ORONO, Maine — For Isis Bell-Smith and Ryan Laracy of Orono, doing ordinary things — such as playing with Felix, their chatty toddler — feel downright miraculous these days.

That’s because they are still amazed to have survived an accident that happened at the outset of a Sunday drive the family took two weeks ago. That rainy afternoon, a massive tree limb suddenly crashed down on their vehicle, crushing their Jeep and trapping them inside. Bell-Smith, 39, and two-and-a-half-year-old Felix Bell-Smith Laracy both broke their necks in the crash.

Isis Bell-Smith watches as her son, Felix Bell-Smith Laracy, puts a neck brace on his Big Bird doll on Friday in Orono. The two each broke their necks when a tree branch crashed onto their Jeep on May 4.

The two have to wear matching neck braces, while their fused vertebrae heal. They don’t have health insurance and are not sure what to do about the flood of hospital bills that will await them. But they’re alive, mobile, and feeling love and gratitude for the magnitude of support that has come from strangers and friends alike.

“All in all, we’re okay,” Bell-Smith said. “We are both broken, and this is going to be awhile of healing. But relative to what this could have been, we are fine. It was an inch, an instant, from a totally different situation.”

‘The most terrifying moment of my life’

The afternoon of May 4 for the family had begun with a flurry of activity, as Bell-Smith packed extra clothes for their rainy outing and switched vehicles with her mother, so they would not have to take their Buick LeSabre on the road. That small decision may have made a difference just a mile or so down Main Street, when Bell-Smith, who was driving, saw something unusual out of the corner of her eye.

All of a sudden, a limb from one of the large maple trees that line Main Street fell across the car diagonally, leaving the Jeep a crumpled wreck. Bell-Smith said she can’t remember the moment of impact and believes that shock must have set in immediately. She couldn’t move, but her foot was still stepping on the accelerator. Doug Johnson of Orono came up to the vehicle and said her name, while he reached in to take the key out of the ignition.

“Damn. That really happened,” Bell-Smith, a yoga teacher and longtime resident of the college town, remembers thinking.

She said Felix, strapped into his car seat behind her, was moaning, and although she couldn’t turn to see him, she saw his feet were kicking. She held his feet, telling him it was going to be OK.

Meanwhile, Laracy, who also was hurt but not as badly, struggled to get out of the vehicle. Some bystanders helped him bend his door so he could escape.

All around the Jeep, people sprang into action. A neighbor ran over with a chainsaw to start trying to extricate them. Rescuers from the Orono Fire Department quickly arrived and used another chainsaw to start dismantling the vehicle. Laracy said time was of the essence, as Felix was being strangled because of the weight that was bearing down on his head.

“I was squeezed,” Felix said.

Rescuers put blocks in to support the roof, so nothing more could crunch down on the toddler, and a towel was placed over Bell-Smith so she wouldn’t get hit by flying wood chips.

“I was the whole time panicking they weren’t getting the tree off fast enough,” he said. “It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I thought my world was going to disappear.”

‘I’m so grateful to everyone and everything’

Bell-Smith said that when a violent hailstorm began just as rescuers were extricating her from the Jeep, it added another layer to the improbable day.

“No way,” she remembered thinking.

Ambulances took the family to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where trauma unit workers learned that Felix had fractured one of the vertebrae in his upper neck and slightly dislocated a disc. Bell-Smith was frantic to see her son, but the hospital staff told her that she needed to be checked out, too. The scan showed that she and Felix had the same injuries. “So, we both got an ambulance ride down to Portland,” she said.

At Maine Medical Center in Portland, where they spent about a week, both mother and son had surgery to have their vertebrae fused together.

As Bell-Smith and Felix began their recovery, the community opened its arms to the family. Roberta Bradson of The Store in Orono, immediately set out a donation jar to help the family. Laracy works at Woodman’s Bar & Grill in Orono, and his shifts were picked up by his co-workers, who set aside tip money for their absent friend. The restaurant is holding a benefit raffle for them. Om Land Yoga in Orono, where Bell-Smith teaches classes, held a benefit class to raise money for the family. Orono High School put on a performance of “Twelfth Night” to raise money for the family. Friends have stopped by with food, and a stranger they met in Target gave them a gift certificate for $100 after she learned that they were the family injured by the falling tree. Vendors and customers at the European Farmer’s Market in Bangor took up a collection to help. Laracy’s osteopath, who helped get his body aligned after the accident, did not charge him for the work she did.

And the list goes on.

“It’s so humbling,” Bell-Smith said. “I don’t know how to process the amount of love.” She said that part of living in a small community is that residents know, or know of, just about everyone else. When something scary and traumatic happens, it can bring people closer.

“A lot of people who have come up to us are very emotional. Very touched. Very happy that we’re alive,” she said. “I am so grateful to everyone and everything. … It’s hard to be in a place of need. I want to be the one giving. I want to know who that woman was at Target. To that woman, to every single person who has dropped their change in the jar, the biggest, warmest thank you. That is what has turned this from tragedy to strength.”

Frank Jordan of Veazie served a three-year stint in the U.S. Army as a member of the Kilo Company, 75th Rangers.

Vietnam was a gruesome war, and Jordan didn’t hold back on details of combat and the psychological effect it had on the men. He recalled working with a handful of men as they were on the run from a chasing group of Viet Cong, trying to survive while carrying a soldier who had been shot through both legs.

“There’s nothing scarier than an 18- or 19-year-old man who just lost his buddy,” Jordan said.

“How old are you?” Jordan asked one of the students.

“Eighteen,” the student replied.

“[In the Vietnam War], you have one year to live,” Jordan said.

Orono High School English teacher Don Joseph has known Jordan for a long time and had him speak in front of the students in his War and Human Experience class Friday. This is the second time Jordan presented to this particular class, which educates students on the impact of war throughout human history.

“I was on the draft list [in the ’60s]. My number didn’t get called. I graduated high school and went on to graduate college,” Joseph said. “[Jordan’s story is] a good perspective for these kids. He’ll speak from the heart. I want him to tell the truth: good, bad or indifferent. It’s what people need to hear.”

Jordan himself is a member of the Orono High School Class of 1963, and his homeroom was the very one in which War and Human Experience is taught.

As part of his presentation, Jordan brought boxes of war memorabilia, including combat knives, grenades, Vietnamese flags, medals and uniforms from both the U.S. and Vietnamese forces.

Frank Jordan tells Orono High School students about the black beret, a prized honor for U.S. Army Rangers.

“This was a prize: If you got this, you got the prize. It’s a black beret,” Jordan said, lifting the decorative hat off the table. “Today, everyone in the Army’s got one, [even though] everyone in the Army [hasn’t earned] one.”

Jordan suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which has required heavy doses medication to suppress. Although his dosage has lessened over time, Jordan still struggles with PTSD.

“I still struggle with [PTSD]. I’m 100 percent disabled — 70 percent of that is PTSD. I’m crazier than a duck shot in the ass,” Jordan joked.

Vietnam War veteran Frank Jordan shows students at Orono High School how physically small some Vietnamese soldiers were by holding a Vietnamese military jacket up to a student.

When asked whether he would do it again, Jordan gave a loud, “Hoorah!”

“I would have a different outlook on it, but I sure as hell would’ve been there,” he said.

Time has changed Jordan’s perspective on the war. He now has a number of Vietnamese friends and feels the reasons for fighting weren’t justified.

“As bad as we feel losing 58,000 men, we raised hell over there. We killed a lot of people who didn’t need to be killed,” Jordan said.

The presentation also changed some students’ perspectives of war.

“When I put myself in the shoes of an 18- or 19-year-old whose friend has just been killed, I can totally see the other side of the coin,” 17-year-old student Anna Ellis said. “I think it’s important to hear from veterans to hear where they’ve been and what they’ve seen before you judge their service.”

Katherine Daries, also a 17-year-old junior, has a boyfriend who has been in South Korea for nine months in the U.S. Infantry. When Jordan heard this, he said to her as she was leaving for lunch, “Tell that man to be careful and come home. We’ve got all the heroes we need down in Arlington.”

Nathan Manaker of Orono, Maine spells his word during round two of the preliminaries at the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee at National Harbor, Maryland. Manaker, a seventh-grader from Orono, Maine, was among the first spellers ejected as winnowing of the 281 contestants, ages 8 to 15, began ahead of the finals on Thursday night. (GARY CAMERON | Reuters photo)

OXON HILL, Maryland — Twelve-year-old Nathan Manaker had not been hopeful about his chances when the Scripps National Spelling Bee got under way on Wednesday, and he turned out to be right.

Manaker, a seventh-grader from Orono, Maine, was among the first spellers ejected as winnowing of the 281 contestants, ages 8 to 15, began ahead of the finals on Thursday night.

Spellers from across the United States and a raft of foreign countries looked to the ceiling for help, traced words on their hands and forearms and breathed deeply when faced with such challenges as “kuchen,” “braggadocio,” and “witloof.”

One of the first round of spellers, Manaker advanced to the microphone at a hotel ballroom outside Washington. When pronouncer Jacques Bailly gave him “paradigm,” Manaker later said he thought, “I don’t know how to spell it. I’ll just give it my best guess.”

He guessed wrong, spelling the word “peridyme.” The fourth speller out, Manaker left the stage with his head down to be greeted by his mother, Jessica.

A first-time contestant with an interest in theater, Manaker said he had not come to win: “I’m kind of glad I got out because I really can’t sit still that long, and I really need a bathroom break.”

He was among 24 spellers eliminated in the first of two preliminary rounds on Wednesday. Words in the first round leaned toward foods, with “tahini,” “kielbasa,” “masala,” “mozzarella” and “maraschino” all nailed by contestants.

Spellers looked for any help they could get. When Mitchell Robson, 12, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was given “poignant,” he asked Bailly, “Could I have that in a funny sentence?” before getting it right.

Contestants, who emerged from an original pool estimated at more than 11 million students, went through a computerized test of spelling and vocabulary on Tuesday. A computerized test for semifinalists will follow the preliminary rounds on Wednesday.

The spelling bee finals on Thursday will be broadcast on ESPN. The winner will take home a $30,000 scholarship and other prizes.

Indian-Americans have dominated the venerable spelling contest in recent years, winning the last six in a row. Almost a quarter of spellers at this year’s contest have names pointing to South Asian origin.

Microsoft Corp., named the contest’s technology champion, handed out Microsoft Surface RT tablet equipped with the company’s Microsoft’s Spelling Bees application on Tuesday.

Coach Ian Wilson’s Purple Panthers will compete in the Class B meet at the Brewer Community School, while the Orono girls attempt to bring home a third straight crown in the Class C competition at Oakes Field in Dover-Foxcroft.

The Class A squads converge at Windham High School, where Brewer senior Synclaire Tasker is among the top individual performers representing eastern Maine.

The meets for Classes A and B are slated to get underway at 10 a.m., while the Class C meet is scheduled to start at noon.

In Class C, a well-rounded Orono team coached by Chris Libby features a host of girls who are expected to score points. The contingent includes sophomore sprinter Lauren Stoops, who is the top seed in the 100 meters and is No. 2 in the 200 and 400 sprints.

The Red Riots also feature Lily Koffman in the 1,600 and 3,200 as well as Becky Lopez-Anido in the 400 and 800, Allison Pickering in the pole vault and Diana Tyutyunnyk in the 200 and 400. Orono is seeded first in the 4×800 and 4×400 relays and second in the 4×100.

Tia Tardy of Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln is seeded first in the long jump and second in the 800 and the 1,600.

Lisbon and Orono appear to be the frontrunners in the Class C boys competition. The Red Riots’ catalysts include Brandon Crocker, who is the No. 1 seed in the 110 hurdles and is third in the 300 hurdles, along with Jake Koffman (2nd discus, 3rd 200) and Tristan Butterfield (1st 800).

Baramee Janla of Sumner is seeded first in the 200 and second in the 100, while Maine Central Institute’s Eric Hathaway tops the discus field…

 

Orono’s Jacob Fandel clears 5 feet, 4 inches in the high jump at the Class C state track and field championships Saturday at Foxcroft Academy. (Terry Farren photo)

DOVER-FOXCROFT, Maine — The Orono High School girls won their third consecutive title while the Lisbon boys broke through to win their first crown at the Class C outdoor track and field state championship meet held Saturday at Oakes Field. Coach Chris Libby’s Orono girls squad amassed 102 points to outdistance second-place Traip Academy of Kittery (74). Seacoast Christian of South Berwick was next with 43 points, with Maranacook of Readfield (31⅓) fourth and Yarmouth, Catherine McAuley of Portland and Saint Dominic of Auburn all tied for fifth with 28 points. Lisbon led Orono by just two points entering the final event of the boys meet but used a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay to finish with 67 points, six ahead of the runnerup Red Riots. North Yarmouth Academy (60), Maranacook (58) and Sacopee Valley of South Hiram (55) completed a tightly contested top five.. Lisbon scored its only individual-event victory in the 1,600-meter race walk where Tyler Bard and Jeff Willey provided the Greyhounds a 1-2 finish. Orono had two event victories, from Brandon Crocker in the 300 hurdles and from its 3,200-meter relay team of Edin Dulin, James O’Neil, Conall Molloy and Tristan Butterfield.

Orono’s Lauren Stoops (center) finishes first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.88 seconds during the Class C state track and field championships Saturday at Foxcroft Academy. Stoops also won the 200 and finished third in the 400 to help Orono capture the state title. (Terry Farren photo)

Lauren Stoops won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes while finishing third in the 400 to lead the Orono girls to their win. The Red Riots’ 1,600-meter relay tandem of Kassidy Dill, Sherraiah Grace, Hannah Steelman and Becky Lopez-Anido and their 3,200-meter relay team of Dill, Steelman, Lopez-Andido and Lily Koffman also were victorious. Stoops was one of three double-event winners in the girls meet, along with Tia Tardy of Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln in the long jump and 800 and Olivia Smith of McAuley in the javelin and discus. Carsyn Koch of Washburn broke an 18-year-old Class C state record in the high jump with a best of 5 feet, 5½ inches, one-half inch better than the 5-5 turned in by Hebron Academy’s Meg Muller in 1996. That was one of two Class C state records set during the meet, the other coming when Michael McIntosh of NYA edged Baramee Jania of Sumner of East Sullivan to win the boys 100 dash in 11.39 seconds. Jania was second in 11.43, which equaled the previous record set last year by Tyler Fitzgerald of Hall-Dale of Farmingdale. Eric Hathaway of Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield (javelin and discus), Ron Helderman of Madison (110 hurdles and pole vault), Josef Holt-Andrews of Telstar of Bethel (1,600 and 3,200 runs) and Marques Houston of Monmouth Academy (200 and 400) were double-event winners in the boys meet. Other boys event champions were Judson Smith of host Foxcroft Academy in the high jump, Kelby Mace of Maranacook in the long jump, Ryan Moulton of Sacopee Valley in the triple jump, Darren Shi of Yarmouth in the shot put, Isaac LaCroix of Seacoast Christian in the 800, the NYA 400 relay team and the Monmouth Academy 1,600 relay squad. Other girls champions were Ashleigh Roberts of Traip in the 100 hurdles, Sydney Sirois of Saint Dominic in the 1,600 race walk, Laken Carrigan of Seacoast Christian in the 1,600 run, Kylene DeSmith of Seacoast Christian in the triple jump, Elora McCuddy of Traip in the 400, Leila Alfaro of Kents Hill in the 300 hurdles, Anne McKee of Kents Hill in the 3,200, Emma Pluntke of Carrabec of North Anson in the shot put, Jolene Potter of Maranacook in the pole vault, and the Washburn 400 relay team of Carsyn Koch, Tori Koch, Joan Overman and Tyra Shaw.

Results from Sub 5 – Class C State Meet:

Girls

Boys