Bobby and Sandy Green were headed south, leaving behind their home on the Tennessee, Kentucky boarder. They were leaving behind the home they had been rebuilding after it was destroyed by a fire. With three sets of clothes and three sets of goals the couple drove south in search of a new life.

The two had three objectives for their trip and had sold their half-rebuilt home to finance the cost of achieving their goals. Bobby had never seen the ocean, so their first stop would be Pensacola, Fla., where he could gaze at the warm gulf water as it spread to the horizon. From there the couple would ride west to New Orleans, where Bobby would again attain another first by touching a palm tree. The last goal for the set of weary travelers, leaving their troubles behind, would be finding a home in Texas with a better scene than that which they had left.

With high hopes, the two traveled south into Alabama. They were traveling through Demopolis when a gust of air took the wind from their sails and the motorcycle they were riding from underneath them.

The couple, whose bike was clocked at 45 miles per hour at the time they hit the pavement, spilled onto U.S. Highway 80 and their world went black.

Bobby, who had his helmet knocked off his head by the bike handlebars during the wreck allowing his head to make contact with the pavement in the ensuing, violent deceleration, was rushed to Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital and airlifted to a trauma unit in Tuscaloosa. Sandy’s trip to the intensive care unit in Tuscaloosa wasn’t as expedient &045; she experienced the trek via ambulance ride.

Bobby was sent to the head trauma unit where he was found to have a broken nose, a hemorrhage on his right side, road rash and received stitches and staples on his battered head. Sandy suffered a broken arm, sprained left hand, a sprained ankle and road rash.

With the high hopes the couple had leaving Tennessee headed to their new life brought back to earth, it seemed cloudy days had returned. But all the couple’s fears would be stayed by a call to Sandy’s hospital room.

After staying with Peabody for several days a trip called her away, but the Demopolis Ministerial Association pooled money to provide the two with a hotel room at the Windwood Inn. Battered by the wreck the walk from the room to the hotel lobby was a struggle and after the first day employees at the inn brought the two food each day.

The rest of Demopolis also embraced the couple, literally dumped in the lap of the town by fate. The wrecker service released the couple’s bike for less than it normally would consider and Bob and Richard Walker helped Bobby retool the battered Goldwing.

The couple was allowed to move into a house owned by Fairhaven Baptist Church until they found a place to live, and people helped search for a job for Bobby who now works at the Sports Plex.

The couple is currently looking for a place to live in the area, though the wreck reduced their funds making it hard to find a place, and Sandy said once she completely regains mobility she would look for a job. Bobby still hasn’t seen the ocean or touched a palm tree though, but the couple feels they found their biggest objective &045; a new home, in the community that took them in.