Tony Jacobs was dating his current wife, Pamela when they made the move to Corbett from Aloha in 1985. They had both decided to move in with Pamela's mother to help her out with managing the large acreage after her husband had passed. Pamela's father had built the home many years earlier and her grandfather had built the stone home next door. Moving in, Tony and Pamela decided to marry in 1986 and purchase their own place in Corbett. They both had been married previously, with Tony having three children, and Pamela having two from their first marriages. After nine months of marriage, both Tony and Pamela were sitting out on the back lawn at "Mom's house" trying to figure out a way to purchase the home and property from Pamela's mother. It just did not seem financially possible. The very next day, Tony was driving home on I-84 and was rear ended. The pile-up of cars was so horrendous that Tony's car crumpled and caught on fire. He managed to get himself out of the car while his body was literally in flames. He was burned on over 80% of his body and had a broken neck. Doctors gave his family notice that he had just 24 hours of life left. Tony was put into an induced coma for several weeks, went through 13 surgeries in 6 months, and fought the odds to not just survive, but thrive. As recent as three weeks ago, he has had 35 surgeries on his body. Tony says his whole life has changed...for the better! He used the money from his accident settlement to purchase the family home and acreage, he stopped smoking pot (now "getting high on life!") and he has recommitted himself to living out his Christian faith.Visiting a counselor to deal with his very different lifestyle, Tony was worried that with the loss of most of his fingers, he would never get to use his hands again. Being an avid fisherman, white water rafter, machine operator and a sheet metal worker previously, the counselor said his power was not in his hands as much as in his mind. With this thought, Tony began to use the limited fingers he had left to BEGIN a new wood working hobby! Recently his brother in-law, Woody Davis was diagnosed with ALS. Many years ago when Tony began his woodworking, Woody had joked that he wanted Tony to make his pine box when it came his time. Tony remembered this and has done just that, with a great deal of input from Woody on the design. Now Tony is taking it a step further by having the Corbett community sign the casket that will be used for Woody's burial. Tony and Woody are able to joke freely about "end times" as they both have the faith and confidence that they are both heaven bound. Tony says he loves the community so much, he wants to "give back" the way Woody has over the years. When he is not fishing on the Sandy River for steel head, he is soon going to be volunteering at the Corbett grange as he has at Corbett Community Church over the years. He also plans to continue giving encouraging talks at burn center support groups as well as meeting with folks one on one who just need a word of encouragement.
