Wendy and Tim True are shown in their wedding photo in November. For many guests, it was the first time they had seen Tim on his feet since his crash in August. Doctors say True is months ahead in his expected recovery. He credits Wendy.
NASHVILLE — Seeking a ‘true’ miracle this Christmas holiday season? Look no further than a reindeer jump to the west.
This miracle’s origin begins on the afternoon of Aug. 2 as Deputy Tim True of the Brown County Sheriff’s Department was enjoying an off-duty motorcycle ride. He was on State Road 46 near the Brown/Bartholomew County line when a pickup truck pulled out from Old Nashville Road and into the deputy’s path. Investigators say the crash was unavoidable.
When first-responders arrived, True was unresponsive after suffering significant head and brain injuries. He was first flown via Lifeline helicopter to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. Emergency surgery was performed that required the removal of a substantial piece of skull to relieve swelling of the brain.
Already deep in a coma, Tim was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. Family and friends were told nothing else could be done for the deputy.
While oblivious to everything around him, Tim was never alone. Prior to the accident, he had been dating a woman named Wendy Hall. Although the two had made no official commitment to each other, Wendy dropped everything in her life, including her job, to rush to the hospital and stay by Tim’s side.
“I had people tell me: ‘You didn’t ask for this,’” Wendy recalls. “‘You can walk away. Nobody will think bad of you.’ But that kind of talk made me mad. My response was that Tim didn’t ask for this either, and he can’t just walk away. I am not giving up on him.”
Wendy stayed by Tim’s side nearly constantly while he remained in the coma for the next week-and-a-half, she said.
During that time, many in Nashville and Brown County were showing their support to the 20-year lawman. People who had never met Wendy nor Tim reached out by letting her know they were praying for the deputy, she said.
Complete strangers were providing meals so Wendy wouldn’t forget to take care of herself while looking after Tim. She received books filled with scripture and stories of faith that she read to Tim.
“It was unreal,” Wendy said. “Tim was just overwhelmed and almost cried. He didn’t know people cared about him. He thought he was a nobody. And I said: ‘Well … clearly, you are not’.”
But like Drew Barrymore’s character in the 2004 romantic comedy “Fifty First Dates”, Tim couldn’t remember any story Wendy had read to him the next day. So she would often read the same story or passage repeatedly.
From the day of the accident until she drove Tim home on Oct. 4, Wendy was only away from him for two days, she said.
As he witnessed his girlfriend’s steadfast devotion, Tim realized he had hit the proverbial jackpot. When he first proposed marriage in the hospital, Wendy said she couldn’t take it seriously because nobody knew if Tim was in his right mind.
The deputy was transferred to a rehabilitation facility for three weeks, followed by a different type of therapy at another facility for a month-and-a-half. While forced to undergo another surgery to remove infection from the side of his skull, the therapy was enabling the deputy’s recovery to surpass even the most optimistic expectations.
When Tim pulled out a wedding ring and proposed a second time during a therapy session in mid-September, Wendy was so confident in his future that she took him seriously this time — and said yes.
“I never doubted he was going to pull through,” Wendy said. “I believed in everything. I had things that just pointed me to the conclusion that he was going to be OK. His only explanation (for his remarkable recovery) is that God has plans for him.”
On Nov. 11, friends and family gathered at a wedding event barn located off Hurdle Road, and marveled as they saw Tim True walk down the aisle to marry Wendy Long.
“We had to work really hard in therapy to do that,” Wendy said.
For many at the wedding, it was the first time they had seen Tim on his feet since the Aug. 2 crash.
The wedding barn was provided to the couple free of charge by owner Sheldon Hamilton. While both were touched by the gesture, Hamilton was just one of many friends and neighbors who reached out to support the deputy and his new bride. Tim said he is especially grateful to his fellow first-responders who worked to save his life immediately after the crash.
“I know I can’t meet people or tell them face-to-face, but I would like to thank all those people for the outpouring of support,” Tim said. “It’s probably thousands of people who took time out of their day to either pray for me, think of me, or make a comment on my wife’s Facebook page. It’s amazing.”
Wendy recalls one man she didn’t know who approached Tim in a restaurant to let the deputy know he had been praying for him.
“He said it was a true miracle just to see Tim standing there,” she said.
Is “true miracle” an exaggeration? No doubt that folks will make that judgment for themselves. But what is undisputedly remarkable is that Tim True’s recovery is nearly seven months ahead of where specialists expected him to be this Christmas, Wendy said.
Equally remarkable is that Tim’s only remaining physical impairment is a weakness in his left hand, his wife said. He has resumed working at the Brown County Sheriff’s Department as a dispatcher. He will have a third surgery in January to restore the piece of skull removed last summer.
Among the most heartwarming gifts Tim and Wendy have received came from a couple they had never met. Brad and Stephanie Cox are the owners of Cox Creek Mill, a metal art studio in Nashville, as well as a large litter of Labradoodle puppies.
Brad and Stephanie originally offered to give Tim the proceeds from the first sale of a puppy (estimated at between $1,500 to $2,500) for his medical bills. But after Wendy told Stephanie she and her new husband were more interested in a puppy than money, Stephanie agreed to give the newlyweds the pick of the litter.
When the litter arrived, 10 puppies were born to the chocolate Labrador mother, Stephanie said. But it was 90 minutes after the 10th puppy arrived that an 11th “runt of the litter” puppy made her surprise entrance into the world.
“They say after three-and-a-half hours, the mother is pretty much done having puppies,” Stephanie said. “It had been over six hours.”
Although Tim and Wendy were told they could choose any dog they wanted, it was the surprise runt who wiggled her way to Wendy, allowed herself to be held, and instantly won her way into the hearts of the newlyweds.
Tim said he chose to take home the runt because “she’s like me — a survivor”. But Wendy did the research to chose the pet’s name. “Mireya” is a Spanish name for a girl that means ‘miracle’.
With Christmas here, Tim took a few moments to reflect on what he is most grateful for after his five-month ordeal.
“Above all, I am so grateful for my wife,” he said. “She supported me when I was down. We weren’t married yet, but she was by my side the whole time I was in the hospital.”
He paused for a moment before confiding his final thought with softness and sincerity.
“I don’t think I’d be here without her.”
