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50 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, November 25, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 18, 2004 Margo Chamberlain St. Mary’s grad hurt in Chile wreck By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Margo Chamberlain remembers the bus losing traction as it sped around the curve. She remembers feeling the bus start to tip and throwing her hands up against the windows to brace herself, and she remembers being pinned in the bus while Chilean men worked feverishly to free her. The crash itself is a blank for the 20-year-old St. Mary’s High School graduate. That’s probably just as well — her right foot and left arm were caught under the bus as it slid on its side. "I don’t remember anything until we stopped," Chamberlain said Wednesday from a hospital bed in Seattle. Advertisement The accident happened last Thursday while Chamberlain was in Chile during a semester-abroad program sponsored by Colorado College, where she is a junior. She was traveling with a group of students to a national park in northern Chile, said her father, Dr. Steve Chamberlain, a Medford orthopedic surgeon. "We don’t know exactly what happened," he said. Of the 40-odd students in the bus, one lost an arm and several others had serious injuries. Only Margo was entrapped in the wreckage, where she lay until a group of construction workers happened by with heavy-duty tools and freed her. Skin, muscle, nerves, blood vessels and bone were scraped off her foot as the bus ground to halt. Both bones in her arm were broken, but her hand remained attached to her arm. Chilean doctors treated her injuries over the weekend until her parents made arrangements to have her flown to Seattle’s Harbor View Medical Center, where physicians specialize in treating major trauma. Surgeons were scheduled to look at her wounds late Wednesday to determine how to begin to repair her arm and foot. When she leaves the Seattle hospital, she will return to Medford to recuperate. "We’re lucky she’s here," her father said. "We’re lucky her body parts are still attached." Steve Chamberlain said his daughter will face multiple surgeries over the next 24 months. "Two years from now we’re hoping her arm will be good again." She hopes to return to school in Colorado when classes resume next semester. "School doesn’t start until January 24th," she said. Margo’s accident is the family’s second brush with death in the past three years. Her father was mauled by a grizzly bear in September 2001 during a bow-hunting trip in Montana. "We’re hoping these things don’t happen in threes," the doctor said. "We can’t take it anymore." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities