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I was taking my mother's ashes from Maryland to New York which I did (September 1996). I was driving a Chevy Geo Prizm. On the way back, I was near College Station, Pennsylvania - in the mountains where the ski resorts are. It started to rain very hard and I remember being behind a 16 wheeler truck. I also remember hydroplaning into the guardrail at 55 m.p.h. I had absolutely no time to react. I hit the guard rail which saved me from going down a 300 foot cliff. The car then spun around and since the front end was smashed, I couldn't see a thing. I reached down for my cell phone and was shortly hit head-on by another car going about 55. I didn't realize that my car had spun around after hitting the guard rail to face oncoming traffic. I was wearing my seat belt which saved my life. The air bag never deployed. I also had a strange out-of-body experience at some point. I remember looking down on myself and realizing that the person I was looking at was me but really wasn't me. I was hovering above my body and looking down from the passenger side through the roof. I was in a complete state of logic and peace. I saw no white lights, etc. I "snapped" back into myself and remember someone asking me if I was o.k. I refused medical treatment.

I went back to work, told off the boss and got released (fired). I found another job - I couldn't concentrate on the work and was tired or exhausted all the time and m. I thought my diabetes was causing these problems. I finally asked my doctor who had initially told me not to get neuropsychological testing because it carried a "stigma"; that I needed help. The neuropsych testing showed that I have only 18% of short-term memory left, disinhibitation, impulsiveness, poor concentration, unable to concentrate on more than one thing, circumelocution (unable to remember words so I talk in circles). They also found that I was tangental - I will stay on one subject an talk it to death. Disinhibitation means that I can become very unthinking in my language or behaviour towards others. I have not worked since February of 1997 and am currently in the Social Security Disability Insurance application process. I was denied the first time because I can follow one or two step instructions! They stated that I was obviously unable to do my previous job as a technical writer or technician. I have an attorney who is also a nurse to help me through this thing. Has anyone else been approved for SSDI because of a similar injury? I'm 54 years old, have been married for almost 33 years and have two grown sons.

If you've read this far, congratulations!
John Feagin

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