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I know I haven't been here in a long time. 2006 has been a lousy year for me, and it's not getting any better as the end of the year approaches. Yesterday on Friday the 13th, the Screaming Banana (AKA My 2002 Cavalier) met its end, and I nearly did.
On the ride home from work, I apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The only thing I remember is suddenly seeing the rear end of a red Dodge Ram Dualie filling my vision. I tried putting the brake pedal through the floor, but it was no use. I remember the impact, the airbags, and a strange sensation of being vertical...looking straight down at the ground and spinning.
Despite wearing my seatbelt, I immediately felt an incredible crushing pain in my chest instantly after impact. I landed right side up, facing back the direction I had come. A truck driver who had been alongside me when the crash occurred said my car practically did a pirouette on it’s nose, the rear wheels nearly 4 feet in the air, not touching the ground for some distance. I looked and from the initial point of impact to the point of final rest was pretty close to 50 feet and there were only two tire skid marks…both from the front wheels.
I managed to get out of the car under my own power and I couldn’t feel anything majorly wrong, but OMG did my chest hurt. Slowly I started feeling other minor injuries; the severe rub burn on my neck and bruise line running from my left collar bone to my lower right ribs from the shoulder belt…Did I mention my chest? It felt like Ali, Foreman and Tyson had taken turns using it for practice.
I was taken to the hospital by ambulance in a c-collar and back brace where x-rays showed nothing fractured, but I was suffering from severe abrasions to my left neck/collar bone and my forehead, where the sun visor had whipped around, taking the skin off in a neat line 1/8”x 3.”
This occurred on the highway, so impact speed was ~55 mph. I don’t know if it’s visible in the pics, but the roof is wrinkled and the passenger door is permanently jammed closed.
I was given a prescription for 1,000mg of Vicadin that I can take ever 4-6 hours, but it only takes a bit of the edge off, it doesn’t even come close to making me comfortable, if I move even slightly wrong, my chest screams in agony. I can’t get out of a chair, get in or out of bed, or even roll over without incredible pain. Moving my arms the arms the wrong way, turning my body and even coughing, sneezing or blowing my nose are a nightmare.
The moral of the story: If it hadn’t been for that strip of nylon belting, my family would be planning my funeral instead of helping me put my socks on (which my son had to do this morning) or help me sit up when I couldn’t get out of the recliner.
On the ride home from work, I apparently fell asleep at the wheel. The only thing I remember is suddenly seeing the rear end of a red Dodge Ram Dualie filling my vision. I tried putting the brake pedal through the floor, but it was no use. I remember the impact, the airbags, and a strange sensation of being vertical...looking straight down at the ground and spinning.
Despite wearing my seatbelt, I immediately felt an incredible crushing pain in my chest instantly after impact. I landed right side up, facing back the direction I had come. A truck driver who had been alongside me when the crash occurred said my car practically did a pirouette on it’s nose, the rear wheels nearly 4 feet in the air, not touching the ground for some distance. I looked and from the initial point of impact to the point of final rest was pretty close to 50 feet and there were only two tire skid marks…both from the front wheels.
I managed to get out of the car under my own power and I couldn’t feel anything majorly wrong, but OMG did my chest hurt. Slowly I started feeling other minor injuries; the severe rub burn on my neck and bruise line running from my left collar bone to my lower right ribs from the shoulder belt…Did I mention my chest? It felt like Ali, Foreman and Tyson had taken turns using it for practice.
I was taken to the hospital by ambulance in a c-collar and back brace where x-rays showed nothing fractured, but I was suffering from severe abrasions to my left neck/collar bone and my forehead, where the sun visor had whipped around, taking the skin off in a neat line 1/8”x 3.”
This occurred on the highway, so impact speed was ~55 mph. I don’t know if it’s visible in the pics, but the roof is wrinkled and the passenger door is permanently jammed closed.
I was given a prescription for 1,000mg of Vicadin that I can take ever 4-6 hours, but it only takes a bit of the edge off, it doesn’t even come close to making me comfortable, if I move even slightly wrong, my chest screams in agony. I can’t get out of a chair, get in or out of bed, or even roll over without incredible pain. Moving my arms the arms the wrong way, turning my body and even coughing, sneezing or blowing my nose are a nightmare.
The moral of the story: If it hadn’t been for that strip of nylon belting, my family would be planning my funeral instead of helping me put my socks on (which my son had to do this morning) or help me sit up when I couldn’t get out of the recliner.
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