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Show Friends Establish Fund to Assist Costs After Climbing Mishap In an effort to meet the estimated $25,000 plastic surgery costs necessary to restore the victim of a cliff fall in Bluff, Thursday, Mar. 20, friends have established establish-ed the Jerri Whipple Fund at the First Security Bank in Blanding, Utah. "All donations will be deposited de-posited in the account to earn interest as gifts accumulate, ac-cumulate, said Sandra As-bury As-bury who, with her mother, Maurine Burnett, is launching launch-ing the fund. "We now have $600, but nearly five times that amount is needed." Young Ms.-Whipple, 18, the mother of a two month old son, Heath John Whipple, Whip-ple, plunged 60 feet while following her husband, Howard, How-ard, up a climb on the north wall of a reservoir in Cottonwood Cot-tonwood Canyon. A sandstone sand-stone ledge, loosened by rain and melting snow, gave way under her. Ms. Whipple retained consciousness con-sciousness after landing face first on a large boulder, bould-er, splitting her palate, crushing cru-shing most of her facial bones, her jaws, nose and forehead and damaging her right eye. One side of her face was pulled down one inch by the impact. She apparently crawled some distance over the talus after the fall, before her husband could reach her side. Rushed by ambulance to local hospitals, she was flown from Cortez to Albuquerque Albu-querque where immediate urgent surgery included the wiring of her teeth into her jaws and the setting of a broken wrist, an entire arm and an ankle. There is medical medi-cal hope that in eight months the sight may be restored in the injured eye. Many years of complicated plastic surgery sur-gery lie before her, if adequate ade-quate funds can be found to pay for the work. Her young husband is recently unero- ployed. They have no insurance insur-ance or medical coverage of any kind," said Ms. As-bury. As-bury. Jerri Whipple Is the daughter daugh-ter of Mr. and Ms. Robert Mueller of Mancos, Colorado, Colora-do, and the granddaughter of Mr. and Ms. John Wilson of Bluff, Utah. Her husband, Howard, is the son of Mr. and Ms. Howard Whipple, Sr., also of Mancos, Colorado. Colo-rado. Further information regarding the Jerri Whipple Fund may be secured in Blanding from Ms. Asbury or Ms. Burnett or in Bluff from Ms. Jennielean Niel-son Niel-son or Ms. Anah Barnett ' (801) 672-2273. |