ONCE MORE, ONLY IN BARROW

I have not previously documented this story. It was summer in the mid 90's. A young man came into the hospital durig afternoon walk in hours. His story was that he hitchhiked the Dalton highway. Whenever he saw a truck coming, he would lie down in the middle of the road. The Dalton highwas is 414 miles to Deadhorse. Coldfoot is the last small village to get gas for the next 240 miles. He wound up in Deadhorse. There was no medical facilities there to treat his seizures. He was put on the next Alaska airlines flight to Barrow. They gave him a little cardboard suit case to hold his things. He was red headed, did have cerebral palsy and stunk pretty badly. There was nothing that the medical staff could do for him. They were pretty sure that his seizures were fake. He was put on the next jet to Anchorage with his little cardboard suitcase for Anchorage. I do wonder occasionally if he is still lying dow in the middle of a highway somewhere hoping for a ride.