Victoria Windell
Victoria Windell, has worked for Head Start for 11 years, helping low-income families with children age three to five years with their free preschool program. “We take special needs, mental health, we take them all,” says Windell, Family Support Worker for Jefferson County, Colo. “Head Start is a unique program in that we are able to help children with special needs and past trauma right on site as we have specialists for both. My job there is to help the parents and the families that come in to get outside resources. If all of a sudden, they lose their housing, they have to get a new car, food stamps, it’s a broad spectrum.” She adds, “If I had to think of the most ideal job, this would be it because I love children and I love helping people.”
One of those people Windell aided was a single mom of three. Windell worked to get her a job. Then she helped the woman with her broken-down car, a gesture that had tremendous consequences. The woman put the car in drive instead of reverse, stepped on the gas and crushed Victoria’s leg against a cement wall. This time it was Victoria who needed help.
Photo of Vistoria Windell
Victoria spent four weeks in the hospital trying to save her leg. She was prepped for what she thought would be exploratory surgery to determine her recovery, and awoke to discover her leg was gone. The leg had not healed properly. One doctor compared the damaged leg to a crockpot of shredded beef. “Because of the way [the amputation] happened, I didn’t have time to think about it and get scared about it,” says Victoria.
That wasn’t Victoria’s only crisis. She was later diagnosed with breast cancer. She thought she needed a Lumpectomy. After the procedure and both breasts were evented out, the sutures didn’t heal. Victoria developed an autoimmune disease called Pyoderma Gangrenosum. “All of a sudden, I wasn’t healing and my breast started getting eaten away. One in a trillion people get this disease,” says Victoria. She spent three months in Anschutz Medical Center, where both breasts were removed, leaving her with a large horizonal scar covering her entire breast area.
Recovery from all that surgery and its aftermath was challenging. Victoria worked hard to regain strength and mobility as well as her self-confidence. But it really was the community that healed her, she says. Bob’s Burgers in Golden held a fundraiser. Victoria’s sister-in-law and her children started a Go Fund Me page to help pay for prosthetics. Her church supported her spiritually. And the adaptive community took her in, teaching her how to rock climb, snow board and mountain bike. Moreover, she found her old job was waiting for her when she was ready to go back to work.
Victoria is planning on repaying that generosity by helping others. She wants to work with other amputees, especially those closer to her age. “My slice of heaven would be to give back,” says Victoria. Her near-death experience has changed her outlook, too. “Even though I’m 57, I am anxious to pursue new opportunities, I’m more spontaneous and I am hungry to learn new things.”
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