Hello everyone! I wanted to use this entry to share with you what happened to us and why I started the foundation.
We were traveling through Tennessee on Interstate 81. We were on our way to visit our son who was attending Marion Military Institute at the time. I was attending the university for one year as a prep for West Point. Currently, he is a junior (they call them Cows) at West Point and doing well. At about 9:30 at night, a dump truck came on the interstate with it’s back up and struck an overpass at 55 mph. The bed separated from the chassis and fell into the roadway. Because it was so dark, we couldn’t see it and we ran into it at 72 mph. My daughter and I were knocked unconscious. My wife who was driving told the fire department when we arrived that she thought we were dead! We all suffered severe and life altering injuries.
Me:
Broken left wrist
Lacerated spleen
Grade 3 concussion
Bi-lateral contusions to my lungs
Partial collapsed lung
Fractures of T5, L5 and L6 of my back
Fusion of C5 and c6 of my neck
Double vision for 7 months
Broken Collarbone
Sub-arachnoid bleed (brain bleed)
Damage to left knee
Sarah (my daughter, age 14 at the time)
Broken right wrist
Fractured L2 & L3
Surgery to implant two 10 inch bars and 6 screws on her spine
Christine (my wife)
Contusions to the chest and abdomen
2 fractures of her lumbar spine
I was in the ICU for a week, trauma unit for a week, transported by ambulance to a nursing home for a week, sent home for rehab for 7 months. Sarah was in the hospital for 3 days and released. Christine was treated and released and stayed with us the entire time.
Because I was a volunteer firefighter, I had a fulltime job. I’m a retired paramedic and have been conducting home/business inspections for 10 years including FEMA.
Next up: Stories of my beautiful and wonderful girls. Christine and Sarah.