Welcome Home, Tim!

— by Cara Russell —

Friends of Tim Forbes gather on New Years Eve to welcome him home.

In early September, while making repairs to his roof, long-time Orcas Island resident Tim Forbes broke his back when he slipped and fell off his roof. He finally returned home on New Year’s Eve, after a long stint of rehabilitation from that serious spinal injury he sustained nearly four months ago.

Forbes was greeted after he got off the ferry by a crowd of smiling faces—members of the Odd Fellows, friends, and neighbors holding signs and welcoming him back home.

He had been flown off-island by helicopter and taken directly to Harborview Hospital in Seattle, where he underwent significant surgery to stabilize his back. Since the surgery, he has been receiving intensive rehabilitation and physical therapy, both at Harborview and then in Anacortes.

While Tim was recovering off island, his Odd Fellows brothers completed the roof repairs that had been at a halt since Forbes’ fall — and just in the nick of time, before October’s heavy rains. Dave Roseberry built a ramp for easier access to the house.

“They continued to show up all throughout this whole thing, by stopping in with breakfast and dinner, and apple cider vinegar while I was in the Fidalgo Care Center in Anacortes,” said Forbes. “And seeing everyone greet me after getting off the ferry was a very elating feeling and made me really grateful to be part of this community.”

Forbes has made great progress over the past several months, and is determined that he will walk again. “I AM going to walk again,” he emphasizes. “There is no doubt about it.” Forbes’ hard work and determination while at Harborview had one of his doctors more than impressed, commenting that he has never had a patient who has worked as hard and as diligently as Forbes has to rebuilding strength and the locomotion necessary to begin walking again.

Forbes is getting some movement back in his legs, and the numbness is going away. His next step, over the next month, is to continue to get his legs strong enough to begin walking again.

Friends of Forbes have said that over the past 40 years, he has done much for the community of Orcas, all without the idea of a return. Helping him now comes naturally, they say.

Forbes says, “There is so much that I want to say to the community that it probably would be more than an article could handle. It is very humbling and I’m grateful to be around such wonderful people.

“I look forward to seeing everyone in person, just to give them a hug, say thank you, and tell them all how much I love and support them,” he says from his home.