BRUSH WITH DEATH LEADS WOMAN TO CREATIVE ROLE.

Byline: Victoria Giraud People and Places

When Tippy Fawsy was in her 20s, she thought her life would be over at 40. She couldn't imagine being that old.

When she turned 40 this past March 7, her old thoughts nearly proved self-fulfilling in a devastating car crash on Highway 126 as Tippy and her young daughters plummeted off the road down a cliff and landed about 20 feet below.

Dahllia, 7, was relatively unhurt. Megan, 9, suffered extensive head injuries and was bleeding heavily. Tippy couldn't move, was in ``excruciating pain'' and unsure whether she would live.

She's writing a book about her experiences, a book that ``started when I opened my eyes on the other side of the cliff,'' Tippy explains. ``I saw the paramedics. Was it a dream or real?'' Then she wondered where her children were.

As she was lifted out of the totaled sports utility vehicle, all sorts of odd things ran through her mind. ``Oh my God, I can't go to my birthday dinner,'' she thought.

With her ribs, collarbone and back broken, Tippy was rushed to a Ventura hospital. ``Three days later I found I wasn't going to die, but I was paralyzed from the neck down. I thought I was going to be like (disabled actor) Christopher Reeve the rest of my life.''

But she was grateful to have lived past 40 and to be alive for her children. The next week was an important one. ``I tapped into a powerful form of meditation, turning my life over to a larger force,'' Tippy reflected.

As she lay there in silence, drifting in and out of consciousness, she refused painkillers. In this process of what she called ``cleansing'' her mind, her mood started improving, and soon she knew ``everything would be all right. I realized I wouldn't be paralyzed.''

Tippy's vital signs ``started coming back. I started moving my arms and legs.'' Soon she graduated to a body brace, but it still took four nurses to stand her up to move her to the bathroom. Nevertheless, within a month she was out of the hospital and back home in Valencia.

It's been a painful recovery as she ``gradually fought back,'' but Tippy no longer needs her brace. She suffers residual pain, but no one can tell she went through such an incredible ordeal such a short time ago.

Doctors, who are amazed at her recovery, have told her that many people who have bad accidents remain traumatized for life. Tippy says positively, ``If I can heal, anybody can heal.''

While she was in the hospital, Tippy faced other crises besides her own recovery. Her relationship with her boyfriend began crumbling, she lost her job, and she feared losing her children.

Tippy is a talk-show radio producer by profession and has worked on KFI, KGIL and KMPC. ``I love radio,'' she says, despite the fact that ``hiring and firing are a common, everyday thing.''

Tippy decided, while she was recuperating, that she'd change jobs. As a producer, she said, ``the bottom line is you do all the work, they (the talent) get all the credit. I decided to go in front of the microphone. I'll be doing the interviews.'' When she first thought she'd be paralyzed, she figured she could still talk on radio.

She's come up with a show that she'd call ``The Other Side of Midnight.'' During the early morning hours, she'd discuss ``things mainstream America doesn't dare to talk about.'' Tippy wants to get back into radio, even if her dream show doesn't materialize right away.

In the meantime, she puts in some time every day writing her book. The book will include some of the other challenges in her life. Born in Jerusalem, Tippy is the oldest of eight children. Her father, who had survived the Holocaust and migrated to Israel from Siberia, died when she was only 8. She and her family experienced the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War before her mother remarried and they moved to Brooklyn, N.Y.

Tippy says she enjoys every moment of her life now - ``I'm not going over a cliff to appreciate 50! These are going to be the best years of my life. All I have is now, and for that I'm grateful.''