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TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Zeliha Caputo was relaxing on Monday, her first day back at work, less than four months after a car accident left her with catastrophic injuries.
Propped up in a recliner chair, it was time to rest after another appointment at her downtown barber shop.
"I've been busy," Caputo said, showing visitors a picture from her first haircut that morning. There were about 10 more customers after that.
Her clients were anxious to return to Zeliha's Barber Shop. It's been a while since they could hop onto the barber chair, catch up on each other's lives and grab a candy bar on the way out.
The shop had been closed since mid-November. While Caputo continues recovering and waits for a fifth surgery, she said she was more than ready to pick up the razor again.
"It's good therapy for me," she said.
Caputo pointed to almost every spot on her body when describing everything that was broken. Two vertebrae in her neck. Her left femur. Shattered bones below both knees. Her left wrist. Collar bone. Her left hip. A bone in her sternum. Two broken ribs.
Since returning home from an Indianapolis hospital mid-December, she's regained the ability to walk on her left leg with assistance from a walker. She uses her right leg, which will be operated on soon, for balance.
The neck brace she wore since the accident came off last week.
As she begins outpatient physical therapy, Caputo's working three days a week. She will see customers from 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and every other Saturday.
A second employee, Angela Clay, has been hired to handle walk-ins six days per week. Clay is a beautician. (The shop is open until 6 p.m. weekdays.)
This was also Clay's first day at the shop. The former proprietor of Blondie's Hair Shop for Men lost the business after a shattered wrist sidelined her for three months.
She considers what happened after her own injury, and then looks over at Caputo.
"Makes me feel like a whimp," Clay said, with a laugh.
Not long after Caputo settled in to the recliner chair, another customer came through the door. Firefighter Jonathan Wright, who also owns Wright's Pool Service, was eager to come back.
Caputo eased out of her seat, grabbed a hold of the walker and made her way to the barber chair. A wheelchair also sat next to the recliner.
"How are you feeling?" Wright asked.
"Better," came the reply. "I'm back to work, I'm feeling better."
Wright positioned himself in the barber chair as Caputo parked the walker, taking a seat on a stool.
She clipped the barber cape around Wright and got the razor ready.
Wright told the Tribune-Star everyone has missed their barber, who opened up shop last March but has been cutting hair for almost six years. During Caputo's absence, he patronized other salons in town.
"I told her it's been a while since I've had a good haircut," he said, smiling.
As Caputo fired up the razor, another man stepped inside. He was on the clock and couldn't stay, but wanted to extend his congratulations on reopening.
The business depends on customer loyalty.
A lot of Caputo's clients are military personnel, and several came in earlier Monday. Days before the accident, she'd offered free haircuts to service members on Veterans Day.
Her husband retired from the U.S. Air Force, a son serves in the U.S. Army and other family members are also in the military.
Flags from the nation's military branches decorate the shop, along with a large American flag.
Over the whir of the razor, Caputo and Wright bantered about football and her recovery process.
She isn't certain when she can resume haircuts full-time, and is looking for a third person as a part-time barber.
Joking about wanting a larger vehicle, she realizes how fortunate she is to bounce back so quickly.
"God gave me a second chance," she said.
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Source: (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star, http://bit.ly/1Rn4xID
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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com
This is an AP-Indiana Exchange story offered by the (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star.
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