One man's chance at a new life

Ricky Toney suffered a mini stroke about one and a half years ago and his family was told to buy a burial plot. Toney entered treatment at The Waters of Greencastle expecting to die, but now has recovered to the point of almost being able to go home.

A year and a half ago Rickey Toney, 57, of Greencastle, never thought he'd be in an assisted living facility, let alone recovering from a near-death experience.

Toney, a former railroad worker and go-kart racer, is living in a slightly slower lane these days after overcoming his experience.

Toney suffered a stroke and a head injury 18 months ago and after being shuttled from facility to facility, he ended up at The Waters.

"They told my family to buy a grave plot and wait," Toney said with a slight slur, a reminder of the ordeal he has overcome.

The Waters is a nursing facility that helps with end-of-life patients as well as rehabilitation of patients. The Waters staff welcomed Toney and worked at getting him better.

Mary Runnells, one of the nurses who helped take care of Toney when he arrived at the facility, remembered that he was very verbal and physical to the nurses trying to help him. After Toney received medication to help his condition, his personality changed completely.

"He went from calling us (the nurses) names to being a complete gentlemen," Runnells recalled.

With the help of his medication and his new friends from The Waters, Toney has completely denied death and changed his way of life. A self-proclaimed drunk, he now sees this as a new chance on his life.

"Thank god for The Waters," Toney exclaimed during a recent visit.

Toney's ideas on life have changed to wanting to help others, stop drinking and maybe getting in some fishing.

He recently went from The Waters to Autumn Glen, an assisted living facility in Greencastle, where he has been sweet-talking the staff into giving him some ice cream late at night.

"God must have had other plans for me," Toney says as he retells his tale.

Toney keeps a picture of what he looked like when he first was admitted to The Waters. He went from a listless man, who was verbally and physically heavy handed, to a man who is optimistic and joking.

The picture helps to remind him of how much he has improved in the past 10 months.

Toney is now working on plans for the future and he has developed several hobbies and goals. Several are helping at The Waters as a volunteer, building model cars for his nephew in his spare time and he has also become an avid fan of Facebook.

With his life back Toney is looking forward to the future and gaining back his independence slowly but surely.