Barbara Mercer, 65, who was almost killed in March after a car smashed violently into her Edmonds business, is back.
“I am excited and I am anxious,” Mercer said recently. “But, I am very much looking forward to it.”
Months of remodeling have led to a full recovery for Mercer’s Fifth Avenue frame shop, Edmonds Frame Design and Atelier. The place looked like a war zone after a Lexus crashed into it six months ago.
Now, with new walls and new flooring and new displays, a grand reopening ceremony is scheduled for 4 p.m., Friday, Nov. 9. The public is invited.
As for Mercer herself, recovery tells a different story.
More than 16 years after she opened her shop next to Petosa’s Grocery in downtown Edmonds, the freak accident March 16 almost killed her.
A car driven by a 79-year-old woman ran into the south wall of the frame shop and immediately hit Mercer, who was sitting at her desk. It pushed her across her store, and threw her into the north wall, where she crashed through the drywall and between two studs.
Throughout the accident, the 79-year-old driver continued to hit the gas pedal, instead of the brake pedal, as she intended to do, police determined.
Mercer lost consciousness, and it was five weeks before she even understood what had happened, she said.
The accident deformed her shoulder – probably permanently. She still has jaw troubles. Her lungs haven’t regained full capacity. The list goes painfully on.
Nevermind that, Mercer said. She’s alive. And she’s back.
“I have been very fortunate, actually. I say that every day,” Mercer said, as from her shop, as she finalized preparations for the reopening celebration. “I have had my angel, and many, many other angels with me.”
Without the studs, she points out, she likely would have been crushed to death.
Immediately after the accident, the community rallied behind Mercer.
Mercer, who has a master’s degree in fine arts from University of California-Berkley, does all her own work. After the accident, friends from the framing world stepped in and completed all of the jobs that she had been working on.
The business community helped raise money to help pay the bills.
She received hundreds and hundreds of ‘Get Well’ cards, she said.
Community members helped in untold ways, including financially.
“We are so excited that she’s back,” said Chris Keuss, the director of the Port of Edmonds. “But, we just wanted to find some way to help.”
Together with the Bank of Washington, Anthony’s Restaurant and Arnie’s Restaurant, the Port sponsored a fundraiser that raised cash for Mercer’s recovery.
A guessing contest that cost $5 per entry raised “a significant amount” of money, said Harry Ostrander, the Bank of Washington’s Edmonds branch manager.
“There was a huge outpouring of support for Barbara,” Ostrander said. “She is so well thought of in this community. People just wanted to find some way to help.”
Throughout Mercer’s absence, people would come into the bank to ask about Mercer and her health, Ostrander said.
Even though Mercer has been in Edmonds for nearly 17 years now – in fact, Nov. 9 will mark her frame shop’s 17th year in business in downtown Edmonds – the support was surprising, she said.
“I would never so much love existed in Edmonds,” she said. “It has been overwhelming. I have never in my life gotten so many hugs and kisses and (such) love.”
While the love and the accident were both overwhelming, and the bills keep mounting, the accident did bring a small bright spot, Mercer said. It allowed her to rest.
With the business about to reopen that will likely change.
So many people have been following Mercer’s recovery that she expects business will be crazy for a little while, she said.
“I have a feeling that a big storm is coming right at the beginning,” she said, laughing nervously. “Maybe then things will trickle off for a while.”
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