Esperance Supervisor and chairman of the Board of Supervisors Earl Van Wormer returned to Schoharie Friday with a renewed appreciation for EMS volunteers and the realities of the opioid crisis.
Mr. Van Wormer fell on the ice in December, breaking his hip—though he didn’t know it at the time.
When he fell again, in the middle of the night, the Central Bridge Rescue Squad took him to the Cobleskill Emergency Room, he said, and then to Ellis Hospital for emergency surgery.
It’s been a slow, often discouraging two months of recovery, he said Friday, even as it made a lot of things “personal.”
“When it happens to you…” he said.
“The night they put me in the ambulance, you realize if not for these EMS people, in the middle of the night…The pain was excruciating and I can’t say enough about how grateful I was that they were there.”
The care he received at both the Community Hospital and Ellis was top-notch as well, he said.
Mr. Van Wormer said his accident also gave him insight into opioid addiction; he stopped taking the OxyContin his doctors prescribed as soon as possible because he was scared of what could happen if he didn’t.
“The problem is, when you’re in pain, your inclination is to do whatever you can to get rid of it. I got off it as soon as I could. I figured a little pain was better than the drug.”
Mr. Van Wormer said cards and phone calls from friends while he was recovering helped a lot, then segued into words of remembrance for friend to all and former Richmondville Supervisor Fred Guay, who died Wednesday.
“Fred was more than a supervisor, he was a good community person,” Mr. Van Wormer said. “He was a gentle giant and he’s going to be missed.”
One of Mr. Van Wormer’s favorite memories of Mr. Guay is stopping by his home after he retired “and was done with politics” to find Mr. Guay’s calendar still-filled with events for his church, veterans, and his other interests.
“I’m going to miss him,” he said.