Life for Camden Asst. Fire Chief Bob Stiehler took an abrupt turn on a sunny Sunday afternoon last month, when he and his wife, Mary Carver, were attempting to cross Main Street downtown and a car failed to stop at the crosswalk and struck Bob.

He was thrown to the ground, hit his head and sustained a spinal injury. Since then, a mass has grown near his spine, he needs to use a walker to get around and he has trouble with his memory, according to Mary.

"Bob has physical therapy two to three times a week plus occupational therapy, and then a nurse comes to the house regularly to check him out," said Mary. "This week, speech therapy will come to help with the issues of forgetting things."

It's a big setback for the electrician and firefighter, who can often be seen driving Engine 4 and operating the water pumps at scenes. Mary is also a Camden firefighter, and they often travel to accidents and fires together.

"With a knock to the head it's been frustrating for Bob when he is such a numbers guy, but sometimes the simplest thing is hard for him to remember. The doctor said all that will clear up," she said. "He heads back down to Scarborough to the spine doctor to have a shot of a steroid to see if they can take care of the mass that formed from impact. The oral version took some of it away so we are truly hoping the shot will take care of the rest so there will be no need for surgery."

Without surgery, Mary said Bob is looking at another two months of rest and therapy before he gets back to normal. If surgery is necessary, recovery will obviously be much longer.

Mary was speaking Monday, following Saturday night's benefit dinner held by Atlantic Engine Company No. 2 with serving and cleanup help by members of area fire departments and Camden and West Bay Rotary clubs.

More than 150 people turned out for the all-you-can-eat spaghetti benefit supper, complete with salad and beverages and a bevy of donated desserts. The benefit was held in the First Congregational Church on Elm Street in Camden.

Camden Fire Chief Chris Farley said Tuesday evening that with the addition of some donations mailed directly to the fire department, it looks like they will be giving Stiehler's family nearly $4,000 to help defer the costs not covered by insurance or that they incur before insurance reimbursements come in.

The driver of the car that hit Stiehler Oct. 13 is 24-year-old Madeline Hamilton of Merrimack, N.H. Camden Police Officer Allen Weaver Jr. issued Hamilton a summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk following the accident.

In Mary's words: "Thank-you"

Bob and I would like to express our sincere thanks for all of the great support we have had from the very first moment this happened. First to Camden Fire Department for being there as our other family. Truly if it hadn't been for the fire fighters of our department I don't know what I would have done in those first few hours.

Asst. Chief Andrew Lowe was right there almost the entire time helping , asking questions of the doctors and nurses, being a real advocate when Bob needed one and I was too tired and brain fried to think. To Chief Chris Farley, who was out of the country but was in constant contact with us checking on Bob and then visiting at the hospital and then at home.

To Cheyne Hansen, Earle Holt, Scott Entwistle and Kevin Mulvihill, who were at the call and then right over at the hospital afterward. The whole department was there and was helping out with rides for my kids. To Safety Officer Jeff Weymouth for making sure If I needed anything while Bob was in the hospital, it got done at the house.

All those visits to the hospital with cups of coffee to Bob, from our department and some of the guys from Rockport Fire Department, even the comic relief from Chief Jason Peasley .

Then to everyone from West Bay Rotary coming over to visit Bob at the hospital. It was such a blessing to him to know he had people who cared enough.

Coming home for Bob has been an adventure. Since we have our one and only bathroom on the second floor and our bedroom... well you can only imagine. Princes's Furniture donated a recliner so Bob could get the sleep he needed those first few evenings.

While Bob was trying to get better every day, Kevin Mulvihill and Scott Entwistle formed a plan to have the benefit supper. While Scott and Ryan Fisher were plastering the area with posters, Kevin was planning the spaghetti dinner. With the help of Earl Holt and Todd Anderson and Gaylen Todd, they managed to pull off a wonderful dinner. I don't think anyone was left out when it came to the planning of that dinner. There were a lot of people who I don't even know who helped. People behind the scenes... Thank you so much from Bob and I.

On top of it, Cheyne Hansen took on the job of organizing a work day for Saturday at our house, before the dinner. Along with Camden Fire, Rockport Fire, West Bay Rotary, Camden Rotary, Krista Tolman and her daughter, Bristol, came to help too. It helped a great deal to know these little things got taken care of around the house that normally Bob would have done to get our house ready for winter. Thank you so much!!

There are so many folks who helped on Saturday and it has not gone unnoticed. All the servers and cooks in the kitchen. In addition to everyone already mentioned, Hope Fire Chief Clarence Keller and his wife along with some of their members were there in the kitchen and serving. Also a very quiet Camden town manager, Patricia Finnigan, was there helping. Thank-you so much.

We truly appreciate it from the bottoms of our hearts. The people who came to the dinner from the surrounding areas. From people who couldn't make it but told me they were sending a check. From a crew from Wayne Fire Department, who came all the way down to see Bob and be at the dinner. Rockland Fire Chief Charlie Jordan and his wife and some of his firefighters.

What I am trying to say from Bob and I is thank-you. If you are not mentioned personally, you are thanked from the bottom of our hearts. Also our friends Tom Quantrell and Eve Crimmins for providing rides for Bob when I needed to do stuff around the house, to get my own work publishing work done or run my kids to sports events. Thank you Tom and Eve and everyone.

Sincerely,
Mary Carver