Red Sox 1B Coach Johnson: Daughter's Accident a 'Living Nightmare'
FORT MYERS, Fla (CBS) - For Red Sox first base coach Ron Johnson, 2010 was about a lot more than baseball.
In August, Johnson's youngest daughter Bridgette lost her left leg when a car hit her horse while she was riding near her home in Tennessee. Johnson, with the team at the time of the accident, called what happened next "two months of a living nightmare."
Bridgette spent over a month at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in Nashville. Johnson and his wife Daphane stayed strong in front of her, but "cried for two months." They came together as a family and overcame the horrific accident, remaining positive throughout. They even started joking about the leg, calling it "little chubs."
Ron Johnson Talks To WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Jonny Miller About His Daughter Bridgette
Podcast
Six months later, Bridgette and family are doing much better. The 11-year-old is back in school, back on a horse, and got her first prosthetic leg this week. Bridgette is due to join her father in Red Sox spring training next month. Her father sees very big things in her future.
"She is a special child. I believe things happen for a reason, even good and bad," Johnson said. "Bridgette's going to do special things in her life with this prosthetic. I firmly believe that."
Johnson made the point that Bridgette is "physically challenged, not disabled." He said she needs no motivation in the morning when she gets up and is as active as any 11-year-old.
Johnson, entering his 11th season with the Red Sox, said the support he received from the organization during the ordeal with unbelievable. From the front office to the players, he received daily calls of support. Kevin Youkilis is even buying Bridgette a new horse.
"It's for her to pick out, when she wants one we'll get her one," Youkilis said. "Her getting up on a horse again with one leg and part of another leg, and putting a smile on her face and riding a horse like she had her leg back is probably the best thing that happened to that family. It's amazing the will and drive of her."
Read the Boston Globe's Amalie Benjamin's article from December 2010 about the Johnson family after the accident.
