The Accident That "Killed" Mark Coon
A Story About Finding Himself After a Life-Changing Accident
Launch the media gallery 1 playerOn Wednesday, September 21, in the Northwest Recreational shop located in Goodland, Kan., head mechanic and former student at Saint Francis Community High School, 18-year-old Mark Coon had a tire explode in his face.
He had stretched the last tire over the rim and began airing it up while standing on it. The bottom sidewall of the tire gave out at about 40 psi. It blasted the tire straight up and smashed his left hand into his face shattering the left side of Coon’s skull. The tire continued its force 15 feet in the air until it was stopped by the shop ceiling.
Coon lay unconscious until Friday, September 23 in the Intensive Care Unit in Denver after having underwent nine hours of surgery on his face and hand. They removed the left side of his skull and rebuilt it with six titanium plates. They had to reconstruct Coon’s eye socket, jaw, tear ducts and nostrils. They proceeded to sew his face back together with 250 stitches. His hand and pointer were broken and will be fixed with titanium pins after some healing.
“The accident killed Mark,” Coon said. “This is just his body left here alive. It’s going to take a long time to find myself again because I am unable to do most of the stuff that I love so much.”
Coon has no memory of the time in between his accident and the time he woke up. When he did wake up he was in disarray. He had many questions that were soon answered.
Coon said even though he always tries be nice to people around him, he thought he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, so, he was astonished at the fact of how many people were concerned and showed they cared about him as he was recovering. Not only did it opened up his eyes to new angles of life, it opened up many others around him.
Coon said he realized life is very temporary and fragile. A phrase he likes to live by is, “loving is living.” He then said, “Life is like a rusty ‘69 Chevy pickup. Just because it is dented, rusty and dirty doesn't mean it’s not full of potential. It may not even run, but a little love fixes that.”
Dennis Potter, Saint Francis junior and a close personal friend of Coon’s, heard about the situation only hours after the incident. He said the accident could have been prevented if he would have used the tire cage they have at the shop. The tire cage wouldn’t have injured him. However, Potter said, the accident is something that could have happened to anyone.
Some students at Saint Francis were horrified at the stories they heard. Mason Schmid, Saint Francis sophomore and family friend, heard about the situation from his mom. He was mortified. “It made me see how cruel and mean people are and challenged me not to be.” His answer came with some thought and from examination of how some of his peers reacted to the accident when they heard about it.
Coon said that he didn’t think his story would be effective for others to hear, but Potter and Schmid thought otherwise. “I think his story would be effective because it is something that could happen to anyone,” said Potter.
The moral or lesson Schmid learned was to, “Stand up for what you believe in, even when others persecute you for it.”
