My truck is officially dead. She died a noble death, doing her best to protect her loving owner.
Bare with me while I gather my senses and try to put this story down black and white. My day started out normal. Awake at 4 am in order to be at work by 5:30. I left the house a little early so I could grab a hot breakfast and some lunch for later in my 12 hour shift.
I am almost done with my 33 mile commute. Less than three miles to go. In a split second, I see headlights crossing the turn lane and heading for me. I have no time to react. My foot is still in the accellerator when we hit! I have just been hit head on!
My 80 stops not far from impact. It is turned sideways in the outside lane with my rear taking some of the shoulder and the front of my truck in the inside lane. I quickly take an inventory. The truck is not running. The driver's side window is gone, with most of the glass being on me. I can see the windshield is shattered, and I see part of the hood. As for me, I am ok. My right foot hurts like Hades, but the rest of me is awesome! A man runs up to check on me. Poor guy. He avoided the wreck, but he is still scared, so scared that he has no clue where he is at and can not give important information to 911. So i have to calm him down and help him give the information to 911. All of a sudden I hear tires squealing. Someone has not been paying attention and tries to pass all the parked vehicles. The guy calling 911 starts running toward the shoulder. I am yelling at him to run to the front of my truck so this idiot does not hit him.
At this point, I want out of my truck. I survived a head on, but I might not survive the next hit. I have got my seat back and I am heading towards the only door that still works--the rear hatch. Broken foot or not, I am getting out. Thankfully, the first responders showed up then. There is nothing more comforting than knowing you have got a huge ladder truck protecting you!
I quickly call my job. "Hey. I won't be there today. I probably won't be there for a while. I just got in a head on collision on Eastman Rd. Go ahead and get my FMLA paperwork started," I say.
Then I call my husband. I know he is up because my kids have a cross country meet. After the meet, they are heading to a weekend of mountain bike racing. Or at least, they were. "Chris. I have been hit. I am on Eastman Rd. I am ok. I gotta go. They are cutting me out." That is when it reality hit for my husband. He says I was very calm. He had no idea how bad it was until I mentioned being cut out.
Meanwhile, the first responders are amazed. They can see a huge debris field from the accident. I am sure they expected a badly mangled unconscious person in that Land Cruiser. Here I am bragging about my truck and cracking jokes. Several different guys mention how well my truck held up AND protected me. At this time, I don't know the severity of the damage.
They get me out and headed to the hospital. Chris makes almost to the accident scene. They have got the whole road closed off, and it is a big wide road. I bet people were frustrated that they had to take a detour. I do remember telling Chris to not let the kids see the truck, because it was bad. NO problem. They were never close enough to see it.
I get to the ER. My family shows up. I am happy to be alive, but I am not happy about the X-rays. Those hurt! I leave the hospital four hours later with three stitches in my knee, a few scrapes and bruises, and a shattered calcaneus (heel). The impact was so great that it broke my solid front axle. It lines up perfectly with what is left of the floorboard where my feet where.
So, what about the other guy, you ask? The officer that came to check on me said he was intoxicated, and not protected nearly as well as me. He was charged with Vehicular Assault, a third degree felony. He already had a long list of arrests for public intoxication AND DUIs. It seems this guy is far from a model citizen.
As for me, I have a long road to full recovery. It seems that heel bone is pretty important. The first doctor I saw said i would never run or cycle again. She even hinted that I could lose my foot. Needless to say, I found another doctor! This doctor had a goal to have me doing everything I was doing before this drunk ran into me. After a five hour surgery and two nights in the hospital, I am now on full bed rest with my foot elevated above my heart. Bed rest sucks, but I am alive to fuss about it.
I am proud to tell everyone that I survived a high speed head on collision.
RIP, my faithful FZJ80. We have many wonderful memories of you.
Bare with me while I gather my senses and try to put this story down black and white. My day started out normal. Awake at 4 am in order to be at work by 5:30. I left the house a little early so I could grab a hot breakfast and some lunch for later in my 12 hour shift.
I am almost done with my 33 mile commute. Less than three miles to go. In a split second, I see headlights crossing the turn lane and heading for me. I have no time to react. My foot is still in the accellerator when we hit! I have just been hit head on!
My 80 stops not far from impact. It is turned sideways in the outside lane with my rear taking some of the shoulder and the front of my truck in the inside lane. I quickly take an inventory. The truck is not running. The driver's side window is gone, with most of the glass being on me. I can see the windshield is shattered, and I see part of the hood. As for me, I am ok. My right foot hurts like Hades, but the rest of me is awesome! A man runs up to check on me. Poor guy. He avoided the wreck, but he is still scared, so scared that he has no clue where he is at and can not give important information to 911. So i have to calm him down and help him give the information to 911. All of a sudden I hear tires squealing. Someone has not been paying attention and tries to pass all the parked vehicles. The guy calling 911 starts running toward the shoulder. I am yelling at him to run to the front of my truck so this idiot does not hit him.
At this point, I want out of my truck. I survived a head on, but I might not survive the next hit. I have got my seat back and I am heading towards the only door that still works--the rear hatch. Broken foot or not, I am getting out. Thankfully, the first responders showed up then. There is nothing more comforting than knowing you have got a huge ladder truck protecting you!
I quickly call my job. "Hey. I won't be there today. I probably won't be there for a while. I just got in a head on collision on Eastman Rd. Go ahead and get my FMLA paperwork started," I say.
Then I call my husband. I know he is up because my kids have a cross country meet. After the meet, they are heading to a weekend of mountain bike racing. Or at least, they were. "Chris. I have been hit. I am on Eastman Rd. I am ok. I gotta go. They are cutting me out." That is when it reality hit for my husband. He says I was very calm. He had no idea how bad it was until I mentioned being cut out.
Meanwhile, the first responders are amazed. They can see a huge debris field from the accident. I am sure they expected a badly mangled unconscious person in that Land Cruiser. Here I am bragging about my truck and cracking jokes. Several different guys mention how well my truck held up AND protected me. At this time, I don't know the severity of the damage.
They get me out and headed to the hospital. Chris makes almost to the accident scene. They have got the whole road closed off, and it is a big wide road. I bet people were frustrated that they had to take a detour. I do remember telling Chris to not let the kids see the truck, because it was bad. NO problem. They were never close enough to see it.
I get to the ER. My family shows up. I am happy to be alive, but I am not happy about the X-rays. Those hurt! I leave the hospital four hours later with three stitches in my knee, a few scrapes and bruises, and a shattered calcaneus (heel). The impact was so great that it broke my solid front axle. It lines up perfectly with what is left of the floorboard where my feet where.
So, what about the other guy, you ask? The officer that came to check on me said he was intoxicated, and not protected nearly as well as me. He was charged with Vehicular Assault, a third degree felony. He already had a long list of arrests for public intoxication AND DUIs. It seems this guy is far from a model citizen.
As for me, I have a long road to full recovery. It seems that heel bone is pretty important. The first doctor I saw said i would never run or cycle again. She even hinted that I could lose my foot. Needless to say, I found another doctor! This doctor had a goal to have me doing everything I was doing before this drunk ran into me. After a five hour surgery and two nights in the hospital, I am now on full bed rest with my foot elevated above my heart. Bed rest sucks, but I am alive to fuss about it.
I am proud to tell everyone that I survived a high speed head on collision.
RIP, my faithful FZJ80. We have many wonderful memories of you.
Glad you are ok. These stories all ways make me shiver a bit. God speed with the recovery.
