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Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by runner1 on May 13, 2017, 12:04AM

February 28, 2017 began just as any other day, but little did I know it would change my life. I got up very early to go to work. I got dressed, took my food for breakfast and lunch and headed out the door. I remember driving and that is all I recall. The next thing I knew I was in an ambulance, but could not figure out why. I told the paramedic to call my boyfriend and boss and gave their phone numbers some how. I then do not remember anything until being in the emergency room and seeing my boyfriend and saying over and over again “what happened, what happened.” I had been hit by a woman going 60 mph as she ran a red light at a four way intersection. I suffered a broken back and had a L-5, L-4 and S-1 fusion, a broke right arm with extensive nerve damage in arm and hand, fractured/crushed my right foot in 3 places having a pilon fracture, open fracture, broke 8 ribs, my ab wall opened up as dash board fell on me and so needed surgery here, suffered severe head lacerations that required stitches in forehead and head and forehead and part of left side of head is still numb 3 months later and had a concussion. I went into surgery right away and then was in ICU for 4 days, a floor a bit better than ICU for a week and then in the Trauma and Orthopedic floor for 3 weeks.The nurse and doctors saved my life. I left in a wheelchair over a month later and went home and needed 24/7 care for several weeks. My Mother and boyfriend were there. Now I am in a scooter, cannot weight bear on my right foot, cannot walk until late June 2017 and cannot drive until sometime in July. I was a big runner/swimmer and a former pro athlete so this has been very life changing. I was told I am lucky to be alive and that I was inches from being paralyzed.I am doing massive rehab now and trying to make sense of all of this. I have good days and bad days and I look forward to the day I can run and get back to my life. Reading other trauma survivor stories have been beyond great as it is hard for so many people who have not experienced this to understand. Keep the faith and never ever give up is my motto.

runner1

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by Drewp on May 13, 2017, 05:20PM

Hey Runner1, I hear and can relate to ur sitch. I too was a world class athlete and was always very physical. I was in a snowboarding accident 2 yrs. ago. (see my story if u want). Suffered a TBI and right shoulder damage. I too have good and bad days (mentally). I struggle with balance and right sided weakness, numbness and tingling. My dominant side! My advice to you is don’t rush ur recovery. U don’t want something to happen where u get reinjured (kind of like 2 steps forward..one step back). BUT, U know ur body….when u can, try to do small things. i know that when I was in the hospital/rehab, they didn’t want me to do anything for they were afraid I would fall. Coming from a healthcare background, i understood this. As soon as I got home and could, I start working out (weights, treadmill, erg, elliptical, etc.). I think its good not only physically but also mentally! Just now, I’m starting to drive. I have a spinner knob on the wheel and a left foot accelerator (cause my right is weak/numb). Believe it or not, I drive better than I can walk! Keep the faith and keep working hard! It sounds like u have a very supportive Mom and Boyfriend. Don’t expect a lot of response from this forum. I too just joined and haven’t heard much. Do plug into something locally if u can. It makes u feel like ur not alone. Take care!

Drewp

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by kelleyjune on May 23, 2017, 07:22PM

Hello Runner 1, I was also in a near fatal car accident on April 22, 2017. My house is down a dirt road in rural Texas so when we pull out of our driveway we pull out onto the highway going into town. It was about 7pm and I was going over to a friends house down the road to let her dogs out since they were out of town. My 9 year old daughter wanted to go with me so she could play with the dogs for a little bit. She asked to please sit in the front, I never let her sit in the front because she isn’t old enough, but for some reason I say okay but just this once. We put our seat belts on and as I stopped before pulling onto the highway to look I saw a truck coming but he was about a mile down the highway, which should have given me plenty of time to pull out and drive safely, as the speed limit drops to 55 and then to 45 right before you get to my driveway. Little did I know this man had fallen asleep with his cruse control set on at leas 80mph. I reached about 200 feet from my driveway when I glanced into my rear view mirror and saw that he was right there and not slowing down. I pushed the gas pedal to the floor, thinking if I could get going a few miles faster maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, I also tried pulling over to the side of the road hoping he would go past us. When he hit us I was only going about 25mph, he hit rear ended us and hit slightly on the drivers side of the back of out car which caused us to spin. I remember hitting my head hard on the window and thinking okay we are just spinning it won’t be too bad, then we rolled twice. We landed on the passenger side in the bar ditch. I never lost consciousness and then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world, my daughter saying mommy I’m scared, I knew she was alive. I asked her if she was okay, she said she bumped her head and her wrist hurt a little. I had her look at me and answer a few questions, to make sure her head injury wasn’t too bad. I had her undo her seat belt and then undo my seat belt (I should have left mine on) then I had her crawl out of the car. The man that hit us then picked her up out of the broken glass and tried to get to me to help. As soon as I moved I knew my neck was injured bad, more than whiplash bad like really bad. Living in such a small town it took our volunteer EMT’s about 20 minutes to arrive but luckily an off duty EMT heard the crash and was there in seconds. She held my hand and asked me all the typical questions, can you move your feet your hands, does you stomach hurt, where do you hurt etc. I told her i hit my head hard and my neck was hurt really bad. She stayed with me until the ambulance arrived, and as I started praying she joined me, which really helped me stay calm. My husband and son’s who are 15 and 17 arrived about a minute or two after the wreck because the heard it from our yard. Hearing their voices also helped me stay calm. Finally the volunteer fire rescue arrived about 30 minutes after the accident and it took them almost an hour to cut me out of the car with the jaws of life, they were then able to put a neck brace on me. I was air lifted to the nearest hospital which is about 30 miles away. They did x-rays on my arm and an ultrasound on my abdomen, and really thought I was okay. Then I went for the cat scan which showed I had broken my neck in 4 places, C1, C2, C6, and C7 and also had a skull fracture. They then decided it was best to fly me to a bigger hospital so I flew in a small airplane to a hospital in Dallas Texas. I had two more cat scans and an MRI and two day after my accident I finally had surgery. They said I broke C1 in three place and C2 in half, they said this is as close to an internal decapitation as you can get. C6and C7 were dislocated and jammed on top of each other and C6 had fractured and the fractured piece was lodged in the nerve going down my left arm, my doctor said my nerve was intact but severely bruised. I was fitted with a halo cast and had a fusion on C5 C6 C7 and T1. I was in ICU for 3 days then a regular room on the same neurology floor for another 3 days then I was released. The doctors said it was the most serious neck injury they had seen where the person was coherent and not paralyzed or dead ever. I will also add that my daughter came out of the wreck with a mild concussion and a bruise on her wrist and a piece of glass in her foot. If i had made her ride in the backseat like I normally do she would have been seriously injured or worse, there was no backseat let in my car after the accident. I feel telling my story and reading other’s stories is very therapeutic for me.

kelleyjune

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by working dog girl on May 23, 2017, 11:18PM

Hello Runner1. I was involved in a major mva in august 2014 that claimed the life of the 36 year old driving the other car. Unlike you I did not suffer major physical injuries but the psychological impact of it was a life altering event. My story life disassembled and rearranged is on here. I will say it is a journey that I am still rewriting. While not a runner such as yourself, I was an active person and for a long time driving was like being tortured preventing me from doing a lot of things. The one thing I had to realize was that I was not the same person as before. once I began to accept that and embrace the new person I overcame the first huge hurdle. I learned to treat it like a marathon and not a sprint and to set little goals and take one day at a time. I encourage you to take the trauma survivors course on here offered for free. It is very helpful. Determination and the can do attitude you possess will be your saving grace. also swimming Is a wonderful form of exercise and therapy. best wishes. workingdoggirl

working dog girl

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by Hannah95o on Aug 02, 2017, 03:45AM

Hi, I am a current student at the University of Queensland studying a Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) and am in the process of completing my thesis. I believe my thesis is very relevant to a lot of you and therefore would love you participation. The aim of my is to lookout at the role of different crash characteristics and outcomes and how they effect the psychological consequences following crashes, along with validating a new measure of crash characteristics. Hopefully my research will be published and therefore will help improve awarness relating to the psychological impact of crashes and the systems in place around treating and preventing it. I am seeking participants who have been involved in a crash, whether it be on the road or in the water. The link attached will take you to the participant information sheet, which includes; the purpose of the study, what is involved, potential risks, confidentiality of data, ethical clearance details and further contacts if needed as well as the link to the survey. I would really love your participation and if you could please pass this onto anyone you know who is going through that same thing that would be amazing. https://exp.psy.uq.edu.au/crashes

Hannah95o

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by Itwillgetbetter on Oct 09, 2018, 04:53PM

Hi, my name is Jeff I was also in an auto accident damaging my spinal cord resulting in some paralysis, I can still walk but not very well. I also cannot remember anything about the accident as hard as I try .

Itwillgetbetter

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by EileenFlores on Oct 17, 2018, 02:01AM

One day at a time. We’re cheering for you as you continue to move towards your big and smaller goals. Keep going!

EileenFlores TSN Coordinator

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by LisaMoon on Dec 06, 2022, 07:12PM

Thank you for your story. I read it and am relieved, although it was a long time ago and I should have known how you were feeling.

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by LisaMoon on Dec 07, 2022, 05:59PM

Thank you for your story. I read it and am relieved, although it was a long time ago and I should have known how you were feeling.

LisaMoon

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Reply: Survived Near Fatal Auto Accident

by LisaMoon on Dec 12, 2022, 01:14PM

Wow, I’m so sorry to hear about your accident and all the injuries you sustained. It sounds like it’s been a really tough journey for you. I’m glad to hear that you’re still pushing forward and trying to make sense of everything. I hope that you continue to make progress in your rehab and are able to get back to the things you love doing. I wanted to also let you know that I have a friend who was in a similar situation and got help from a [car accident attorney in San Antonio](https://puschnguyen.com/san-antonio-car-acciden… were able to help him navigate the legal process and get the compensation he deserved for his injuries. It was a huge weight off his shoulders and allowed him to focus on his recovery. I hope that you will consider looking into this option as well. It might be helpful for you. Sending you positive thoughts and wishing you a speedy recovery.

LisaMoon

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