Motivational speaker Loretta Goebel uplifted audience members Tuesday on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville campus by sharing her story of bravery, tenacity and faith in the face of unexpected illness, looming death and life-changing alterations.
“If you didn’t know my story, you wouldn’t know my loss,” Goebel, a bi-lateral amputee, told the crowd at the Women’s Philanthropy & Leadership Workshop, hosted by the SIUE Meridian Society. Goebel was the keynote speaker at the workshop that ran from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and included a panel discussion and luncheon. Goebel’s story is chronicled in “A Life in Parts,” written by Vicki Bennington and Daniel Brannan.
A stylish and poised Goebel took the stage and began to unfold her story that began with a seemingly harmless incident of her banging her right hand against a banister. But the course of events that followed proved to be severely harmful, and when Goebel had concluded her story, the motivational speaker “popped off” body parts and compelled her audience to live life to its fullest.
It was Dec. 11, 2001, and Goebel, a wife and stay-at-home mother, was in the basement wrapping Christmas presents when she heard the doorbell ring, she told the crowded room of listeners. It was when Goebel ran up the stairs that she struck her right hand on the banister and dislodged a strep virus that was evidently harbored in a “winter crack” in her right thumb.
Five days later, Goebel awoke to severe pain in her right hand and arm, and her then husband, Wally, rushed her to the hospital emergency room. It was then that the family learned Goebel was suffering from the effects of the strep germ that had entered her blood stream through the crack in her thumb, eventually leading to strep toxic shock.
“My blood pressure was 40 over 20, and I was given a 10 percent chance to live,” Goebel said. “My family was told I needed a miracle, and my sisters were told to start planning my funeral.”
But Goebel did recover to a point where her life was out of danger. But as a result of medications that saved her life, circulation to her limbs was lost, resulting in the need for multiple amputations.
“On Feb. 21, 2002, the night before I had to have my legs amputated, I cried and prayed and told God that he was with his son, Jesus, when he went to the cross,” Goebel said. “(I said) Please give me the courage to face what I must. And I slept like a baby.”
On Feb. 22, 2002, Goebel had both her legs amputated eight inches below her knees.
“Some women say it feels good when you take off your shoes; when I pop off my legs, I feel that same relief,” Goebel said, as she slipped off both prosthetic legs, while sitting on stage.
In the end, Goebel also had her right hand amputated, and she lost the biggest portion of four fingers on her left hand. Ironically, her right thumb that she struck, is the only digit still intact. Due to pain medication, Goebel’s hair fell out, but grew back later, after she had “reclaimed” the use of her hands.
“Most women carry a purse,” Goebel joked, as she sat on stage with her prosthetic legs next to her, “but I carry a hand bag.” And with that, she removed her right hand prosthetic and put it into her bag.
“Loretta serves as an example that just because parts of your life change, it doesn’t mean it has to take away your essence,” said Bennington, an SIUE alumnus, during her introduction of Loretta.
Goebel’s struggles brought her into contact with several celebrities, including Paul McCartney’s ex-wife, Heather Mills. Mills, who is an amputee, counseled Goebel when she first lost her legs and helped her find prosthetics that better suited her. The foreword in Goebel’s book is written by Mills, and some endorsements of “A Life in Parts” include Paul McCartney and supermodel Cindy Crawford.
“Loretta has such a positive attitude,” wrote McCartney. “I’m proud of how she handled all the obstacles she had to overcome and the way she reaches out to help others.”
Goebel told her SIUE audience that she made a choice to “re-bloom.”
“Do you feel you’re being pruned in one way or another?” Goebel said. “Lift your face from the soil and point it toward God. Although the world seems a scary place, God is in control.”
Goebel said she does not consider herself “handicapped.”
“When you don’t live your life to the fullest,” she said, “that’s being handicapped.”
For more information about Goebel or to order the book, visit alifeinparts.com.
Photo Information:
Loretta Goebel talks to a crowded audience during the SIUE Meridan Society Women’s Philanthropy & Leadership Workshop.