LIHUE — On Sept. 27, 2009, Heidi Siefkas was visiting upstate New York’s Hudson River valley. She was happily married. A globetrotting marketing and public relations executive.
She had everything.
“In one fell swoop a 1,000-pound tree limb fell — healthy tree — while I was taking out the trash,” Siefkas said. “Broke my neck and I was unconscious for about five days in the hospital.”
Life as she knew it came to a screeching halt. She spent six months in a full immobilization brace — no showers, no traveling, no driving.
“All I could do is walk, and I used that as my meditation and as a way to reframe my circumstances,” she said. “Given time to think, I wondered about my life’s path.”
Was this was a freak accident, simply being at the wrong place at the wrong time? Or was it an opportunity for change?
“Come to turn out, I was at the right place at the right time,” she said.
