Trail hiker meets goal

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

David Coleman lives by Phil. 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” The Piney area resident attributes the verse of Scripture to his remarkable recovery from a debilitating stroke he suffered in January 1997 at the age of 41.
“I was in perfect health when I went to bed fine that Saturday night and woke up completely paralyzed Sunday morning,” noted Coleman, still partially paralyzed on the left side of his body and blind in his right eye. “I was told at Roanoke Memorial Hospital that I wouldn’t live through the night and I’d be brain dead if I lived.”
But he did live. After nine days in the hospital and 34 days of intensive therapy in a rehabilitation center, Coleman went home.
“I had to learn to do everything again, how to feed myself, how to dress myself,” he recalled. “I learned to walk again which the doctors said I’d never do. I decided I was not going to spend my life in a wheelchair.”
With a ton of self-determination and loads of spiritual support from his family and church, Coleman continued his long journey on the road to recovery. He even learned to drive again.
“I’d been to church throughout my life,” Coleman remarked, “but during my stroke I repented of my sins and Jesus forgave me. I’ve been a different person ever since. I read the verse ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ and I believe it. Christ has brought me where I am today.”
He credits his pastor at Full Gospel Bible Mission in Austinville, Hal Lewis, for guidance and support. Other members of the church, Coleman said, were positive influences, too.
Late this past summer, Coleman completed another goal. He walked the entire 57-mile New River Trail from Pulaski to Galax.
“I set goals for myself,” Coleman commented. “People without goals perish. This has not been easy but it has been enjoyable.”
Beginning slowly summer before last, he walked short distances on the trail. Coleman built strength for the trek by exercising regularly at the Wytheville Recreation Center where he rode the stationary bike and walked on the treadmill machine and in the swimming pool.
“I never had any idea I’d finish walking the trail this year,” Coleman stated. “Charles Hicks Campbell lives in Ivanhoe and he helped me many times. My brother, Franklin Coleman, and my son, David Wade, helped me a lot but I’ve learned to be as independent as I can be. I always carried my cell phone in case I needed help but I never did.”
Campbell has known Coleman for several years and they attend the same church. He often dropped off Coleman at different sections of the trail and picked him up at the next terminal.
“He does stuff I can’t do,” Campbell remarked. “They told him he’d never walk again or be able to drive and he does both. He’s a good Christian man.”
According to Coleman, hiking the trail provided opportunities for meditation and reflection. The beauty and sounds of nature inspired Coleman to continue.
“People ask me, ‘Don’t you get scared down there by yourself?’” he commented. “I love the solitude, the sounds of the birds and squirrels and the fish jumping in the water. It’s safety to me. I’ve learned to push myself hard but I’ve learned when to stop.”
An avid member of Weight Watchers, Coleman knows the importance of a healthy diet in keeping off unwanted pounds. He attends the local meetings regularly.
“I would be very large if I don’t control what I eat,” Coleman pointed out. “I weighed 230 lbs. and then I got down to 198 lbs.”
Coleman also is a volunteer. He spends each Friday morning at Edgemont Center in Wytheville where he visits residents and reads the Bible to them.
“David has been volunteering for at least seven years,” noted David Ayers, activities director for the center. “That’s how long I’ve been here. He does well with the residents. He’s very dutiful in what he does. He does a good job.”
Coleman spends time with his wife, the former Audrey Aker, an LPN at Friendship Retirement Center in Roanoke, on her days off from work. They are the parents of an adult son, David Wade Coleman.
At the time of his stroke, Coleman had been employed at Kingston-Warren, now Hutchinson Sealing Systems Inc., for 11 ½ years. He is retired on Social Security disability.
“I never accepted my condition as hopeless,” Coleman stated. “It took a lot of aches and pains to get where I am. It aggravates me when I hear people complaining about themselves.”
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .