Hello, my name is Arthur Lewis and I lived through an air plane crash which I
sustained a coma inducing brain injury in. I once wrote an article about the
accident for English 101 during attendance at a state university, but I m afraid
that 20 years is a long time and the writing is long lost. So I guess I ll Highlight
the story, Here goes: 
 
I was stationed at Ft. Ord, Monterey Calif. in August of 1975. My brother had just
gotten his visual flight rating, a pilot s license and he was very proud of it. He
had called me in July from his base at Barstow, Calif. (yup, a Marine) and asked me
if I wanted to fly with him up towards San Francisco for a sea fishing expedition.
At the time sea fishing seemed a challenge and potential fun so I promptly said yes.

 
I took a military taxi to the base airport where Brother was to fly in. I watched as
he landed the two seat trainer plane called a Yankee made by Grumman. The landing
made was near textbook which instilled faith in his ability to fly. Well after a
bunch of preflight and refueling we boarded the single engine plane. As I stepped up
to the  wing, I was told to only step onto the black tread on the plane as it was
the only place re-enforced for walking. We took off and rose in altitude as I peered
at the receding ground. I asked about the safety of flying since it was a first for
me in a small plane. His response was that there was less up here to run into as
opposed to driving a car. I looked at the ground and thought how very hard it
looked, truly I did. 
 
We arrived at an airport just south of San-Francisco Calif. I ve forgotten the name,
quite safely enough. We were picked up by a friend of brothers and taken to his
house where we started getting the boat ready for the fishing trip. After all
preparation was done we took a taxi to a motel where we retired so as to get an
early start in the morning. 
 
The next morning we got out of our respective beds and began waking up ritual of
drinking a bunch of coffee and eating a hearty breakfast. We then took a taxi back
to the friends place. We left there just after dawn which put us at the boat ramp
about an hour later. After depositing the boat into the water and parking the car,
off we set for fishing. 
Wouldn t you know it; brother was the only one to catch a fish. He gloated the rest
of the day. 
 
The next day we both re-boarded the plane after it was pre-flighted and took off.
After about 20 minutes of flight brother said he thought we should turn back as the
clouds ahead looked too thick for him to fly into. A VFR means that the pilot must
be able to see the ground at all times while flying.  He started a banking turn at
just above stall speed, normally a safe maneuver in a training airplane. Little did
we suspect that that particular plane was designed poorly in that the rear wings
were at the same level as the front wing. The front wings caused turbulence upon the
rear wings during a slow banking turn which causes a thing called a flat spin to
occur. That s just what happened, the plane flat spun down to about 50 feet above
Berkley Hills Calif. Brother had just gotten the spin under control but we had lost
too much altitude and we crashed into trees. Thank God the FAA ordered Grumman to
stop making that plane, a bit late for us, but some poor soul may have been saved
from disaster later on. 
 
>From this point forth the story is pieced together from others as this is when my
head whacked against the dash of the plane knocking me out and giving me the
traumatic head injury called a front lobe massive brain contusion. I was told that
brother shook me, waking me, but I really don t remember. He told me that he
crawled out of the plane wreckage for help, punctured a lung from a broken rib, and
passed out. It has been said that a couple of kids were nature hiking through the
woods, found the crash site and called for rescue teem. I was told that I was in a
coma for several weeks, that the Army ordered me transferred from the civilian
intensive care hospital ward because of the expense, but I really don t remember.
Things were a foggy nightmare where pictures come to mind, whether instilled from
stories told me by others involved, or from the nightmarish hell that occurred as I
faded into oblivion that s called a coma, I really do not know. Well it s been 30
years and I ve been in and out of the following hospitals: Alta Bates, Letterman
Army, Irwin Army, Topeka VA, Osawatomie State mental, Kansas City VA, and Oklahoma
City VA. I m currently getting treated at Muskogee VA for a thing called Bipolar 1
disorder, but I only went there for depression treatment. I get so very down at
times that I can hardly breathe. 
 
My personal hobbies are woodworking and electronics, where I hold a certificate in
cabinetmaking and a B.S. Degree in Electronic Engineering tech. I like to watch
movies, and just look out over the hillside from my country home window. I ve got a
patent pending device if anyone really cares.  It can be viewed at:   
(earthsfuturew/peoplekind@msngroups.com) It has been said that I am delusional
because of TBI related issues, but then it may just be possible that before my
injury, I was real intelligent, as my science fair ribbons suggest. I truly hope
that people will evolve past self centered species. 
 
Well that s my story and as for what I could get out of joining your group, well
possibly nothing at all except possibly not feeling so very alone at all times.
Perhaps being a part of something that involves many who have gone through similar
injury might ease the pain of depression and loneliness. If you see fit in allowing
me to join your group, I ll try not to be a burden or be disruptive. 
 
I hope that I ve included everything asked of me, but being a poor typist, I m
fatigued just now
 so  till later, lewe_lewi@yahoo.com