Mr. William P. Bobbitt of Palm Coast died peacefully after a prolonged illness on Monday, February 20th, at Grand Oaks Health and Rehabilitation Center. Mr. Bobbitt was born on September 25, 1928, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida, where he attended Miami Edison High School, becoming a popular football star. In 1951, an airboat accident in the Everglades nearly severed his spine. It took a year of hospitalization, 127 blood transfusions, and many years of effort for Mr. Bobbitt to overcome his paralysis and walk again. His personal account of this inspiring journey is related in his memoir, There Are No Dragons On Cloud Nine, published in 2005. In 1957, he became a toll operator on the Florida Turnpike for the Florida Highway Patrol. Six months later, he became a radio Operator, and in 1959 he was promoted to the position of Chief Radio Operator, one of only two in the state. In 1990, after 33 years, he retired from the Highway Patrol. In 1962, He married Melvena R. Bobbitt. Their union included three sons from her previous marriage. He and Mel were married for 49 years until her death this past August. Mr. Bobbitt is survived by his stepsons, William Johnson of Lake Como, FL, Walter Johnson of Palm Coast and Edward Johnson of Eustis, FL.