Staff Photo

Jerry's View: Jim Hughes, back from the dead

Jim Hughes was at the wheel of his Red 2003 Buick 4-door sedan on the afternoon of Jan. 13 on Southwest 128th Street, just west of Des Moines Way South. That is all he remembers of that winter day.

The official report tells the tale:"64-year-old male unresponsive. He had driven his car off the road and hit a house. Pt stb unc and not breathing. Driver is only one in the vehicle. The vehicle did not penetrate the house. He was extricated out the passenger side of the car."

Then medics from stations 19 and 18 assisted in trying to revive Hughes. He had suffered cardiac arrest. They rushed him to Highline Medical Center. At Highline, they recommended Jim be taken to U.W. Hospital. But when contacted, Jim said, he was told later, U.W. was full. He was taken to Swedish.

Three days passed before Jim awakened from a temporary coma at Swedish Hospital. He was unaware that he'd had a heart attack, lost control of his vehicle and crashed through a fence and into a house.

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LETTER: Valley View vacancy gives opportunity to serve community

Interested in serving your community? If so, you might consider applying for the vacancy on the Valley View Sewer District’s Board of Commissioners.

Of course, you do need to be a registered voter and live in the sewer district. But you don’t need to have any technical knowledge about sewers or how they work.

The Board meets twice a month to consider policies, projects, budgets, etc. Applications are due on June 21 and are available online at www.valvue.com or at the District office.

Pam Carter
Tukwila

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Photo by Marge Ellsworth
Eric Mathison lives the good life aboard the Norwegian Jewel. Alaska is out there somewhere.

LasVegas inside, Alaska outside. What a concept!

For our 24th, we chose fire. On our milestone 25th, we went with ice.

Because we couldn’t wait another year, we flew to the volcano-infused islands of Hawaii in 2012 to mark our wedding anniversary. This year, we headed north to Alaska on a seven-day cruise.

Surprisingly, we had more fun in the colder climate. Best vacation ever, we agreed.

In Hawaii, we made every rookie mistake possible. Packed onto a plane with few provisions, Hit the narrow road to prime surfing spots on a holiday, Shopped inside malls while the sun shone bright outside. Blindly followed our GPS right past Pearl Harbor. Got kidnapped by a party bus and dumped off at the luau from hell.

While it’s true we didn’t book the Alaska cruise until two weeks before the ship sailed, this time we planned and prepared.

Marge and I have tried lots of different kinds of vacations in the past quarter-century. We’ve flown to a hotel and branched out on excursions. We’ve driven from spot to spot and rented motel rooms along the way.

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