Annie Bessie Dansby This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. AccessNorthGa.com - Your Online Local Newspaper

   www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_ - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/30/2003   Last Visited: 12/30/2003

   Only two of the four in the room survived Cox and Annie Bessie Dansby.
   
   Jumping out of that window didnt seem courageous to Cox when she talked to a reporter two weeks after the fire.
   
   I didnt want to burn up, she explained.
   
   She suffered a broken jaw, a broken arm and broke both legs, putting her in a cast from the waist down.
   
   Cox was hospitalized in Atlanta for a year, given leave to attend her senior prom and her high school graduation. She went to the dance in blue slacks instead of a gown so classmates wouldnt see the braces on her legs.
   
   She graduated in a wheelchair, determined to one day walk again.
   
   She not only learned to walk, she learned to dance, said Berenthien, an assistant pastor at St. Luke United Methodist Church where Cox was a member since 1980.
   
   Defying doctors advice, she gave birth to two children: son Doug and daughter Janet. She became a master stenographer at Fort Benning, carrying Top Secret clearance during the Korean and Vietnam wars.
   
   She seldom talked about her experience at the Winecoff.