Ben Espy (official thread)

[Buckskin86]

Ex-Buckeye Player, Politician Overcomes Accident That Took Leg
Thursday, November 5, 2009

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? In 1984, Ben Espy faced one of his biggest challenges, overcoming an accident that took his leg.

A cornice of a downtown building fell on him, 10TV News reported.

Espy, who played football for Woody Hayes at Ohio State, and who later became a Columbus city councilman and Ohio State senator, refused to allow the injures to affect his life.

Here is how Espy described the accident to 10TV News:

On June 18, 1984 at 2:45 in the afternoon, I had just left the bank and I was going to a city council meeting. And, across the street, in front of the Nitschke Building, the next thing I knew I was laying in the middle of the street.

Like Chicken Little, I thought the sky fell down or something. There was a lot of smoke or dust, and I just heard sirens. The first hit to hit me was on my shoulder of the cornice, and of course, it hit me right here, and one inch to the left and it would have been my head.

Then, it hit the shoulder and it came down the whole right side of my body which fractured my elbow, and cut my thigh, and then severed my lower leg. I could see that I was hurt pretty badly and I knew that if I kept breathing I would stay alive, so I hyperventilated.

I could see that I lost my leg. I looked down and I could see that it was gone; I could see it laying over there. Somebody came by and took off my tie and made a tourniquet, and the next thing I knew, the rescue squad was there.

They then discussed if they could find the appendage, and maybe they could connect it back on again, but there was too much debris. The hospital stay, I had six operations, and most of it was to clean out the debris, a lot of debris.

During the time of my hospitalization, Woody Hayes came to my room at least 2 or 3 times a week. After every operation, he was at the foot of my bed and he was very ill at the time but he made that trip every week and he'd talk to me after every operation and he always said about getting knocked down and getting back up.

Ex-Buckeye Player, Politician Overcomes Accident That Took Leg | WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio's News Leader

Ben Espy begins another chapter
Friday, June 19, 2009
By James Nash
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Despite more than two decades as an elected official in Columbus, Ben Espy may be best remembered recently for his role in the scandal that led to the ouster of his boss, Marc Dann, as Ohio attorney general.

Espy, a senior legal aide to Dann, oversaw the investigation into sexual-harassment complaints that were at the heart of the management breakdown that toppled Dann in May 2008.

A former Columbus city councilman, state Senate minority leader and candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court, Espy has kept a low profile since leaving the attorney general's office. Espy is now re-emerging in the time-honored role of lawyer-lobbyist, but with a twist: He's launching the Columbus office of one of the nation's largest minority-owned law firms, Gonzalez, Saggio & Harlan.

Ben Espy begins another chapter | The Columbus Dispatch

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRv3RL_Pmgs]YouTube - WOODY HAYES SUPPORTS BEN ESPY![/ame]

 

[buxfan4life]

Good friend of my grandfather when they both were in the Ohio State Senate. Glad to hear him overcome something like this. From what I remember of him, he was a good-hearted, genuine guy.