A Place to Share
|
|
A Place to Share |
|
An eventful day July 26, 1985 ! It started as any other, but little did I know that by the day's end my whole life will have been turned upside down and inside out.My last recollection is of checking the seat belt of my partner to ensure that it was buckled in securely. Joe was legally qualified as a paraplegic, although he could walk a very short distance dragging his left leg in a kind of hop skip motion. His left hand also was paralyzed - all as a result of a botched spinal surgery five years previously. But, that's another story for another site!
My next memory is one of emerging from a dark void which was pitch black. I felt an incredible peace that has never been felt before nor since. I remember thinking that I did not want to leave this space, but as the pull towards consciousness became stronger, the peace turned slowly to feeling slight irritability that gradually turned to anger. I was lucid long enough to provide information for family to be notified. Hearing the doctor (as I later found out) informing that Joe was dead I replied - "Oh my God! I killed him." With that I slid back into unconsciousness.
The location of this accident is inside the West boundary city limit of Salmon Arms, BC Canada on the Trans Canada Hwy. The white car in the forefront of the picture was heading West and had stopped with the left signal lights blinking to indicate it was waiting to make the turn. I was heading East and had the right of way. When it was reared ended by the logging truck, the force propelled it over a 4' culvert to land in the middle of a farmer's field! The woman driver fortunately was not hurt and walked away with just minor bruises.
Our vehicle was a 3/4 tons Dodge Ram Super Cab with canopy. The vehicle was fully loaded with personal belongings. Joe, in the passenger seat died instantly of a broken neck. In the driver's seat, I was pinned in with my right leg caught in the brake housing encased by the steel floor. The ambulance attendant later informed me that there was no time to be gentle and yanked the leg out so I would be free to be transported immediately to hospital. The official status of my condition was - "critical" and as the doctors' told me later, they didn't really expect that I would make it. The General Hospital in town was not equipped to serve my needs and I was stabilized to be transported to the Vernon Orthopedic Hospital, Vernon, BC some sixty miles away. The medical team set up to meet my arrival did an excellent job of caring for my needs over the next three months.
Police reports indicated that the 27 years of age driver of the fully loaded logging fifteen wheeler semi had been driving all night from Calgary en route to Vancouver at the coast. Salmon Arms is exactly six hours drive to either city - Calgary to the East and Vancouver to the West. He had been taking No-Doze to stay awake and had been speeding through town in excess of the speed limit and at the time of the collision. He fell asleep at the wheel! The young driver did not sustain any injury and also was able to walk away from the wreck. He was charged and the litigations lasted about three years, during which time I felt like I was responsible just by the way the defending lawyers for the trucking company conducted their case for discovery. Why anyone who had been cleared by the investigating gendarme from the outset would have to be subjected to that additional emotional trauma has baffled me since.
Email Gary