My World and Welcome to It!

These are my thoughts and opinions about life in general. I also get daily prompts from DSP which inspire me to write. If I throw in some scrapbook pages I've done, photos I've taken, and stories about me, you will have an idea about my loony life!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Serious Accident

Blog Prompt: Describe the most serious illness or accident that you have had. Not accident prone? Someone else's illness/accident that significantly affected your life.

The worst accident I have ever been in was about 6 years ago. We had just got back from a camping trip and our car was still fully packed. Instead of unpacking, we decided to run to the grocery store first. Only a few blocks from my house, we had a terrible car accident. An elderly lady had a heart attack and was unconscious so her foot hit hard on the gas pedal. She shot out from a side street and we t-boned her on her passenger side. We had a Chevy Tahoe SUV which saved our lives but it wrapped her Buick around the front end of our car. She hit the bump in the middle of the road so hard, people said sparks flew out from her car and it busted her gas tank. We spun around and knocked over the stop sign. Luckily for some reason there was a lot of sand so the gas drained down into the sand instead of blowing us all up. Our airbags went off but it seemed like our car was on fire because of the dust. My hubby couldn't get out of his side so he practically threw me out of my side and crawled over the console and out my door. I never saw a fat man move so fast! Then he realized his back was hurt and laid down in the road. The fire trucks and ambulances came but I was walking around checking on the lady and calling close friends to come help us. They finally talked me into laying on the back board but hubby is so claustrophobic that he was fighting them. I told them to leave me trussed up like a turkey and go tend to my hubby.

Finally they got us in the ambulance where we could hold hands. When I asked if they were taking us to the hospital close to us (about 5 miles away), they said no that our injuries were too traumatic for us to go there and we were going to a different hospital that could handle this. Well, I knew I was okay so I thought my hubby was dying. He knew he was okay and thought I was dying! What a mess. After being xrayed and poked and prodded, a few hours later we were released. Hubby reinjured his back and would have to go to physical therapy and my knee was injured so I would have to go for physical therapy too. Unfortunately the lady never regained consciousness and died two months later. My hubby had nightmares for months after that even though the police and every one else said that there was no way he could have avoided the accident. He felt so bad but eventually time helped him get over that. Now, he flinches every time a car comes up from a side street.

Because of this, my hubby and I appreciate each other even more. It also made us realize that any day could be our last and we need to enjoy life and do the best we can to make a positive difference in the world today.

5 comments:

Glynis said...

Oh my! Thank God you guys were both alright, but it's too bad about the other lady. Angels were certainly watching over you that day! Thanks for the story...I have goosebumps now :)

Unknown said...

Goose bumps. I cannot even begin to imagine how your dh must have felt or you for that matter. It is sad that the other driver did not recover, but since she had suffered a stroke, it may have turned out the same even if she had stayed home.

faery-wings said...

Yikes! That must have been so horrific for you. And I agree with Tink. Not that it makes you feel any better, but her outcome might not have been any different.

Bonnie said...

Whew! What a story! Very frighting Pat! I did laugh at the part where you said you had never seen a fat man move so fast! But on a more serious note, that sounded really bad and I am sure that it left scars and I don't blame him for flinching everytime now. I would too I think. Shame that the old lady died.

Unknown said...

wow, that makes me so grateful that the couple of car accidents that ive had have been fairly minor. so glad that both of you were ok!