This book is about a girl named Tina. Born August 2,1967, Daughter of George and Joan Moschgat in Johnstown, Pa. It is about her ups and downs in life, and her lost battle with cancer on October 3, 2011.

The Up's and Downs of TINA'S LIFE

By JOANN MOSCHGAT

Trafford Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Joann Moschgat
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4669-4291-2

Chapter One

Tina Marie Moschgat's life began on August 2, 1967. Tina was a beautiful bundle of joy weighing 5 pounds 6 ounces and had the curliest hair you have ever seen. Tina was born in Johnstown Pa. to Joan and George Moschgat, the town was a rural city totaling 6.1 miles. Johnstown was a place to raise a family, a place where everyone knew everyone and nothing ever happened, until Tina came into the world.

Tina was the baby of the family; she had two brothers Andrew 3 and George age 11 months. Tina was a very good baby, then she turned two and it was a challenging life for her after that. Tina's life was filled with events that made anyone wonder how she survived and was still the most joyful person you would have ever wanted to know. She could light up a room with her very presence. Tina was a tomboy from the start; she loved to follow her brothers.

Outside is where Tina loved to be, she was the kind of child that if you took your eyes off her for two seconds she would get into mischief. Tina was four and this began her courageous life. On a day like any other Tina was outside playing with Andrew and other friends, when all of a sudden she ran across the road and was hit by a car doing fifty miles an hour and flew fifty feet into a stack of wood that sat in front of the house. The speed limit was only twenty five miles an hour and not even heavily traveled. Tina had suffered severe brush burns over ninety five percent of her body.

Tina was in the hospital for a week following the accident where she could not wear any clothes due to the severity of the burns. She had to undergo daily painful cleaning of the burns for several months. Tina took it all in stride, and recovered with no outward scars but she now knew to look both ways before crossing the road.

Tina was the kind of person who always had a lot of friends, at the age of five Tina and two of her friends went up the railroad tracks to a tree vine where they enjoyed swinging on it.

One of the girls climbed on the vine with Tina. Tricia was one of the friends that was with her and she's the one that climbed on the vine with her. When she climbed on the vine with Tina the vine broke and they fell to the ground. Tricia landed on top of Tina knocking her unconscious, Tricia and Robbie the other friend carried Tina about a quarter mile to get her help not realizing the severity of Tina's injury. These two brave children took her to Tricia's house because they knew Tina's mother was at work, Tina's mothers office was right up the street from their home.

Tricia's mother took Tina to her mother at work; the paramedics were waiting when they arrived. The paramedic's noticed there was a bone sticking out of Tina's arm, they took Tina to the hospital where her arm had to be reset and they put her in a full arm cast.

Now when Tina was six she was outside playing with her brother George who picked up an axe and began swinging it around, unfortunately Tina was behind him and George not realizing this hit her in the forehead splitting her eye open. Once again Tina was being rushed to the hospital to have stitches. The doctor said Tina was very lucky that she didn't lose her eye.

Later that summer Tina was at the park with her family swimming she got stung by a bee, again she was rushed to the hospital because she was going into anaphalatic shock.

Tina was active and was loved by all who knew her. One day when Tina was seven she had a discussion with her mother that did not go her way, so Tina packed her bags and climbed out her window and went next-door to her longtime childhood friend Tracy. Tina's mother knew right where Tina was and knew that she would decide to come home when she was ready.

Every summer growing up Tina went to Uncle Steve and Aunt Barbara's house, they had a daughter Stephanie and Tina considered her thru life to be one of her best friends. Tina would go on trips with them also. One summer day Tina and Stephanie was walking around town, and Tina found a dead rat on the sidewalk and picked it up and threw it into someone's car, of course they got a laugh out of it, but when her uncle and aunt found out what happened, she also got a spanking.

So at the age of eight her mother decided to send her to Catholic school until she improved some but Tina never stopped being Tina, she continued with her devilish childish acts.

Tina had energy about her, she thrived for new adventures. For example Tina and Tracy at the age of ten walked to the next town known as Devils Hollow. This was a neighborhood where it was known to be a party spot.

Tina and Tracy started going to a man's house who lived in Devils Hollow every day. One day Tina's mother came home from work early to find her daughter not home, so she asked the neighbors if they had seen her. Joan then found out that she was hanging out with a man twice her age. Joan then went to the man's house to see if she was there, but Tina being Tina snuck out the back door. They called the man Shark and Tina was head over heels for him and enjoyed hanging out with him. Joan of course knowing the man was twenty years old was not going to have her daughter part of that.

Tina however was not going to take her mother's advice to go near him again, she still continued to see him for a long time. Joan had finally reached her breaking point Joan told Shark that if she ever seen her daughter near him again she would call the authorities and have him put in jail, Shark moved away shortly after that.

Joan said good riddens, things seemed to get better for Tina. Her mother received a promotion at work and was able to do more things with the kids.

Joan took the children to Daytona Beach as usual every summer. August 2, was Tina's birthday so they had a party on the beach, on the way back home they stopped at South of the Border, South Carolina to celebrate George's birthday since his is August 7th. Tina, George, Andrew, and Tracy went to the pool that hot August morning before heading back home.

Tina was a remarkable swimmer and diver so of course as soon as the kids got to the pool Tina headed for the board. Tina was in preparation for one of her perfect dives as she jumped up and down on the board, something went wrong she slipped from the board and hit her head and neck on the diving board. She went to the bottom of the pool no one knew what had happened as everyone was watching to see if she was ok.

The children panicked as they were yelling for help. A woman who happened to be a 75 year old nurse from New Jersey heard them and dove in and rescued her from the pool, Tina was unconscious the nurse told the kids to call 911 and notify Joan of what just had happened.

Tina was rushed to the hospital with her mom in the ambulance. Joan was waiting for the hospital staff to tell her what she feared hearing that her child was paralized from the chest down. Joan was then notified by the doctor that they were putting a halo on her head and that she had broken her neck. Joan watched as her prescious child had holes drilled in the sides of her skull so the halo could be then placed on her head.

Tina's and Joan's life would never be the same. The two of them would forever need each other; Tina and her mom were in the hospital in South Carolina for two long weeks. Tina was then flown by helicopter with a doctor, nurse and her mom to a hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa close to her home where she would go thru several months of rehab, now having to learn to live life as a quadriplegic. Tina...