Accident seen as blessing

While on their way to see their daughter play a lacrosse game in Arizona, Kathy and Dan Murphy’s car blew a rear tire, sending the car into a violent roll, flipping into a ditch beside the I-10 freeway. The exchange student riding in the car was thrown from the vehicle and lived. Dan received minor injuries, but Kathy was seriously hurt.

Her skull was crushed, she had cervical fractures, nerve damage, and her brain was pushed to one side. She fell into a coma on April 6 last year — it was Good Friday.

When Kathy Murphy awoke from her coma on Easter, she had lost some hearing and eye sight. She couldn’t feed herself and used a tether to walk for about a month.

“I think everybody — we are all given challenges,” Murphy said. “It’s what we do with them that matters, how we deal with it.”

A little more than a year since the accident, looking at Kathy Murphy one wouldn’t know she has 13 plates in her skull and two in her neck. There is no evidence of her injuries in her walk, she can see fine now, and despite limited hearing loss, she is doing well. Her scars aren’t noticeable unless she points them out, and her smile is seen daily at Harper Preschool where she is a speech pathologist working with special-education children.

And despite an accident that almost left her dead and could have left her extremely debilitated, she and her husband now refer to it as a blessing.

“After the accident, I realized how important that passion is,” Murphy said. “It’s why I have done so much here.”

The passion Murphy is speaking of is her work with autistic children in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. She recently established a preschool sports league mixing autistic children with typical children that many community members have begun to rally behind. So much so, that Murphy received the Chairperson Award from Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Wednesday night.

“She made me realize that as a parks commissioner that we do things for the general population kids and that sometimes children with special needs are sometimes not out in the forefront of everyone’s thinking,” said Costa Mesa Parks and Recreation Commission Vice Chairman Mike Brumbaugh, who nominated Murphy. “She showed there is a place for everyone.”

Brumbaugh compared the award to the Mayor’s Award and said it is given to a person who has provided “extraordinary effort, and recreation or a sports activity within the city.”

While Murphy appreciates the accolades, she is most appreciative of her second chance and that she has the ability after her accident to continue doing the things she loves.

“All this is a bonus,” Murphy said.

Murphy was first inspired to work with special-education children because two of her sisters were special-education children growing up. She never thought anything about it — they were a normal family in her eyes — but the situation made her aware of others’ needs. Despite getting her undergraduate degree in journalism, she eventually went back to school at 30 and got her PhD in speech pathology.

But it was after her accident when things really began to click for her.

She was focused in rehab, working on word games, reading and playing cards. She had three things she planned for each day: set a personal goal she couldn’t do the day before, set a word for the day, and make at least one person smile. Her recovery was nothing short of miraculous as she recovered at an accelerated rate.

“Right after the accident, we were all impressed by her positive attitude and her eagerness to come back,” said Summer Conway, a teacher at Harper Preschool. “She has always been somebody who goes way beyond her job duties.”

Murphy said she has changed since the accident, and it was hard for those around her to adjust at first, but she is thankful for her chance and has made the best of it, which in turn has been the best for those around her.

“I think it’s because of a passion for life,” Murphy said. “I had a job left undone.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.