Idaho fair accused of evicting paralyzed woman

Associated Press Michael Harn communicates with his wife Rosealinda Sept. 23 at the couple’s home in Nampa, Idaho. After being left with nearly complete paralysis as a result of a vehicle accident over 22 years ago, Rosealinda answers yes and no questions with a series of blinks and head nods.

NAMPA, Idaho—Rose Harn peers out at the world with one working eye, her arms curled tightly against her shriveled body. A rag under her chin catches her drool.

In the two decades since Harn was left brain-damaged and paralyzed by a 16-year-old driver, her husband has taken her to numerous Mothers Against Drunk Driving events in Idaho as an object lesson in the consequences of drinking and driving.

But that was before MADD removed Harn as a volunteer at its booth at a state fair last month amid complaints that the sight of her was too disturbing.

The Harns have filed a discrimination complaint with the Idaho Human Rights Commission against MADD and the company that operated the fair. MADD is taking a closer look at its practice of bringing accident victims to public events. And the incident has stirred up townspeople in this community of 50,000, situated in a sugar beet-and onion-growing region 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Boise.

Exactly what happened at the fair is in dispute, and the state human rights agency is investigating. MADD, for its part, said it feared trouble at the fair and acted out of concern for Harn’s safety.

But Mike Harn said MADD should have let his wife be seen.

“This is reality. This is what happens when someone who has been drinking and driving hits someone,” he said. “This is what’s left. This is shattered lives.”

In 1986, his wife was left blind in one eye, paralyzed on her right side and unable to speak after a teenager who had been drinking ran a stop sign and plowed into her car. The crash nearly severed her brain stem, putting her in a coma for about 18 months.

The 58-year-old mother of three lives on a wheeled bed. Because she can no longer swallow, she relies on a feeding tube inserted in her abdomen. According to her husband, she is aware of most of what is going on around her, blinking once for yes, moving her head slowly from side to side for no.

Since the accident, Mike Harn, 64, has arranged for his wife to appear at numerous MADD events, including about a dozen state and county fairs by his count.