After The Accident

Lee remained in the Sanford Hospital where he received a metal plate in his leg below the knee. This leg eventually healed with permanent unnatural curvature which caused his shoulder to dip a couple inches with every step taken for the rest of his life.

After he was released from the hospital, he was taken to the boarding house in Sanford where he lived while he chauffeured dignitaries and project managers around Fort Bragg. Mrs. Coe, the landlady, cared for him for about two weeks until arrangements were made to get him home.

Home in Dozier was no longer the "Old Place" in the previous photo. Mrs. Anderson (Elvira, Lee's mother) reported several harassing visits to her home by Clarence Fulk who wanted debt re-payment. Mrs. Anderson wrote Jasper at Fort Bragg who then returned home. They decided to surrender their land and house when a debt could not be repaid under the terms of a loan from Henry Doub during the Great Depression. They departed this property in '39 or '40 and moved into a house belonging to J. A. Whitman which the Anderson family then rented for several years. The next owner of the "Old Place" was J. H. Nance. It is unclear about the debt and the connections between Doub, Fulk, and Nance in this matter.

Mrs. Anderson set up a bed in the kitchen to use for herself in order to let Lee occupy her bed in the bedroom. There Lee would remain for several months as his broken leg and severed arm healed. Boredom eventually set in as he became stronger. His brother Buford modified a wooden sled, hitched the mule, loaded Lee, and pulled him about a mile to Long's Country Store where he passed time and visited neighbors some days.

The above picture was taken some months after Lee lost his arm. His stub appears bandaged and he's standing with his weight mostly on one leg.

Please bear with me as I digress a moment to comment about the towheaded child in the photo. This child is a nephew, Bud Bodenhamer, born 1939 to Lee's sister Della Bodenhamer. Bud died in 1974 at age 35 from a condition called Spinal Ataxia. This muscle control condition started when he was in early high school and advanced quickly. He became immobile and bedridden for many years before he died. His mother, Della, and younger brother, David, cared for Bud in their home. It was phenomenal the way they assisted Bud in all life sustaining requirements for so long.

Return here on Monday, June 5 for the continuing life story and photos of this heroic man, J. Lee Anderson.

Have a good day!