A portion of my testimony…
The following is an essay I wrote several years ago… I have made some changes here and there, however for the most part it is a narrative essay of the day I almost died. I got an A+ in the class for it because of the content. I will attach pictures of the van to the blog so you can see just how bad the damage was. I am a walking Miracle today. Very few people survive a triple roll over without either becoming a vegetable or having massive brain damage. Especially at speeds of 70 MPH and when crossing 4 lanes of traffic.
It was a beautiful Friday morning when I started out. The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, turning the few clouds in the sky a light pink. I had loaded up my six ball-bowling bag, overnight bag, sleeping bag and cooler into the blue Plymouth minivan. After a prayer with Mom and Dad, I was on my way.
The drive was rather uneventful as I merged onto I-70 East. Traffic was light heading my way; at least it was for a while. The closer I got to the Kansas border, the more traffic picked up. It seemed like a fluke because soon I was once again alone on the road. A pick-up truck came down the on-ramp and began following me. As I drove, I listened to my Word Smart Genius tapes, trying to help expand my vocabulary, so I could dazzle my friends. I didn’t want my mom to worry, so every hour on the hour I would call home and check in. It also gave me a break and a chance to stretch my legs. My mom knew I would be calling her again soon. I was practicing the word scintillating when it happened. I heard a loud boom, like a gun going off. The van jerked to the right. I held the wheel firmly and let off the accelerator slowly.
It felt like I was moving slowly through water, as I signaled to move right and onto the shoulder. I remember thinking “oh great a flat.” I didn’t know then, but in Kansas, there is a lip on the shoulder, the rim of my tire caught on it, sending me into a flip.
I felt like I was in the matrix. One moment everything was going very fast and the next moment everything was in extreme slow motion. I was inside the vehicle as it “rolled” across the slow lane and the fast lane of east bound I-70, then across the median and continued across the west bound fast and slow lanes. Finally coming to a halt upright on the shoulder of the west bound lanes. During this time, I felt like someone had tossed me into an industrial washer, like the ones at the Laundromat. I would see, dirt, sky, dirt, sky, dirt, sky as I flipped. Then everything stopped. At first, I was like, “is it over?” because I didn’t hear anything. There was silence.
Slowly sound began to filter back into my brain. The first sound I heard was a slight hiss as steam escaped from under the hood. I began checking myself over to see if I had any obvious injuries. I started trying to climb out of the car cause I though I had hit someone. Fortunately for me, the pick-up truck that had been following me had an off-duty fireman driving it. I didn’t know it at the time, but my cell phone had flown out of the van. He had called my mom to ask her my name. The fireman had already called for “flight for life” and emergency response. He rushed to the car to check and see if I needed help.
He told me later that he didn’t expect to see me alive; in accidents like mine he always saw brain matter splattered all over. The fireman helped to keep me calm. An RV pulled up and parked behind the van. Inside was an off duty nurse and her husband. They had just left Wichita on a summer vacation. She stayed with me while the fireman directed the rescue vehicles to the crash site. The nurse, a nice older lady started helping me clean myself up. My open orange soda had gotten spilled all over me as well as fluids that had leaked in from the engine compartment. It smelled like motor oil and orange pop mixed with burnt rubber and hot cement. I heard other voices and sirens. My head was pounding, like the bass being played on a hard rock CD. I continued to sit there while the firemen assessed the situation. They first tried leaning my seat back to get me out. Unfortunately, the seat would not go back far enough to allow them to get a backboard under me. I tried to hear why I needed a backboard. They wouldn’t answer me. This made me worry.
The drivers’ side door had been smashed in from rolling, however it was the best way to get me out. The Jaws of Life were brought over to be used. They are actually a pretty cool tool to see in action. After placing a blanket over me and goggles on my face, the jaws came out. The generator used to power the jaws was loud; the screeching of the metal as it was pulled apart made my headache unbearable.
As soon as the door was free the paramedics and firemen began to maneuver around me so they could slide a backboard beneath me. As soon as I was strapped in they slowly began to move me out of the van. It was a little slow going. The fireman that had the top of the backboard had to climb over the drivers seat in order to keep me level. Once outside the van, I was carried up to the ambulance and placed on a stretcher. The firemen all spoke to me as they carried me to the waiting ambulance, trying to keep me from going into shock. To this day I don’t remember what they said.
All I could see as we walked was the firemen and the blue sky. After I was placed on a stretcher and safely in the ambulance my whole perception changed. Instead of blue sky to see and outside smells, I now smelled disinfectant and saw the ceiling of the ambulance. I remember the ceiling quite vividly because there was a little brown bear placed between the hand rails and the ceiling, I made the comment a few times that they needed more then a bear for patients to look it. Like a picture of something. Both the paramedics laughed. I don’t know what I said that was so funny.
The female paramedic stayed more towards the top of the stretcher, so I looked at her mostly. The guy was the one taking off my shoes and cutting away my socks to check my responsiveness to stimuli on my toes. It wasn’t long until my feet were freezing. During the drive to the hospital the paramedics asked me many questions. Like, “What is your name? Can you spell your name? Where were you going? What day is it? Who is the President?” It got a little annoying after a while to be honest. However it was done to keep me awake. One of those nose oxygen things was placed on my face, not the mask, the weird feeling one that actually sticks in your nose. It smelled really weird, it made you not want to eat for a week and the pieces in your nose felt like boogers hanging out. I had a pain in my neck from trying to move my head to see what was going on, but the neck and head brace were doing their jobs holding my head in a stationary position.
My arrival at the hospital caused quite a stir. The attending doctor started barking orders for a portable x-ray machine, looking over the paramedics report and then talking to me. I don’t remember much of what was said cause I had a massive headache and my back was starting to hurt from being on the backboard. I was moved from the stretcher onto a hospital bed in the E.R. Soon the x-ray machine arrived, x-rays were taken of my back, shoulders, head and torso. I had to lie on my back without moving till the x-rays came back.
The E.R. smelled very clean, like bleach. Once the x-rays came back and the doctor looked them over he said that there didn’t appear to be anything wrong. The nurse then removed the backboard and neck brace. I sighed with relief as I slowly moved my head. It seemed everything hurt now. The lights were too bright, causing my head to hurt. Everything seemed amplified, all of me hurt and ached. The doctor said I had a concussion and that was to be expected. He also told me that my spine had been pulled perfectly straight from all my muscles contracting. He then gave me a super muscle relaxant and had me lay on the bed for a while to monitor me. They also cleaned me up. I had a cut above my right eye, my middle finger, ring finger and pinky had been split open right along the tips and I had glass and gravel in my shoulder. The cut above my eye was superficial, however my fingers needed stitches, but due to where the cuts were located, they had to use the liquid stitches.
It felt like they filled the gap in my fingers with superglue. My shoulder was what they were worried about, after pulling some of the larger pieces of glass and gravel out, they rinsed, disinfected and bandaged my arm. The rest of the glass would work its way out they told me.
I talked to my mom on the phone for a few minutes. Just hearing her voice helped me to relax. My dad was on his way to take care of me. I then laid on the hospital bed for a while, hooked up to the monitors. The doctor was worried about me because right after I got off the phone, my blood pressure and heart rate dropped far too low. The monitors began going off like crazy. I felt like I was going to pass out. I vaguely heard the doctor yelling about my blood pressure. It only lasted for a moment, and then my blood pressure went up to where it was supposed to be. When I could talk I asked them what had happened. They wouldn’t tell me. This made me very worried. I wanted my parents there, now!
The doctor suggested that I walk around for a bit before I try resting again. So I did. Though not very far and not without a nurse there to help me if I passed out. The hospital smelled like old people and bleach. The town was rather small so there were very few accidents that needed attention. I was the first person they had seen in a week. The nurse suggested that I wait in the lounge till my dad arrived; the nurse told me I was a walking miracle.
The lounge had a rather comfortable couch. I was very stiff and extremely sore. I finally was able to lie down. All my muscles ached from being tensed for so long. My headache was getting worse by the minute. The nurse brought me some ice packs and a blanket to help me get comfortable. Once I found a position that was comfortable, I fell asleep. Upon waking I found my dad was there. I was so happy to see him! He hugged me close and then let go as I shuddered in pain. I was so sore. The doctor gave me two prescriptions for some heavy-duty meds to help my muscles relax. Before we headed home, my dad stopped at the local Wal-Mart to get the prescriptions filled, he also picked up some drinks and a disposable camera. The camera was so we could stop at the wrecking yard and get pictures of the van. I had to stay in the car during this time cause it hurt so much to move. I did see the van. It was a mess. I then fell asleep. On the way home I had to throw up, not a good feeling when you are on drugs and sleeping. It seemed like a bad dream. I would wake up and get ready for my trip. Other then my dad, nothing felt real.
Upon the arrival home my mom and sister greeted me. I was sooo glad to see them. They were both very sympathetic to me. They helped me ready to go to sleep for the night. After eating just enough to take my muscle relaxants I fell asleep. Safe at home once more, Alive, with my family. Yes I believe I am a walking miracle.
THe metal roof of the car after meeting and denting the pavement of the road
