A friend through the rough times

After losing his left leg, arm and sight when his motorcycle was struck by a drunk driver, Greg Torell is grateful for a friend who makes sure he's still able to do what he loves.

He may have lost half his limbs in that motorcycle crash last summer, but Greg Torell of rural Cambridge has one thing few people have: a best friend who will stand by through anything. Jim Blosberg has proven that.
He's helped Torell navigate through the trials that follow a severe injury and the pain that comes from suddenly finding yourself disabled, unable to work, unable to train your hunting dog, and unable to ride your bike.
So Blosberg has found new hobbies for the two to share. He sold his motorcycle after the crash that ripped away Torell's left arm and leg, no longer able to stomach riding. Instead, he bought a classic car, a 1968 Baricuda. They've joined a car club, the group that meets at Junction Bowl every Wednesday night for dinner and a drive.
Blosberg has also found innovative ways for Torell to enjoy the things he's always loved. He rigged up a seat on a classic Skidoo Alpine so that Torell could go on the annual ride near McGregor in January. It's one of the biggest in the state, and because of the good snowcover, drew over 600 this year.
They went to other snowmobile races, as well. While Torell can't see more than shapes, he still got to smell the fumes and hear the pipes. Blosberg served as commentator.
The duo went out to North Dakota last fall so that Torell's dog, a German shorthaired named Ben, could practice the skills Torell taught him before his injury. While Torell couldn't get out there in the Aberle Farm fields with Blosberg and Ben, he's just happy his dog "got to do his thing."
Saturday night is Nascar night at the Torell residence. In early May they cooked up the turkeys they shot to serve for supper during the race. The supper had special meaning because it was Torell's first turkey.
He's done plenty of hunting in his life, much of it with Blosberg, but he'd never been turkey hunting before this April. To make it work, Blosberg scouted out the location before hand, set up the blind, and then brought Torell out via four-wheeler before sun-up. He ran the wheeler back, hid it and returned. The geese were so loud they couldn hardly hear the toms, recalled Torell. But they called in a dandy tom right off the get go. His gun was placed on an adjustable stick, and he waited for the signal: two tugs on his pants.
When it came, he carefully pulled the trigger. "You've got it, you've rolled him!" Blosberg hollared.
"It was pretty exciting," said Torell. "I was basically shooting blind."
LIFELONG BUDDIES
It was the most memorable in a long string of hunting trips. The two men have known each other since they were children. Their fathers went snowmobiling together, and in their younger days Blosberg and Torell did their fair share of stunt riding.
"We've been married for 22 years," said Jackie Torell. "Believe me, they do a lot of fishing and hunting."
One of their best trips was to hunt Hungarian partridges and sharp tailed grouse in North Dakota a few years back.
And neither of them will ever forget when Torell shot the nicest buck of his life, a 10-point, 200-pound animal that reached from one side of Jackie's Cobra Mustang to the other. Yeah, they brought the deer back on the hood of her classic car. Lucky for them, she wasn't home. "To this day, I don't know how I got the deer up there," said Torell.
When Blosberg lived out in Milwaukee, Torell got on his bike and went out for a visit. "We kept out of trouble," recalled Blosberg.
When he was at a low point in his life and had lost his driver's license because of his alcohol use, Blosberg moved in with the Torell family. Jackie brought him to work every day for one year. He's now been sober for 21 years. "I had bad times 21 years ago. I was no angel. I guess you just don't forget it," said Blosberg. "It's payback."
"If it wasn't for Jim and my wife, I don't know how I'd ever have gotten to the point where I am now," said Torell.
WHEN LIFE CHANGED
Torell's life changed on June 12, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. He was almost home that night, returning from the Princeton hospital where he'd held his first grandbaby for the first time. When they pulled onto Highway 47, his brother was riding a motorcycle just in front of him, and his wife followed in the car. "We'll go home, have dinner and celebrate," he had told his wife.
That was before a drunk driver crossed the centerline just north of EC's Corner.
He locked the brakes up and tried to take the ditch. He made it to the shoulder before the car broadsided him. "It blew my leg and arm off at impact," said Torell. "First thing I knew I was trying to do was get up. The next thing I knew it was the end of July."
Luckily, Torell was spared any serious head injuries, although he lost sight in his left eye. He was told that the strength he built up over years of bricklaying saved him. Two neighbors who were walking nearby ran over to help and put tourniquets on to stop the bleeding. "They'll tell you they didn't do anything, but they did," said J. Torell. The Torells credit those two women for saving his life.
To spare him pain, Torell was put in a medically-induced coma until July 23. He then entered physical therapy full-time, learning how to use the muscles that remained to compensate for what he lost. He operates an arm prosthetic by flexing his shoulder muscles.
In the hospital, everything that could go wrong went wrong. He had renal failure from losing half his colon. He had blood clots in his lungs. He had infection in his stump leg. "I've been under the blade a lot," said Torell.
Every night he was in the hospital Blosberg brought Torell a hot fudge malt from Dairy Queen.
After three months he was finally released from North Memorial. Following his release, Torell began going to Cambridge Medical Center for therapy twice a week.
When he got home, friends had to lift him up through his front door because there was no ramp. Blosberg changed that situation quickly. With the help of family, friends, his co-workers at EnComm, and Torell's co-workers at JE Dunn, a main-floor bedroom and bathroom were added onto the house just off the kitchen. A ramp was installed, and the exterior given a complete overhaul with new siding and shingles.
All the work was done on nights and evenings, and was finished within two months. "A lot of people helped," noted Blosberg.
People were also there for the Torells on Aug. 22 for a benefit held at the Isanti County Sportsmen Club, where Torell is a member. The good wishes and donations helped Torell get through the winter.
"The next day Jackie and I went through all the cards, and we just sat here and bawled we were so overwhelmed," recalled Torell.
HE HAS GOOD DAYS AND BAD
Torell is still recovering from the incident almost one year later. He went under the knife again in March when his colostomy bag was removed. "I couldn't get rid of that thing fast enough," said Torell. While the surgeon was there, he took out Torell's appendix, as well. "It was a freebie," said Torell.
The 21-year-old driver who hit Torell has yet to go to court. Torell has mixed feelings about her and her family, who live just up Highway 47. Some days he's very angry. Others he just wonders why he's never received a get-well card or an offer to do what they can to make things better.
Yet he also knows that in his younger days, he could have easily done the same thing while driving drunk. "I look back to when I was her age. I could have done something like this," said Torell.
'Don't drink and drive' is a mantra the Torells have always pounded into the heads of their four children, but it has taken on a deeper meaning now. "That's exactly what she did to me – what I told my kids they'd never want to do to anyone," said Torell. "She's got to live with it for the rest of her life."
Meanwhile, Torell takes life one day at a time. Things that he never took time for before now mean a lot, like sitting around with friends and family to watch a baseball game or simply going out for dinner.
"Keep a stiff upper lip and you'll get through life," advised Torell. "Try to keep motivated."
He has his share of ups and downs. The hardest part, he admits while choking up, is "when my granddaughter wants to climb up in my lap and I can't pick her up."
Torell's wife, Jackie, has never waivered in her support. "My wife has always been by my side," said Torell. "She's felt all my pain as far as I'm concerned.
"Jim has been there to keep me busy."
"We've got to do the best we can with what he's got," said Jackie. She's grateful that her employer, Assurant Health, has been so understanding, allowing her to work from home. The health insurance she has through her employer has kept them from being buried by medical bills.
Although Torell's life at age 44 isn't how he pictured it would be, he's grateful for the people who have been there for him.
"If someone is willing to help you with this stuff, it does make it possible to get back out to do the things you love," said Torell.
And as the guys told him out in North Dakota, "If anything like that happened, they'd only be so lucky to have a friend like Jim."

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