Delsa said. "I felt a definite connection to God and to heaven. For the last six months, when I prayed I would envision in my mind's eye seeing her in her red cap and gown walking across the stage."

Jocelyn's injuries are not apparent. Her gait is normal. The most noticeable thing about her is her appealing wide grin. Under her leggings, however, she said her legs hold a patchwork of scars from surgeries and abrasions. She said she is not in pain but is stiff and sore.

Her mother said Jocelyn still has a long recovery ahead and that setbacks after the initial injuries threatened her daughter's life. Four days into recovery, Jocelyn was put on life support to help her breathe after a lung infection set in. Despite widespread support from the community, Delsa said, "I don't think people understood the ups and downs we went through in terms of her injuries."

She faces more surgeries to remove pins in her pelvis and a plate from her left leg. And she continues with physical therapy three times a week. Her voice is weakened from the accident and doctors are keeping tabs on a mild traumatic brain injury.

Jocelyn said she has been buoyed by many friends, family members, nurses and especially some of those from the night of the accident who have kept in touch with her.

One was Therese Hecksel, a cancer care nurse at Michigan State University, who was driving by in a car with her nephew when they came upon the chaotic accident scene. Hecksel leapt from the car to comfort and support Glen Chapman as he lay in the middle of traffic before police and paramedics arrived.

Jocelyn read about Hecksel in an online Lansing State Journal story as she was researching a school paper on accidents in March. Jocelyn was moved by the bravery and found Hecksel on Facebook. "I told her how thankful I was and how appreciative I was of her. I told her I'd like to meet her."

Hecksel had been tracking Jocelyn's progress through a mutual friend but had not reached out to her, until she got the Facebook message and the two began to talk.

Jocelyn had a graduation party Sunday with 350 in attendance. Hecksel was among them.

"This young woman has touched a lot of lives, including my own. For her to, months later, instead of saying these are bad memories...to meet me and invite me to her open house, it was just..." Hecksel choked up and didn't finish her sentence. "I can't say enough great things about her."

She plans to stay in touch. "She's got the most beautiful smile. She just lights up a room,'' Hecksel said.

Jocelyn recalled meeting her at the open house. "We had a very warm-filled hug,'' she said.

Rob Terranova was at the party, too. He was the lead paramedic on the accident scene. He rode with Jocelyn and talked to her on the way to Sparrow Hospital.

Terranova said he couldn't stop thinking about the young woman and her serious injuries. He wanted to visit the family after the accident but hesitated, not wanting to intrude. Finally, with the encouragement of his wife, he met with Jocelyn's mom, aunt and grandmother and described Jocelyn's remarkable calm at the scene.

"With her injuries, we had to move her fast. I told her 'This is really going to hurt' to get her safe. She never screamed. She never made a peep. Right there I knew she was extremely tough and brave," he said.

He later visited Jocelyn as she recovered at the hospital.

"He told me I'm really brave, I'm really strong and not many people get through things that I'm getting through,'' she said.

On Memorial Day, Terranova texted Jocelyn's aunt and got Jocelyn's phone number. The call led to Jocelyn and her brother coming to visit the firefighters that same day. They stayed for two hours, ate dinner with the crew, toured the station and Jocelyn even slid down the firehouse pole.

"She didn't understand why this group of 15 firemen really care so much to see her…She walked in on her own power and own two feet. It was crazy with the injuries she had," Terranova said. The paramedic said that in his eight years of responding to accidents, he's seen a half-dozen similar injuries. He knew she could have died, lost her legs or have been paralyzed.

During the dinner, Jocelyn asked about the UGG boots she was wearing the night of the accident and wondered if she could get them back. They were new, expensive and they were the first purchase she had made with her own money earned from a job as a locker room attendant at the Michigan Athletic Club.

The boots had been soaked with gasoline and cut from her at the accident scene.

After that dinner, Captain Bill Pawluk said the firefighters immediately chipped in to raise the $200 to replace her boots.

Then the entire crew took a truck to graduation to surprise Jocelyn with the boots right before the ceremony began.

"To know that people still think of me on a daily basis and wonder how I'm doing and that they tried to be in touch is what really counts," she said.

The firefighters said they got a lot out of Jocelyn's visit Memorial Day and wanted to give her something back.

"I think for a lot of us seeing her do so well is almost therapeutic for us. A lot of times when people are injured as critically as she was, they don't survive. To see her not only survive but to do so well and do so much with her life, is just truly inspirational," Pawluk said.

Delsa Chapman said the family felt her late husband's presence on graduation day. A large photograph of Glen Chapman rests on an easel in the family's dining room.

"I often go to the portrait and just talk to him. We know that he's here in spirit,'' she said. "We are doing as well as can be expected. We are very close to God. We have a very strong Christian faith.We support one another."

On Monday, a new chapter begins. Delsa and Jocelyn will attend freshmen orientation at Michigan State University. Jocelyn plans to study to be a nurse.

Freelance journalist Matthew Dae Smith contributed to this report. Contact Judy Putnam at (517) 267-1304 or jputnam@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam or on Facebook.com/judy.putnam