WILDWOOD CREST – To say that Wildwood Crest resident Kim Shipe has gone through a lot in her life would be an understatement – a vast understatement. She was a victim of sexual assault as a teenager and later had what she called a nasty divorce.
She has had more than 100 surgeries since 2002, when an elderly driver mistook the gas pedal for the brake and slammed her through the wall of an outdoor restaurant where she was waiting for her order.
And just when she thought that ordeal might be ending, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Yet the 67-year-old, who has lived in the Crest for over 20 years, has maintained her sense of humor and has a positive outlook on life.
She credits her strong faith and beliefs that enable her to “live life for the Lord. My faith has allowed me to forgive, to get to a place where I can live joyfully.”
Earlier this year her book telling her story, “Fear Not, Angels Are Summoned: How One Woman Overcame Unimaginable Suffering to Live a Life of Joy,” was published. She will be doing book signings this fall and next year.
In telling the story of the 2002 accident that so drastically changed her life, Shipe said that at first she thought she had been shot, until she realized she was sitting atop a car. She recalled that a paramedic who responded to the accident was unable to perform his duties because her legs were twisted in unnatural directions and it was so upsetting.
“I thought I could scoot off the car and jump off, but a man, who was at the scene, saw what I wanted to do and ended up catching me when I tried to jump off,” she said. “My legs were just flailing in the air.”
Her son, who was 15 at the time, and daughter, who was 12, witnessed the crash. Shipe had been a critical care nurse for 15 years and a school nurse for almost six years when the accident happened.
“This man told me my kids were watching and could hear everything being said, and I went from victim mode to nurse mode,” she said.
“I asked the man to take my kids around to the back of the building so they couldn’t see what was going on. I knew this would traumatize them and thought I needed to make a joke or something, so I asked the man if my to-go order was ready. He looked at me like ‘What?’ I said, ‘I’m joking,’ but I knew things were bad.”
With shattered legs, Shipe believed she was dying in the ambulance. Her injuries were too severe for the nearby hospital to treat, so she ended up being sent to another, larger surgery facility. Her blood pressure dropped, she was losing blood, and she lost consciousness, but she recalled seeing a “heavenly angel.”
“I saw this woman with long hair over me, praying,” she said. “This peace came over me, and the pain was gone. I thought I was going to die.”
Shipe said she was a runner before the accident, and she recalled her husband asking the doctor to “do his best to keep my legs. The doctor told him he wasn’t sure he would be able to keep me alive. That put things into perspective.”
She had 30 surgeries that first year, and used a wheelchair for the next five years. The family moved back to Reading, Pennsylvania, where they were originally from, because they would have an extensive support system there. She remembers doing physical therapy to learn how to walk again.
“My daughter played basketball in school, and I would go to watch her play, and sometimes I would walk in if it was a short distance, instead of using a wheelchair,” Shipe said. “At one point, my daughter told me to ‘lose the limp’ because it embarrassed her. I cried, but I asked my physical therapist what could we do to get rid of the limp. It took about a year, but I did lose it. My daughter was my toughest critic, but it pushed me even more.”
Over many years, she endured dozens of painful surgeries. Just when she thought her ordeal might be over, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a bilateral mastectomy in 2009.
She found the dressings very uncomfortable and decided to research fabrics, and eventually she sat at her sewing machine to make her own dressings. She used bright-colored fabrics to boost her self-esteem and made the dressings for everyone she thought needed them. Now they are being mass-produced for human as well as for animal use through a business she founded called Miss Daisy Medical.
Along the way, Shipe decided to share her story in a book, and “Fear Not” was published in January.
“I honestly never had aspirations to write anything, it happened by total accident,” she said. “However, I’d also have to tell you that I don’t believe in anything being accidental, no coincidences. Instead, I believe that everything happens for a reason. It’s up to us to choose how to react in a given situation.
“While in the hospital, I started with really bad symptoms associated with PTSD,” she explained. “The flashbacks got so intense that I felt like I was losing my mind. I had experienced symptoms of PTSD many times in the past, but each time the symptoms were so different. I couldn’t figure it out for weeks as I silently suffered with the symptoms. I was so afraid to tell people what was actually occurring.”
Eventually, she talked with her nurse and got the help she needed to begin her healing journey.
“My psychiatric nurse visited me, and she suggested that I begin to write some thoughts down. At first it was very basic, just a thought or two scribbled on paper, since I was so sick,” she said.
“I’ve had more trauma than most people I know, but I have forgiven everyone. I’m now in a place of joyful living.”
Her book covers everything from living a nomadic childhood as the daughter of a military veteran who treated his undiagnosed PTSD with alcohol, to surviving the trauma of sexual assault that began at the age of 13 by a classmate, to a “nasty” divorce.
Despite her physical and psychological scars, Shipe maintains her faith and strength with the support and compassion of her “earthly angels” – her husband, children, grandchildren, friends and extended family.
“With their help and that of the Lord, I’ve learned to heal, build a successful business and live in joy with faith, forgiveness, fun and lots of therapy,” she said. “I so enjoyed writing my book that I have several others planned already and am looking into doing a public speaking tour. I’ve still got my sense of humor, and look forward to what the Lord has in store for me.”
Shipe will do a book signing at Stephanie’s of Stone Harbor Saturday, Oct. 21. All proceeds will be donated to the Soroptimist Organization of Cape May, an organization that she belongs to and supports because of its mission to help empower young girls and women through scholarships and other means.
She also will be doing a book signing at a new design store in Court House, Matthew Thomas Designs, Sunday, Oct. 22, and book signings next summer at the Avalon Library and the greater Wildwood Library System, where she has already donated copies of her book.
Contact the author, Karen Knight, at kknight@cmcherald.com.
