Rock Island woman recovers after almost losing her legs in accident

A mother from Rock Island is recovering after almost losing her legs.

Carmen Cabalerro-Anderson was involved in an accident on November 15 at the Family Dollar store on 11th St. in Rock Island. “My right leg was bent in and against the wall,” Cballero-Anderson said. “When your teachers tell you to sit Indian-style, that’s how my leg was behind the wall.”

Cabalerro-Anderson is recovering from the accident in a hospital in Iowa City. “My right leg is the worst leg,” she said. “There was no viable tissue left on the leg after three surgeries. My ankles are crushed, I have pins in both of them. The right leg has the tendon and shin bone still good, but there’s nothing covering the tendon.”

Cabalerro-Anderson said employees at Family Dollar and bystanders helped stop as much bleeding from her legs as they could, while paramedics arrived on scene. “There was a gentleman holding a blanket on my leg, trying to stop the blood,” she said. “There was another one that was trying to call my mother. There was a woman that took my 8-year-old back in the parking lot and was trying to keep her occupied. They were all bystanders. Another gentleman had given me a belt to use a tourniquet.”

Through all of the pain that Cabalerro-Anderson has experienced, she has remained positive toward her recovery. “I went to talk to the guy at Family Dollar where the accident happened at,” Dorothy Cotton, a family friend, said. “He talked to her on the phone; her attitude was so positive that he started to cry. He said, ‘that’s a super woman. When the accident happened, she wasn’t screaming for herself; she was screaming for her kids.'”

Cabalerro-Anderson says she will be in a wheelchair for awhile. “My kids and my family are at home, and I just need to get back to them,” she said. “They are my motivation.”

A GoFundMe has been started by Cabalerro-Anderson’s family. The funds will be used to pay medical bills and pay for a new house with wheelchair accessibility. Click here to donate.

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