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Jun 08, 2010Comments: 0 · Posts: 4581 · Topics: 75
Contestants: 2010 Chevy Malibu v 2005 Volvo 18-Wheeler
Venue: High speed rear end collision
Results: Size > Speed
Casualties: Pride
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Aug 16, 2007Comments: 93 · Posts: 6284 · Topics: 96
Sid,
Is that your ride and your blood? If so, I'm sorry, man. I hope you're okay.
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Mar 30, 2012Comments: 1243 · Posts: 16617 · Topics: 170
And how fast were you going, btw?
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Jun 08, 2010Comments: 0 · Posts: 4581 · Topics: 75
My nose isn't broken but I thought it might be at first. Yes that was my car and I was driving when the accident happened. Thankfully I was the only one in the car. I don't got pictures of the semi but it won the battle hands downs. The wreck happened at about 5:00am Saturday morning. I don't remember the crash but on scene afterwards they said I just went full steam right into the back of him. We were on the highway and the speed limit is 70, and the way they said "flew" makes me think I was well over that. I remember driving up the highway, then sitting in the car with sirens wailing and lights flashing.
The first thing I recall feeling was a warmth in my sinuses and a heavy flow of blood. I sat for a second to try and collect my self but couldn't even find my glasses. The airbag was in my lap already deflated of my face. I could hear people outside the car asking if I was alive. I reached forward and tried to start my car. I remember feeling afraid and trapped and I couldn't breath. I wanted to put the a/c on and open the windows. People saw me turning the key over and over and hollered at me to stop. I couldn't open my door so I flopped out the passenger side. I was still a bit dazed and as I was standing up I look around and there's just a line of police and emt personnel. I stood for a second in sheer amazment that I was alive. I looked at my arms which are covered in various sized scrapes and looks like someone painted a red street map over them. I wipe some blood from my face and turn to look at my car. I just kept repeating two things, "what happened?", and "I'm okay?".
I refused the ambulance ride so after they cleaned me up a little the cops gave me a ride back to their place to hang out. My family came to get me and live goes on... thankfully.
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Jun 08, 2010Comments: 0 · Posts: 4581 · Topics: 75
My nose is a little swollen and discolored but is healing well. Picture #7 is a good side shot, there's nothing on the car extending beyond the front tires anymore. It is (almost) all still attached, it is just smushed all up together. The car's crash crumple technology is amazing. The interior dash and panel pieces all came apart at the seams as the frame shifted. It all came towards me an inch or three, but it was contained behind the firewall. The roof, trunk, and rear panels of the car never hit anything but all of them 'gave in' and have creases where it was designed to bend a bit. If the airbag got my face, I'm thinking after it popped the steering wheel must have got me in the chest. This is by far my most painful injury, it feels like I was punched in the sternum by the incredible hulk. Everything is tight and even the slight expansion of you chest when you sit straight instead of slouching causes me a lot of pain.
I have a few circular scratch/burns on my left forearm. It looks like someone pushed my arm down on an electric stove top and I caught the edge of two of its rings (I've told a couple people who knew her that my ex did that lol). My right hand has a decent size puncture on the back of it. A friend thought it may need a couple stitches but neosporin and gauze are working. My right shin is covered with a big bruise, as is my left shoulder following a setbelt line down to the front side of my collar bone. I've also got like 50 little sratches and cuts scattered around everywhere.
I am a very lucky man. The police, ambulance, tow truck, bystanders at the scene, and my own gut say I should have died on that highway. But I guess not even an 18 wheeler is gonna let me off this ride early. All in all my injuries are minor. Most of it is superficial surface stuff and will be totally healed in a week or two. One more of my nine lives gone. By my count I have 5 remaining.
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Jun 08, 2010Comments: 0 · Posts: 4581 · Topics: 75
It's been a crazy year already, so many up and downs. The last month has been real bad and this is the poetic end to it all. On 2-16 my brother in law wrecked his motorcycle in TX and we went down to help and be with them for a week. He is still in the hospital and has years of recovery ahead if he's gonna walk again. Hell it took a week for him to even wake up. The first reports we heard were that he had hit an 18 wheeler, we later found out it was a pickup truck. When I was waiting to get picked up Saturday morning I had flashbacks of flying up behind a pickup truck and jamming on my brakes... I think in reality it was my semi and I hit the gas. Exactly four weeks after his wreck. He was Sat 2-16, I was Sat 3-16. Weird...
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Mar 30, 2012Comments: 1243 · Posts: 16617 · Topics: 170
Glad you're okay, but you should still see a doc. Issues from an accident won't always appear right away. I'd be concerned about a concussion and whiplash. Both can get nasty if not treated properly.
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Jun 08, 2010Comments: 0 · Posts: 4581 · Topics: 75
I fianlly broke down and went to the doctor yesterday. I should have went before but I went now so... yeah. Anyway everything will be fine. He said the cut on my one hand should have probablt gotten stitched up but it is healing okay and will just leave a bigger scar from not being treated. Both of my wrists are sprained, probably from holding the wheel on impact. I am still using my hands but flexibility isn't there right now. He said that'll heal on its own. I also have a couple cracked ribs up close to my left collar bone. This is where most of my pain is coming from, but again there'e nothing you can really do except rest and let it heal.
The doctor also said I got a concussion, he said that is the worst of my injuries. I've been in a daze for days. He says that is normal, as well as the nervous and jumpiness I've been feeling. I was watching a movie the other night and tommy lee jones wrecked his pickup, when the wreck started on the show I had the shakes and had to look away. It was really weird, I just couldn't watch that... the death and dismemberment scenes later didn't bother me. But yeah, he just says to rest and not try to think too hard and not to get stressed for a while. I'll be back to myself, physically and mentally, in a month or so.
The whole thing has got me thinking about stuff. Part of me thinks I should have died in that car... if should is too strong a word, the rest of me knows that I easily could have. My daughter has been really worried and upset by the whole thing even now when I am okay. She made the sweetest get well card and has showered me with love even more than normal. They kids are staying with their mother (and mine) close by so they can get to and from school. I've been staying at my place alone most of the time. The kids were home this weekend but back to grandma's Sunday night. Anyway, I got to thinking... what if I hadn't been so lucky as I was? What if that steering wheel hit me a little harders and instead of cracking the ribs right over my heart it broke some and punctured something. Hell, a million things could have happened in that wreck that would have left me way worse of than I am.
If I had passed, I got to thinking about how I have been spending my time. We really don't know, any minute could be the end. If something happened to you today, are you happy with how you spent your last few months? Have you been good to the people you care about? Have you been following your d
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Jun 08, 2010Comments: 0 · Posts: 4581 · Topics: 75
Bah I talk too much it cut off...
Dreams!
Dreams was the last word of that sentence. Have you been living your dreams? I had a lot more but its gone...
I know I hadn't been. I am not happy with how I have spent my time. I haven't stood up for myslef. I have been too worried about if my family would approve of what I'm doing. I've worked in a field I hate for years because it pays well and since I have a degree everyone says I should be using it. My relationship with the ex has been an ongoing clusterfuck which until a few weeks ago I was still trying to hold together. I'm done.
If this year winds up being my last I am gonna make sure those regrets are dealt with.
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Dec 22, 2009Comments: 438 · Posts: 33721 · Topics: 241
I am very glad you are alright. Glad the little ones weren't in the vehicle with you. The stubborn ass man not going to the doctor thing no woman can change. Glad you did that finally too.