ASSIST News Service
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Friday, October 17, 2003
QUADRIPLEGIC TRAPEZE ARTIST FLIES AGAIN
By Marlene Bagnull
Director, Colorado & Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conferences
DENVER,
CO (ANS)
-- For Vickie Baker of Denver,
Colorado, the dream of "flying through the air with the greatest of ease"
began in 1978 when a skydiving friend invited her to try trapeze at the
YMCA. From the beginning, Vickie was hooked, and in 1979 she literally ran
away and joined the circus!
Five years later, a split-second mistake practicing a 2-1/2 somersault
resulted in her plunging head first into the net that she had spent
countless hours weaving. A dislocated spinal cord forever ended her life
as a trapeze artist. After three years of looking to doctors and
scientists for the "Almighty Cure," followed by three suicide attempts,
Vickie landed in the psych ward of a local hospital and finally reached
out to God. Again, her life was forever changed, but this time for the
better.
Despite still being bound to a wheelchair and the continuing need for
attendant care, Vickie had found a new "Ringmaster." The "joy of the Lord"
became her strength - a joy that spilled over and touched the lives of
countless others through her writing ministry.
On October 13, 2003, Vickie walked into eternity where, no doubt, she was
greeted with the words "Well done, good and faithful servant."
"Vickie taught all of us earthbound souls what it meant to fly when one is
truly ‘tethered to earth,'" Judith Dupree of AdLib Christian Arts says.
"Facing obstacles we can scarcely imagine, she continually shrugged off
her small, fettered body and let her spirit roam His Kingdom. . . . Vickie
was a tangible evidence of Grace. . . She taught me so much about humility
- and JOY born in the crucible of despair."
Hope and joy were the companions Vickie learned to seek daily - and to
share with others through letter-writing, poetry, articles, stories, and
two books: On Wings of Joy - Reflections of a Quadriplegic Trapeze Artist
(Ampelos Press, 1999) and Surprised by Hope: From Circus Girl to
Quadriplegic - A Journey through Tragedy to a Promise for Tomorrow
(Horizon Books, 2000). Vickie was published in numerous periodicals
including Decision where her testimony resulted in a huge volume of
letters. Exodus Prison Ministry reprinted her testimony and sent it out to
all 1,500 inmates they work with. Her testimony was also aired on
Unshackled. Vickie won an Amy Award in 1996, and at the Colorado Christian
Writers Conference she received the Perseverance Award in 1997 and the
Pacesetter Award in 2000.
Kathy Joy of The Point of Faith Radio, AM 901, Denver, thought of Vickie
when she recently gave a speech on the importance of sending letters to
loved ones. "She faithfully kept in touch by sending ‘funnies' from the
newspaper and wonderful letters - real letters we now call snail mail. She
also e-mailed her own poetry and words of genuine encouragement to bolster
my day. The best way I can think of to honor Vickie's memory is to write
more letters, to pass along her legacy of wit and joyful spirit in the
written word."
Vickie also discovered and used the power of the Internet to spread the
message of hope and joy God had given her. She regularly wrote for John
Hubley's Kingdom On Line (www.kingdomonline.org),
a non-profit online community of support for people with physical
disabilities and who are homebound. Under her screen name of Joywriter,
she corresponded with prisoners and numerous others.
Despite ongoing battles with pressure sores and respiratory problems,
Vickie had an active and full life. She earned a Master of Social Work
degree and served in various ways at Craig Hospital in Denver. For eleven
years she hosted a bimonthly critique group in her home. "Honest and kind,
she probably influenced my writing more than any other person," says
Darlene Franklin of Denver. Vickie also good-naturedly received critique
of her own work. Darlene's mother, Anita Gardner, one time apologized for
critiquing Vickie's work "since ‘I'm not a writer.' Vickie simply
answered, ‘No, you're an editor.' That made me feel comfortable,
accepted."
Vickie had a real gift for making people feel comfortable. At the Colorado
Christian Writers Conference that she attended most every year, another
conferee, Dianne Butts, recalls sitting next to her at lunch. "Somehow her
salad had one huge chunk of lettuce in it that she just couldn't deal
with, so she asked me if I would cut it up for her. I thought how humbling
it must be to have to ask for help to eat your salad. Yet if it bothered
her, she didn't show it. That's what she needed, so that's what she asked
for. And I was privileged to have the opportunity to help her."
Dianne also recalls how Vickie revealed her beautiful sense of humor. "She
told me of all the ‘advantages' there were to living life in a wheel
chair. For example, she said, ‘I never have to wait to be seated!'"
"She called me Bones (because I ate Milkbone dog biscuits to win a
vacation contest) and I called her Wheels," says author, Clint Kelly. "I
loved the way she came to the heart of a matter whether in her book or her
poetry. Her joy in the Lord was beautifully apparent."
"Quadriplegics aren't supposed to have this much joy," Vickie was known to
say. Whether she was clipping comics from the newspaper to mail to
friends, stencil painting, or tandem skydiving (yes she really did skydive
after she broke her spine), Vickie knew how to live life to the fullest
and to bring joy to those around her. Linda Shepherd of Longmont,
Colorado, an author, speaker, and host of a national radio program, says,
"Vickie and I had kindred spirits. Because my teenage daughter, the victim
of a car accident, lives a life of paralysis, I understood Vickie's
courage to live beyond her disability. Vickie is an example that, through
Christ, one can live a life of significance, regardless of the challenges
of life. For though Vickie could not walk, she wrote words that still
waltz through peoples hearts in a way that will leave them forever
changed."
Virelle Kidder, a frequent faculty member at the Colorado Christian
Writers Conference says, "I consider Vickie to be one of the most
memorable writers I've ever met. Totally inspirational. Last time I saw
her she was noticeably weaker. Now she can swing around Heaven shouting
and singing His praise."
No doubt, Vickie is now living what she wrote in On Wings of Joy:
I will swing through the air
like I used to with ease,
in the house of the Lord
on that flying trapeze.
Click here to go back to Vickie Baker Memorial Scholarships page.
