Victim of terrible fall celebrates anniversary

It’s been two years since Stacy S. Baum fainted in the SouthPark mall food court.

South Charlottean Baum recently celebrated her recovery from her traumatic accident with her second annual “I Got Knocked Down but I Got Up Again” event.

The title of her event was inspired by a song by Chumbawamba called “Tubthumping,” which contains the lyrics, “I get knocked down, but I get up again. You’re never gonna keep me down.”

Those lyrics have become Baum’s mantra.

Baum invited friends and family to “celebrate the simple enjoyment of living life to it’s fullest and sharing it with friends,” said Baum.

The accident happened on the first Friday morning in November 2010. Baum went for a jog followed up by a visit to the SouthPark Mall to run an errand. Feeling hungry, Baum first stopped by to get a piece of pizza at the SouthPark Mall food court.

“The last thing I remember before I fainted was being very warm and thinking of taking my jacket off,” said Baum. “I apparently fainted and knocked my jaw on the counter on the way to the ground.”

Baum went in and out of consciousness, but she remembers being worried about her teeth because they felt broken. She didn’t realize initially that she was covered in blood.

Several bystanders, including a nurse and a doctor, along with mall security came to Baum’s aid. One picked up Baum’s cell number, hit the redial button, and reached Baum’s good friend Staci Mond.

Mond, 50, heard a stranger on the other end of the phone say “I am here at SouthPark mall with a girl that is injured, in and out of consciousness, my daughter is a nurse, she is with her, the paramedics are on the way…”

“Everything kind of went in slow motion for a few minutes…seemed like a movie I was watching, never a call I thought I would receive,” said Mond.

Mond managed to notify Baum’s husband, Allen, and eventually was able to pick up Baum’s 11-year-old daughter, Sam, and 7-½-year-old son, Ben.

Allen almost passed out when he was allowed to see Baum at the hospital.

“I must have been some sight,” said Baum. “The next day I had surgery to repair my triple jaw fracture.”

A few days later, Baum went home but ended up back in the hospital a week later with an infection in one of the surgical sites.

“Thus began months of treatments, therapies, additional surgeries, and dental work that continues until now,” said Baum.

So, why does Baum choose to celebrate the anniversaries of her accident?

“I could have fallen on my neck and been paralyzed, I could have been driving, I could have had my kids with me when it happened or with me while I was driving, I could have died, I could have killed someone,” said Baum.

“Then I started telling folks this is not a crisis, people are starving and can’t afford to eat in lots of countries, 9/11, Iraq, Afghanistan, children dying of incurable diseases, young people being killed in DUI accidents, these are crises,” said Baum. “I was grateful for the opportunity I had been given to continue with my life, raise my kids, spend time with my family and friends, and figure out what I could do to give back with my new found perspective.”

The fall was a life-changing event, and Baum plans on celebrating it annually.