Nikki's road to recovery

On Thursday, May 3rd, while on her way to work, Nikki lost consciousness behind the wheel - and awoke in extreme pain, in her badly damaged car. The accident was pretty severe. The good news is that she survived it,  no one else was hurt, and her doctors have determined the cause. The bad news is that - as you can probably imagine - the financial impact is going to be quite large.

Please read Nikki's story below, from her best friend Cyn, and consider giving what you can to help ease the financial burden for a bright, kind, talented woman who is loved by so many of us...


FROM CYN:

For those who have the honor of sharing the stage with Nikki Atkins, everyone agrees she is a very creative and talented lady. You may have laughed and then commiserated with Kate Monster in Avenue Q or smiled at her recent portrayal of the Daughter in Two Noble Kinsmen. Nikki is always happy to lend a hand in many areas of stagecraft. 



Now it is time for our community and theatre family to offer a lending hand to Nikki. She is currently an inpatient at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. On Thursday, May 3rd, Nikki was on her way to work at 8:30 am when she felt a bit “woogie.” Before she had a chance to pull over, she was waking to pain and a few people asking how she was feeling. Nikki had blacked out behind the wheel and an ambulance arrived quickly to the scene to whisk her away to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital. 



Under Dr. Fraser’s expert care it was determined she had fractured both her right hand and left ankle and compression fractures of her 11th and 12th vertebrae. Unfortunately, she also had the glass from her shattered driver’s side window embedded in her feet. While in the ER they discovered her EKG exposed a heart arrhythmia, concerned, they admitted her as a patient to watch this patter closer and within a couple of hours determined she needed to be transferred to a cardiac specialist at Good Sam. 

With sirens screaming, Pacific West Ambulance whisked her to Good Samaritan and a team of experts examined the results of many tests to tell her they wanted to schedule a procedure to give her a pace maker so they may better monitor her heart’s activity. After another syncopal episode, they decided they could fit her in and after a few hours in surgery Nikki is resting comfortably and in good spirits. She will be at least a few days in the PCU unit of Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis.



Nikki is the type of lady who would never even think to ask for help, but I know this is going to be a large expense for her, in the tune of several thousand dollars. If you have been touched by the “can-do” spirit of this woman, please donate what you can spare to help ease the financial stress from her recovery.

Thank you so very much for your kind generosity,

Cyn Wilkes (her sister from another mother)