Newlyweds Rob and Dana Shiflett Leonard continue to recover from injuries they sustained in a terrifying encounter with a boat on their honeymoon in Belize. Tonight's benefit show to help the couple features bands and a silent auction.
Benefit show will help couple overcome trauma
After spending a wonderful honeymoon in Belize last September, a Waynesboro couple didn't want it to end.
The warm, blue water of the Caribbean Sea fronting their beach bungalow was so inviting that they decided to take one more swim before packing. It was a decision that would have horrendous repercussions.
"We were starting to swim back in after snorkeling when, all of a sudden, we heard this boat," said Dana Shiflett Leonard. "We turned around and saw that it was coming toward us fast.
"We tried yelling, screaming and waving our arms. I could tell the boat was coming full speed, because the front of it was completely planed out. I realized there was no way it was seeing us, so I thought I'd dive down as deep as I could.
"But we were in shallow water, and I felt and heard the boat hit us. When I came up to the surface, I immediately started screaming for help. I looked at Rob and he was holding up his leg and yelling, 'My leg, my leg.'
"His leg was gone, and the water was bloody. My right arm was broken so badly that the bone was sticking out, and I had a laceration on my right palm from the fingers down to my wrist."
The boat kept going. Fortunately, another boat was nearby and came to their rescue.
"We were pulled onto this ledge at the back of the boat," Leonard said. "There was a priest onboard, and he started yelling for someone's belt and he made a tourniquet for Rob's leg.
"Rob was white. He never went into shock, but I honestly thought he was going to die before we made it to shore, because there was so much blood.
"As we headed to shore, they were having a hard time holding onto me. There was so much blood coming out of my hand and arm that I kept sliding down off the back of the boat."
The terribly injured couple was rushed to a nearby medical clinic. After being stabilized, they both were airlifted by plane to the hospital in Belize City.
To date, Rob Leonard has endured four surgeries and is now undergoing physical therapy. His wife has had surgery on her right arm, which needed a plate and screws.
Dana Leonard's left hand also was badly injured. They had to cut her wedding ring off because that finger was broken and had swelled up. She has physical therapy three times a week.
To help the couple with mounting medical bills, Jefferson Theater is holding the Rob and Dana Benefit Show this evening. Performing will be Bobby St. Ours and Friends, Sarah White and the Pearls, Grits N Gravy, the Cinnamon Band and Borrowed Beams of Light.
"Rob is the box office manager at the Jefferson Theater and is also an account manager for Music Today," Dana Leonard said. "They've both been wonderful to us.
"The person in charge of the benefit is Danny Shea, and he has been amazing throughout this whole thing. Rob and I are so very appreciative of all their help.
"This would be a lot harder without all the help we've gotten, and we're very grateful."
Dana Leonard said she's still haunted by memories of the traumatic incident that nearly took her husband's life and her own. Nonetheless, she somehow has managed to see the bright side - and heaps praise on those who have helped them.
"It has been amazing how people have stepped up to help us," she said. "The staff at the University of Virginia Hospital and the Augusta Medical Center have been wonderful.
"And we're so thankful to the people of Belize, as well, who stepped up to help us, and actually saved us. It's a good feeling to know that when something bad happens, it can be turned into a positive experience.
"Even though this was such a horrible thing that happened, it has been a positive experience. It has shown us how many really good people there are in the world."
The Rob and Dana Benefit Show will be held at 8 tonight at Jefferson Theater. Performing will be Bobby St. Ours and Friends, Sarah White and the Pearls, the Cinnamon Band and Borrowed Beams of Light.
Tickets are $15, and additional donations will be accepted. Doors open at 7 p.m.
SOURCE