Reporter’s Spouse Gives Thanks for Support

Without the support of thousands of friends and sympathetic strangers, Barry Paulk said Wednesday, he is not certain how he would have made it through the long days and nights since May 22--the day his wife, TV news reporter Adrienne Alpert, suffered life-threatening burns in a broadcasting accident.

As Alpert’s life hung in the balance, Paulk said, every card and each bouquet of flowers that arrived at the hospital kept hope alive.

So on Wednesday, Paulk held a news conference at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks to thank well-wishers for “jumping into this catastrophe and helping us survive.”

Speaking publicly for the first time since the accident, Paulk acknowledged receiving thousands of letters, cards and get-well messages, mostly from strangers.

“The prayers . . . they help. They really, really help,” Paulk said, his lip quivering with emotion as he also gave thanks on his wife’s behalf.

Through her husband, Alpert thanked her doctors, in addition to media colleagues who were at the accident scene and called for help. The KABC-TV Channel 7 reporter was inside a broadcast van preparing for a story when the vehicle’s antenna came near a 34,500-volt power line, touching off an explosion.

Alpert, 48, is in serious but stable condition at the burn center, where she has undergone several surgeries, including the amputations of her left arm at the elbow and her right leg below the knee. Over the last three weeks, surgeons have removed dead tissue from burn areas that cover 25% of her body and have performed a series of skin grafts.

“She desperately wanted to live, but I think that there was a point in the first couple of days when it was in question,” Paulk said. “She’s out of the woods in that regard, but there’s a tremendous amount of work that needs to be done.”

That work will continue Friday. Surgeons are planning a four-hour operation to implant muscle and tendons from Alpert’s upper back into her right forearm. Physicians will also examine the condition of her previous skin grafts.

“Hopefully, of course, those grafts will be in good shape . . . because that will mean her wounds will begin to close permanently,” said Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center spokesman Larry Weinberg. Alpert could remain in the hospital for another month, he said.

Blood donations are being made in Alpert’s name through campaigns by the American Red Cross and KABC-TV. Sherman Oaks Hospital has so far received 397 pints of blood on her behalf, with Alpert using about 20 pints, said Weinberg.

Coping with the accident has been difficult, said Paulk, who described his own emotional state as “a day to day thing.” He thanked the hospital’s staff for helping the couple’s 7-year-old son, Michael, cope with his mother’s injuries.

“The hardest thing is to find a rhythm to keep the family moving in a positive direction,” he said.

Alpert talks about returning to work, he said, and is eager to be active again.

“Adrienne is very optimistic, this is not going to keep her down,” Paulk said. “You read about people who go through stress and trauma and how it affects them. I don’t think this is going to slow her down very much at all. She’s a fighter and she’s going to continue to be a fighter.”

But the day of her accident still replays in Paulk’s mind, he said. He was driving with the family dog, running an errand, when he got a call on his cellular phone from police. The officer said his wife was in very serious condition and told him to head to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

“When I got there it was amazing,” Paulk said. “She was conscious, lucid and giving orders as she’s prone to do.”

Cal/OSHA is investigating whether KABC-TV provided proper safety training to employees, especially regarding the operation of antenna equipment near power lines, according to a spokesman for the state agency. The investigation is expected to continue through mid-July.