Southern ‘Family’ Eases Pain Nashville Hospitality Helped Couple Recover After Accident

Against long odds, Don and Irma Wilson say they’ll go home to Spokane with some happy memories of their painful and unexpectedly long stay in Tennessee.

The couple, both 65, were walking past the under-construction NASCAR Cafe on Oct. 10. An explosion caused by water in an underground transformer switch severely burned them both, and they have since been undergoing treatment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Michael Hickman of Clarksville, Tenn., died of injuries caused by the explosion.

The Wilsons are now well enough to plan a return to their Spokane home this month.

“I’m very grateful to all the people and the help they gave my family,” Irma Wilson told the Tennessean newspaper this week.

“I need to let them know, it’s not the people of Nashville’s fault that this happened. They’ve been so wonderful to us.”

Irma Wilson suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60 percent of her body. She will return to Vanderbilt in September for more treatment.

“I’m doing fine, they tell me,” she said. “I feel good. I’m not in pain.”

Doctors at the Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital at Vanderbilt are working with Irma Wilson in hopes she’ll regain use of her hands.

Eventually, the couple hope to return to their active lifestyle, which included bicycling, jogging, tennis and golf. Don Wilson, who was not as severely injured as his wife and was released from Vanderbilt last month, still cannot grip a golf club.

“We want to get back to as normal a life as possible,” he said. “Our lives have been turned upside down.”

While in Nashville, the couple say they have been treated to home-cooked meals, taken out to restaurants, and helped with expenses. They took in an Amy Grant concert after free tickets were donated.

“I have a lot of respect and admiration for the people of Nashville,” Don Wilson said.

“We have what we call a Tennessee family now.”