Happy Valley Mayor Lori DeRemer lands broken bones, hospital stay from golf cart accident
March 26--An evening golf cart excursion to catch the sunset from a ridge in southern Arizona quickly went downhill on Tuesday, when the cart hit a rock on the way back and Happy Valley Mayor Lori DeRemer slid out, landing multiple broken bones in her right leg.
"I would have only had road rash," DeRemer said in an email Wednesday. "Except my right leg hit a rock and I broke my tibia and fibula in three places, and bone broke through skin."
DeRemer, a passenger in the golf cart, was the only person injured in the accident, she said.
She was on vacation staying at a second home in Mesa, Arizona, with friends and family. DeRemer and her husband went to see other friends, who live on the FireRock golf course in the nearby Fountain Hills, DeRemer said.
A little after 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, DeRemer and a few friends piled into a golf cart to drive up to a ridge where they'd be able to see the sun setting.
The sunset was fabulous, DeRemer said: "Well worth it."
The group got back in the cart and started driving back to the house in Fountain Hills, where they planned to have a bar-be-que.
The mayor was sitting in the second row of the golf cart, on the right side. The driver took a sharp turn, and the mayor fell out.
"I let go of the bar above [my] head at exactly the same time the driver took the turn," DeRemer said.
Her friends instantly recognized at least a broken ankle, and blood everywhere, she said. They returned to the house, loaded the mayor in a Jeep and went to the Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, where DeRemer was put in an ambulance and transported to the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Trauma Center, she said.
At the trauma center Tuesday night, DeRemer had surgery to implant plates and pins that should help her bones heal, she said.
"I recovered with no issues," DeRemer said.
She was released from the hospital Wednesday night, but will have to use a walker and crutches at first. Doctors told DeRemer she should start to recover in six to 12 weeks and experience full recovery within eight to 12 months, she said.
Almost 100 people, including fellow local government officials, offered words of support when DeRemer posted about the accident on Facebook Tuesday, along with a photo of her bloody, swollen right ankle.
"Such a great smile to go with such a bloody leg," wrote Milwuakie's interim mayor, Wilda Parks. "Heal quickly, listen to the docs, tell a good story. And come back in one piece. Speedy recovery."
Clackamas County Chair John Ludlow made DeRemer a friendly offer.
"Where are you? I'll come tie u balloon animals," Ludlow wrote.
County commissioner Tootie Smith had another idea.
"Can't believe it. Drink wine," Smith wrote.
Dennis Schroeder, former Happy Valley public works employee and Santa Claus at city events, gave the mayor a bit of a scolding.
"Lori, you have to discipline yourself, you have too many hats of responsibilities," Schroeder wrote. "Get well cute Mayor lady."
DeRemer's daughters chimed in, too.
"I love you," Annie Faith DeRemer wrote.
-- Hannah Leone
503-294-4001; @HannahMLeone
Copyright 2015 - The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
