118th Year, 23rd Issue Thursday, January 18, 2007 Sparta, North Carolina

The long road home
Delp (99K) James Delp is well on the road to recovery six months after he was injured in a serious four-wheeler accident.

Delp recovering from ATV accident that nearly claimed his life

By LAURA DEAN
Staff

Nearly six months after being in a serious accident while riding his four-wheeler, James Delp is well on the road to recovery.

James and his wife Beth recount the day in late June 2006 that changed the family's life. Mrs. Delp explained her husband had worked all day June 22, 2006, and as a typical end-of-the-day tradition, Mr. Delp took a joyride on his four-wheeler down to the end of the road and back. En route back home, tragedy struck.

"There was two vehicles behind me and I was on my four-wheeler and I was going 40 to 50 miles per hour," James remembers. "At first, I'd seen a deer. I didn't know it was coming in front of me; I thought it was just going right up (into) my neighbor's yard. The next thing I knew, bang! Across me it went and I can't hardly remember much after that."

The accident report written by Trooper R.L. Lane of the North Carolina Highway Patrol stated Delp was ejected onto the roadway, and while the four-wheeler traveled off the right side of the road, overturned and came to rest against a wire fence, Delp traveled off the right side of the road and came to rest on the shoulder. Beth recalled a doctor in Winston-Salem gave her husband of seven years 48 hours to 72 hours to live.

"He's a miracle man," she said with a smile.

With his wife by his side, Delp was taken via helicopter from the site to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center (N.C. Baptist), where he stayed until Aug. 2, 2006.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News!

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