OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Lynn Ernest was left with nothing following a tragic accident that left her husband on the brink of death.

The day after Don Ernest was hit by a 19-year-old driver who ran a red light, the trucking company retrieved the rig from a parking lot in Ocala. It had been their mobile home during long hauls across the country.

“The company came and picked up the truck the next morning with everything we owned… all of our clothing, my purse, our bank cards… they had to fly a driver out to Ocala the next day, pick it up, and leave because the load had to be delivered the next morning in Georgia,” said Lynn.

“I was left in Ocala with nothing.”

Lynn's husband, Don, sits in a wheelchair with a blue helmet on and a pink shirt.
Lynn says her husband, Don, remains dazed from the accident. Courtesy: Lynn Ernest
Don's skull is missing its skullcap. His head has red and black scaring near the skullcap area.
Don’s skull remains severely damaged from the accident. Courtesy: Lynn Ernest

On the third day of Don’s stay in HCA Florida Ocala Hospital’s trauma unit, Lynn stepped out briefly and returned to the waiting room, where she saw an older man seated nearby.

She sat directly across from a “little old man with white hair and glasses.”

“I asked him, ‘Are you a Catholic priest?’” she said. She was right — it was Father Patrick Sheedy of Blessed Trinity Church in Ocala.

Lynn had wanted someone to give her husband his last rites. Father Sheedy not only blessed Don, but extended help to Lynn, who had nowhere to go.

|Stranded in Ocala: Dinner stop turns tragic for truck-driving couple – 352today

He introduced her to Interfaith Emergency Services (IES), which helped her access warm meals through Brother’s Keeper soup kitchen.

Still, she had no place to sleep.

“We tried Project Hope, Wear Gloves… but they didn’t take cases like me,” said Lynn.

She spent the first week at a Comfort Inn across the street from the hospital, paid for by her 85-year-old father on Social Security. On the eighth day, just as she had to check out, she got a call from IES: a room was available.

“God heard me,” she said.

Lynn stayed at IES for three months. “It was a safe place to stay and have meals and showers. They provide a lot of services for the girls who need help. The things they do are amazing,” she said.

Don wears a blue shirt as he holds his grandson, Cameron, who is wearing blue pajamas
Courtesy: Lynn Ernest
Don wears a green shirt as he holds his grandson, Cameron, who is wearing a diaper.
Don and his grandson, Cameron, hold a close bond. Courtesy: Lynn Ernest
Don lounges on a couch with his grandson, Cameron, who is wearing a blue ballcap and a blue shirt
Courtesy: Lynn Ernest
Lynn Ernest (left) with blonde hair, and her husband Don (right) with glasses. Lynn has her had wrapped around Don's shoulders.
Lynn and Don have been married for over 30 years.

Don has since been moved to NeuLife Rehabilitation in Mount Dora. Lynn followed, sleeping on an inflatable mattress beside his bed.

“He’s not walking yet, and he’s still on a feeding tube and is wearing a helmet, but they’ve gotten him to sit up straight, and he’s starting to talk and respond to what we’re saying,” said Lynn.

Don has 14 surgeries ahead, including one to replace his skullcap. Doctors are unsure if he’ll have permanent brain damage.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do when we get back home… we were planning on retiring in six years, and this kind of throws everything off the table,” she said.

Still, she’s grateful.

For now, Ernest is just glad she still has her husband.

“It’s a miracle he’s alive… I don’t harbour any ill feelings towards the person that ran him down… I know accidents happen. I’m just grateful that he’s alive.”

Lynn says she has not received updates from Ocala Police regarding the 19-year-old driver.

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