Donald began to clear the land for farming while Gary continued to work as a logger. Then in 1973, a tree fell upon the cab of the skidder in which Gary was driving; the jolt sent Gary forward and his head impacted with steering wheel of the skidder.

With nothing more than a bad headache and slight dizziness he continued to work for another two weeks at which time he developed a fever. Gary was hospitalized for one month; he had developed bacteria from a hairline fracture to the skull when his head impacted on the steering wheel of the skidder.

Donald came to and helped his son on the road to recovery. Donald would wild craft herbs and made a special drink to help the body heal. He took the drinks the hospital disguised as Dairy Queen milkshakes and Gary grew stronger and was released from the hospital.

Gary went home with his parents (instead of to his wife and children) in a wheelchair .He had been given instructions for physical therapy because he had experienced slight nerve damage from the high fever, it left his legs weak feeling and tingly. He was told the symptoms would go away once the inflammation subsided.

Gary would whine and moan all day to his mother and any one who would listen about his plight. One day, when in front of a visitor, he began to cry. He burst out with "what am I to do? I am a broken man, how can I be a father to my four children because I am paralyzed and useless."

The visitor turned to his mother and she appeared to turn a deaf ear to what Gary was saying. Now Dolly was a gentle woman and would not harm or ignore anyone in need of help, particularly her first born son. So the visitor started asking questions. "How did she help him go potty or did she have to put a diaper on him and who bathed him?" At this time Dolly and Donald were living in a 1960 12X59 trailer house, the halls were not wide enough to get a wheel chair down let alone have the wheel chair in the bathroom.

At that point Gary became infuriated and shouted "give me a gun so I can just kill myself." Dolly promptly turned went to her bedroom and came back with a loaded pistol. She placed it on the kitchen table and said calmly "You want to kill yourself? Then you get up out of that