That Friday we went racing. The last thing I remember was leaving my shop with my crew chief Jeff. Jeff told me I was running well, I never ran that well there before. I had qualified 7th and they only take the top 6 in the dash (a special race for the top 6 qualifiers). I was running all by myself in the feature, so they say… the car took a quick right turn into the concrete wall. I was brain injured from the accident. They estimated my speed at approximately 95 mph. I was totally restrained in the car, and I still came out of it with a bruised lung, contusions all over my brain (including my brain stem) and three fractures to my left orbit.

They flew me out from the area hospital to a trauma center near Chicago, where I was in intensive care for a month. I was transferred to two other hospitals subsequently, staying in a coma for 3 months, and barely responsive for three more. Finally I ended up at R.I.C. in Chicago; I was a very low-level patient. I could not even turn over by myself. I had a pressure sore on my tale bone. I was release to go home, and received home therapy for a while, then I went to outpatient therapy for months too. I went to the area college for a year.

I am now working on a drawing program to design additions and houses for our family business (I was a carpenter by trade before the accident). I have a speech defect, I do not like to talk to others, and I cannot walk without a walker at 33 years old! I am very slow. I suffered a set back in the fall of 1999 when I fell and broke my hip- now I have been in rehab all over again. I was moving much better than I currently am. I am constantly working on it though, trying to become more mobile and sturdy. It has been 4-1/2 years since the accident, and I have not given up yet, I will always try.

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