Published: February 12, 2009 11:54 pm      

‘Bob will recover,’ says sister

Cathy Fagan is understandably tired.

She spent most of Thursday traveling to Macon, then to DeKalb and finally to Troop H of the Mississippi Highway Patrol in Meridian trying to gather as much of Bob Skelding's belongings as could be salvaged from his wrecked wagon. There wasn't much to collect, however.

Skelding, the 49-year old New Hampshire man who was involved Tuesday in a horrific crash on Highway 45 South when an 18-wheeler slammed into his four-horse drawn wagon, is recovering in the intensive care unit of Rush Foundation Hospital in Meridian. He is listed in serious but stable condition and has been responsive. But he still has a long road ahead of him.

Fagan, a resident of North Carolina and a year older than her brother, visited the crash scene very close to the Noxubee-Kemper county line. As she surveyed the scene and tried to recreate the crash in her head she came to the conclusion that her brother was one extremely lucky soul.

As she looked along the side of the highway, flipping broken items over with her foot in an attempt to find anything of value, she came across something that symbolized who her brother is. It was a peace sign that Skelding had undoubtedly stuck somewhere on the homemade RV he was living out of during his nine state, 1,700 mile journey. It was a fitting piece of memorabilia she would give back to her brother when she went to see him that night in the hospital.

Fagan arrived in Meridian on Wednesday — in her RV — that has a motor.

"He was always jealous of my RV," said Fagan laughing. "Bob has always been the adventurer of the family. Believe me, he's been in worst predicaments than this."

People Skelding has met on his cross country trip have only been afforded a glimpse into a man who yearned to experience life to its fullest. Fagan said her brother, out of all of her siblings, was the one with the most zest for life — the one with the biggest heart and soul. She thinks that is what has brought him through some very tough times and one reason why people seem to gravitate to him.

"When he was in the Army he did things that were only recently declassified," said Fagan. "He'd be gone months and we'd think he was dead. Suddenly one day a senator would show up from out of nowhere and tell us they found him alive."

The die hard adventurer in him is what drove Skelding to embark on this trek, said Fagan. It was the thrill to do something he never had done before. It was a hunger to experience life. Even a heart attack last fall a couple of weeks before he planned to launch this adventure wouldn't slow him down.

"He had to postpone the trip for a month because his doctor strongly advised him to rest," said Fagan. "But in the end the doctor couldn't even keep him from going."

Fagan has been awestruck by the number of emails, letters and phone calls she has received since Skelding's accident. She wondered aloud if something were to happen to her, just how many people would miss her.

"Well, there are my children, of course, but they would only do that out of guilt," Fagan said laughing. "Then there are maybe a dozen other people. But Bob, well, he has hundreds, or maybe thousands of people he's come into contact with since taking this trip who are all rooting for him — hoping he'll pull through. That makes me feel great."

And Fagan said to keep those well wishes coming because, "Bob feeds off positive energy. It makes him more determined. And we do appreciate the kind words everyone has had."

One of the best signs Fagan has had since coming to Meridian to be with her brother was the smile on his face when she cracked one of her corny jokes. The other sign? The one she found on a long lonely stretch of highway in East Central Mississippi.