This will easily be my most grateful Fourth of July ever! On the 22nd of June while driving home from work on an ordinary afternoon, minding my own business, doing nothing wrong, I became involved in a very serious auto crash when a full size pickup truk diving in the opposing lane inexplicably crossed the center line and collided with me head-on. No time to turn or brake; just enough time to yell "Oh [censored]" then !!!BANG!!!. It was a near 'perfect' head-on and our combined speed was 90-100 mph. My little 1987 Nissan truck was utterly destroyed; even his 2003 Ford F150 was crushed merilessly, but at least he had airbags. The EMT's even asked me what kind of vehcile I was driving; they couldn't even tell what it was! They asked a lot of question in the 25 minutes of cutting and prying it took to free me from the junk pile that was my truck.
Despite the seeming hopelessness of this crash, I escaped with only a cut on my left knee, a broken left ulna(smaller bone in the forearm) and a dislocated/fractured left pelvis. But no head trauma (I remained conscious alert and oriented throughout this whole ordeal!), no spinal trauma, no internal injuries, almost no bleeding at all! I was never in great pain.
I underwent surgery on the 27th to repair the dislocated/fractured pelvis (acitabulum, actually) which was 100% successful and I have been released to a live-in rehab center where I am regaining my mobility. I am in little or no pain, and my prognosis is a 100% recovery!
But while here at the rehab, I met so many people worse off than I; people looking to someday just be able to use a wheelchair or feed themselves, stroke victims, para and quadraplegics and many more. Even that night at the trauma center, there were two amputations, one spinal trauma and a death by head trauma. I was the least injured person there, though I probably should have been dead at the accident scene!
The bottom line is I Know more than ever what a great gift our life, health and liberty is! Use it well, do the things you love to do while taking the sensible precautions you should to be safe. But remember: we know not what is in our future! Our lives are NEVER completely in our own hands.
I have my Prindle 19 upside down right now for a bottom job and was in the process of replacing the wires and lines and adding a hooter, hoping to get it ready and get down to miami for the Key Largo run. That does not look too realistic right now as I have my recovery as my first priority; hip surgery is a big deal and I will need several months to recover fully.
Don't feel sorry for me; I certainly don't! Everyone have a safe and happy foruth!
Go sailing or something!
Jimbo
