I was in a rather spectacular car accident. I was a passenger and goading the inebriated driver into going faster and faster. We were well into the triple digits (it was a new GT350) when he failed to make the corner.
I broke a bunch of bones, got cut up pretty well, and spent a couple of weeks in the hospital. The seen of the accident was more like a debris field from an airplane crash. The car was torn into two chunks, just behind the front seats, and there were lots of smaller pieces of debris.
It was, as I said, a very spectacular accident. The last time I saw the speedometer, we were at 120. I have no idea how fast we were going when the crash occurred, but probably a little faster.
The most major bone that I broke was my femur. The car didn't have regular seat belts, it came with racing harnesses. The impact was so great that it broke my femur at the same place it turns to go into the hip, so right at the point where it heads into the ball and socket joint.
I'm pretty fucked up, still. They estimate that it'll take 12 to 18 months to recover. I guess that means 11 to 17 months, seeing as the accident was nearly a month ago.
I still have massive bruising. My liver functions are down, and that may be accident related. I have cuts with stitches, mostly on my head and a good one on my right arm. For a while, I had bruising on about 60% of my body. I spent two weeks in the hospital.
The first hospital I got to stabilized me and then they put me on a helicopter to go to a hospital down in Augusta, Maine. They don't deal with injuries that severe, as it was classified as 'trauma.' So, I went to Augusta. I ended up calling in a specialist. They arrived the following day, Saturday, and we did the consult. On Monday, they opened me up and I now have a couple of pounds of titanium in my hip.
The metal will remain forever. It never goes away. By the time I'm done, assuming I get back up to my normal weight, I'll be a couple of pounds heavier than I used to be.
The odds of full recovery aren't good. Only 20% fully recover. 50% make a partial recovery. 30% don't recover much at all, and end up in nursing homes, assisted living centers, or with home-health nurses attending to them.
I'm currently in the latter group. I have an RN on duty, for 24 hours a day. They work 12 hour shifts and they change over at 06:00 and 18:00. I also have a physical therapist that comes here and helps me do my PT - but they don't come every day.
I do 3.5 hours of PT per day. I can self-direct most of it and that means I don't actually have to have them in my home every day. PT sucks. I do a lot of it. In fact, I am doing PT as I type this. I'm doing leg extensions and I was doing my heel-toe bends.
So, I'm pretty fucked up. I've got broken ribs and hairline fractures in both heels, my right tibia, my right humorous, I think there's a couple more bones that were damaged, but those are pretty minor. The only REALLY serious injury was the smashed femur. The ribs are also a bit severe, but they pale in comparison to the broken femur.
I've only been in an extremely speeding car a handful of time, and that was decades ago. I've been in a car at 137mph, only 2x for about 5 min each time on an interstate.
Thank you for your well-wishing and I'll make the best recovery that I am able to make. I work hard and work through the pain to do my PT. I even exceed the minimum number of reps, pretty much every time. Sometimes, I have done this with tears in my eyes and spilling over onto my cheeks. (I ain't scared to admit it.)
Anyhow, I've been in many, many speeding cars - and have driven much faster. I have a penchant for race tracks and taking advanced driving lessons, including having raced in NEFR and taken many rally driving lessons. Many people don't seem to know that you can use those tracks (for a fee) when there's no race going on.
My daily driver is a beast of a BMW. It's the 650i and "only" puts down 445 horsepower. It is electronically limited to 186 MPH.
Alas, I was not the driver and the driver was drunk. I didn't realize he was as drunk as he was and I was goading him. I was telling him that his new Mustang sucked and that he was a crappy driver. In my defense, both turned out to be true! His Mustang can't corner worth a damn and he's a horrible driver! That's why we crashed!
Around here, there's very few cars on the roads, so it was reasonably safe to do this. Normally, I'd say folks should probably keep their speeds down to a reasonable level. But, there's no traffic here, as a general rule. As much as it pains me to admit it, his car saved our lives. They come with a built-in roll cage and they come with built-in racing harnesses, instead of shoulder belts like you see in most cars. Those features saved our lives.
I do have some pictures of the wrecked car, but I can't share them yet. I can't even tell you how I got them. The car is in the State Police impound lot and there's absolutely zero public access to the lot. So, I'm not supposed to have pics. ;-) (I've got friends in low places.)
He walked away with some lacerations and contusions. I took the most damage. I'll recover, but I'm terribly messed up for a while. I've gotten away with so many dangerous things, that I'm not actually bothered by this. I figure I earned it and should actually have been killed, many times over. That I got away with it one more time is how I look at it.
I have decided that it's time for me to settle down. I turn 61 in just about a month. These bones are getting tired and they take a long time to heal. As much as I hate to admit it, it's time for me to settle down a little bit.
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TheBuddha ago
Thanks!
I guess my recovery is expected to take 12 to 18 months. It's a lot of work and pain. I'll make the best recovery I am able to make.
NeoGoat ago
Blessings. What happened??????
TheBuddha ago
I was in a rather spectacular car accident. I was a passenger and goading the inebriated driver into going faster and faster. We were well into the triple digits (it was a new GT350) when he failed to make the corner.
I broke a bunch of bones, got cut up pretty well, and spent a couple of weeks in the hospital. The seen of the accident was more like a debris field from an airplane crash. The car was torn into two chunks, just behind the front seats, and there were lots of smaller pieces of debris.
It was, as I said, a very spectacular accident. The last time I saw the speedometer, we were at 120. I have no idea how fast we were going when the crash occurred, but probably a little faster.
The most major bone that I broke was my femur. The car didn't have regular seat belts, it came with racing harnesses. The impact was so great that it broke my femur at the same place it turns to go into the hip, so right at the point where it heads into the ball and socket joint.
If you're squeamish, do not click these links:
https://imgoat.com/uploads/73ce398c39/159390.jpg
https://imgoat.com/uploads/6409663226/157807.jpg
https://imgoat.com/uploads/6409663226/157820.jpg
I'm pretty fucked up, still. They estimate that it'll take 12 to 18 months to recover. I guess that means 11 to 17 months, seeing as the accident was nearly a month ago.
I still have massive bruising. My liver functions are down, and that may be accident related. I have cuts with stitches, mostly on my head and a good one on my right arm. For a while, I had bruising on about 60% of my body. I spent two weeks in the hospital.
The first hospital I got to stabilized me and then they put me on a helicopter to go to a hospital down in Augusta, Maine. They don't deal with injuries that severe, as it was classified as 'trauma.' So, I went to Augusta. I ended up calling in a specialist. They arrived the following day, Saturday, and we did the consult. On Monday, they opened me up and I now have a couple of pounds of titanium in my hip.
The metal will remain forever. It never goes away. By the time I'm done, assuming I get back up to my normal weight, I'll be a couple of pounds heavier than I used to be.
The odds of full recovery aren't good. Only 20% fully recover. 50% make a partial recovery. 30% don't recover much at all, and end up in nursing homes, assisted living centers, or with home-health nurses attending to them.
I'm currently in the latter group. I have an RN on duty, for 24 hours a day. They work 12 hour shifts and they change over at 06:00 and 18:00. I also have a physical therapist that comes here and helps me do my PT - but they don't come every day.
I do 3.5 hours of PT per day. I can self-direct most of it and that means I don't actually have to have them in my home every day. PT sucks. I do a lot of it. In fact, I am doing PT as I type this. I'm doing leg extensions and I was doing my heel-toe bends.
So, I'm pretty fucked up. I've got broken ribs and hairline fractures in both heels, my right tibia, my right humorous, I think there's a couple more bones that were damaged, but those are pretty minor. The only REALLY serious injury was the smashed femur. The ribs are also a bit severe, but they pale in comparison to the broken femur.
Again, those pictures aren't for the squeamish.
NeoGoat ago
Thank you. Good luck. Blessings.
I've only been in an extremely speeding car a handful of time, and that was decades ago. I've been in a car at 137mph, only 2x for about 5 min each time on an interstate.
TheBuddha ago
Thank you for your well-wishing and I'll make the best recovery that I am able to make. I work hard and work through the pain to do my PT. I even exceed the minimum number of reps, pretty much every time. Sometimes, I have done this with tears in my eyes and spilling over onto my cheeks. (I ain't scared to admit it.)
Anyhow, I've been in many, many speeding cars - and have driven much faster. I have a penchant for race tracks and taking advanced driving lessons, including having raced in NEFR and taken many rally driving lessons. Many people don't seem to know that you can use those tracks (for a fee) when there's no race going on.
My daily driver is a beast of a BMW. It's the 650i and "only" puts down 445 horsepower. It is electronically limited to 186 MPH.
Alas, I was not the driver and the driver was drunk. I didn't realize he was as drunk as he was and I was goading him. I was telling him that his new Mustang sucked and that he was a crappy driver. In my defense, both turned out to be true! His Mustang can't corner worth a damn and he's a horrible driver! That's why we crashed!
Around here, there's very few cars on the roads, so it was reasonably safe to do this. Normally, I'd say folks should probably keep their speeds down to a reasonable level. But, there's no traffic here, as a general rule. As much as it pains me to admit it, his car saved our lives. They come with a built-in roll cage and they come with built-in racing harnesses, instead of shoulder belts like you see in most cars. Those features saved our lives.
I do have some pictures of the wrecked car, but I can't share them yet. I can't even tell you how I got them. The car is in the State Police impound lot and there's absolutely zero public access to the lot. So, I'm not supposed to have pics. ;-) (I've got friends in low places.)
He walked away with some lacerations and contusions. I took the most damage. I'll recover, but I'm terribly messed up for a while. I've gotten away with so many dangerous things, that I'm not actually bothered by this. I figure I earned it and should actually have been killed, many times over. That I got away with it one more time is how I look at it.
I have decided that it's time for me to settle down. I turn 61 in just about a month. These bones are getting tired and they take a long time to heal. As much as I hate to admit it, it's time for me to settle down a little bit.