By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

One minute, Robin Levangie, 46, of Kennebunk remembers driving on her scooter from one client’s house to the next and then the next minute, she remembers waking up in the intensive care unit at Maine Medical Center in Portland. 

That minute was actually two days of unconsciousness spent in the hospital after being struck by a vehicle on Mill Street in Kennebunk Friday, Aug. 22. As Levangie was headed south on Mill Street, a teenage boy driving north ran a stop sign and hit her, said Levangie’s lawyer Terry Garmey of Smith, Eliot, Smith and Garmey in Saco and Portland. 

Garmey said while there was no indication the minor had a driving record, he was underinsured and the insurance Levangie has will not cover the hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills, not to mention the regular bills piling up while she is recovering. 

“This is a delightful, hardworking, independent women whose life has been turned inside out at no fault of her own,” Garmey said. 

Levangie said she thought she was being thrifty by purchasing a scooter to save gas traveling from home to home for And There’s No Place Like Home, her pet care business.

Now she has found herself at Seal Rock Healthcare an assisted living facility in Saco stuck in bed due to the nature of her injuries. 

While she does not remember the accident, she does remember the three surgeries needed to mend her shattered pelvis, broken bones in her right leg, hip and an additional surgery to repair a lung embolism that occurred during the hip surgery.

Between her initial injury and multiple surgeries, Levangie has spent one week in intensive care, a week under general care in the hospital and has been at the nursing home for four weeks, but is still unable to sit straight or stand up. Just last week, Levangie said she was freed of the pins and cage holding her pelvis together, but said she is still unable to move much of her right side and is facing at least six months of rehabilitation learning how to walk again.

“All of a sudden my life has completely stopped,” Levangie said. “It is hard to take when you are used to being on the go all the time.”

She said she is thankful she was wearing her helmet, doubting she would have survived otherwise. While Levangie said police were able to identify her because she had her wallet and cell phone, they did not know who to notify in case of emergency. According to her family, it took emergency personal more than two hours to contact her brother.

“I didn’t have ‘ICE’ for ‘in case of emergency’ next to any of the [phone] numbers that were family, and I didn’t have an emergency contact list in my wallet either,” Levangie said. “It is a good reminder you can never be too prepared.”

Prior to her accident, Levangie said she was very active and involved in her community. She worked seven days a week, actively participated in the Kennebunk Beach Dog Advisory Committee, owned a house and had two dogs of her own.  

Even though she “feels free” with the pins removed, Levangie said it is not easy to surrender her independence. She said her injuries prevent her from moving herself out of bed. She said the things she used to take for granted such as bathing, going to the bathroom and cutting her meat, now require assistance from a nurse.

“I’ve lost my dignity with people helping me all the time and it’s depressing sometimes. There are days when I cry, but I’m trying to take it one day at a time,” she said. 

Community outreach and neighborhood help has been one positive outcome from her accident, Levangie said. She said unfamiliar neighbors have helped maintain little things around her house and she is thankful for the “amount of love” she is receiving from clients visiting her with their pets. 

Her network of friends is helping her along as well. Levangie’s “soul sister” Linda Cote of Saco has organized a garage sale scheduled for Saturday to raise money for medical bills and to help maintain Levangie’s home. Meanwhile, other friends are planning a comedy night and a pet-people walk, as well as setting up a trust in Levangie’s name to raise money while she is out of work. 

“This has been such a horrible experience,” Cote said. “She was swelled from head to toe right after the accident, and can’t remember a lot of the conversations we had with her, but she is strong and determined.” 

Levangie said she is using clients who relied on her for animal care for motivation to recover. She said she cannot wait to be back in business because she misses all her “doggies and kitties.” 

To donate an item to the garage sale, contact Linda Cote at 590-5348.  The garage sale is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11 and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12 at 440 Ferry Road in Saco. For updates on Robin Levangie’s progress, visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/robinlevangie.