As an EMT, Colleen Alexander knew she had to keep screaming so that blood would flow to her heart and brain.
She knew this after being “degloved” in a crash when a tractor-trailer truck ran over her midsection on Oct. 8, 2011. To be degloved is very serious injury and means skin and tissue are torn from your body.
Alexander was bicycling home from her work in Guilford as a non-profit program manager and was struck by the truck in Clinton. The truck essentially crushed her body from her chest to her pelvis and her internal organs were no longer in place, as the skin and connecting tissue protecting them was torn away, she said.
Having recently married her high school sweetheart, Sean, after a 17-year separation, Alexander said she kept screaming to God, “Don’t let me die! I love him and we want to have a baby.”
That dream of parenthood was forever altered by her accident, as she had hoped, prior to the time of her injuries, to conceive a child. Now, she and her husband have established a non-profit sanctuary to help animals, and a wellness business to help people.
That fateful day
She maintained consciousness initially after the accident, and was fully aware of the unimaginable extent of her injuries, Alexander said. She endured the excruciating process of being strapped to a backboard, and was rushed to Yale New Haven Hospital. There she “flatlined” twice upon arrival and was resuscitated by a team of people who administered CPR, she said.
Her love for her husband kept her fighting spirit alive despite the fact she had lost over 35% of her skin, and later would need more than 30 surgeries to reconstruct her body, she said.
For a time, Alexander remained in a drug-induced coma and could not draw breath independently of a ventilator, she said. Her brain could not translate the signals to her lungs, so over and over she tried to breathe on her own but had to return to respiratory support for oxygen. But her experience of “losing her voice,” due to being on a respirator, left her with a burning desire to defend and speak for those that have no voice: domestic animals, she said.
Alexander entered rehabilitation at the intensive care unit at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, and was finally able to come home a few days before Christmas. During her hospitalization her husband was at her side, talking to her, encouraging her. She vaguely remembers hearing his voice but not being able to understand the words or focus on his face, she said.
Sean Alexander’s efforts extended to wound care when his wife came home. The agonizingly painful process required changing dressings and packing deep wounds on her stomach and backside.
“Love like this doesn’t happen often,” he told her. In 2006 Sean had a snowboarding accident that resulted in his being impaled by a tree. He understood the agony, the fear and life-changing nature of such extensive injuries, gaining compassion in the process, he said.
Colleen Alexander said that her time in recovery caused her to pray about what this event meant and the nature of her life. Sean Alexander too, pondered the meaning and encouraged her during the moments she “just wanted to die, “ she recalls, noting he insisted, “God wouldn’t have let you live if there was no purpose.”
“Sean was my anchor,” she said.
Her recovery was so extraordinary that the Yale School of Medicine reported that, in her case, she was not just “surviving but thriving,” she said.
Rather than being angry or bitter, Alexander said she chose to focus on the power that humans wield, when all are working together.
There were no political parties, divisions or bias “in that hospital…just people working together to save my life,” she said.
After recovering sufficiently, she and her husband volunteered at hospice centers with those who were dying, as they understand what it is like to be in that sort of coma state, without a voice.
The Alexanders decided to share their story and Colleen wrote a book entitled “Gratitude in Motion: A True Story of Hope…” available at www.amazon,com. They were invited on speaking tours to share their story of resilience and belief in the “power of working together. All of the spokes in a wheel are needed. Can we go forward in a way that honors loving kindness?” she asked her audiences to consider.
They led huge conferences where they explored the idea of “what we are capable of as humans when we are looking at similarities instead of differences…what makes us light up,” she said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, the speaking tours dwindled and the scene in their neighborhood shifted to couples wheeling their babies in strollers outdoors for exercise. It was too difficult for the childless couple to watch and they decided to move to a farm in eastern Connecticut.
In April 2023 the couple created Anam Cara Sanctuary Farm, a non-profit to help support the expenses of the rescued animals they love and to protect the animals “who have no voice. Many have lost their babies, their parents, or been traumatized,” Alexander said. The name Anam Cara’s translation from Gaelic means “Soul Friend.”
The property is home to a variety of dogs, pigs, goats, sheep, horses, turkeys, chickens, ducks and guinea fowl. The relaxed atmosphere, with all the animals grazing together and no squabbles is a panorama of a peaceable lifestyle. The Anam Cara Sanctuary Farm holds events and allows space for people to “just be,” quietly with the animals, Alexander said. Among her soul friends are animals that stay at her feet waiting to be stroked, or nibble grass nearby.
A recent addition to the farm is an 800-pound pig named Ferdinand, rescued from a difficult situation. He was in poor health and the Alexanders had him vetted and treated and are coaxing him to eat nutritious food. On a recent day he accepted a cantaloupe after refusing to eat, and the couple felt heartened by his effort. The pets are “our kids,” Alexander said.
The couple also have created Anam Cara Wellness Sanctuary, a holistic business where they teach yoga, meditation, vibrational sound healing and other wellness-centered programs.They prefer small groups or one-on-one sessions to give each person the attention they need.
Colleen Alexander had started in a wheelchair, progressed to walking and then to running. Now she leads yoga classes and walks smoothly, retaining her smile with dimples despite that she has endured.
The Sanctuary Farm is of great solace to the dynamic couple, who have turned their tragedy into a testimony of hope for the healing of others, they said.
“Animals teach us the power of forgiveness. They show us forgiveness. At bedtime we give all of them cookies and smooches or a little treat to let them know they are loved,” she said.
She turned to feed the group that trots, waddles, clucks and squeals their way to the barn for dinner, as her husband shared cantaloupe with their latest rescue, the enormous spotted pig residing in his clean, straw-filled home. He has a ways to go to achieve health, but the Alexanders know all about that love-filled journey.
About the glue that holds their marriage so tightly in place, Alexander said that they “have always had a date night. Ever since we were in high school, Thursday night is our date night and we go for a hike or run, stay overnight at a nearby hotel and watch Netflix or stay home and have someone else feed the animals dinner. We make it a priority.”
It’s a journey that started in high school. Initially discouraged by her minister from being in a relationship with a man who was not “born again in the Baptist faith” the two had dated while in high school and separated after graduation. She married, subsequently divorced and then they reconnected 17 years later. They married six months after getting back together. The irony of having waited for the love of their life, and then nearly losing each other, was not lost on either partner.
To contact the couple email: [email protected]
