Ten years ago tonight at 6:15 PM, I had a life altering experience. I was coming home from a fishing trip when I fell asleep at the wheel of my pickup. I hit a tree at an estimated speed of 65mph head on. I was fortunate and lucky in so many ways.
There was a man following me that saw what happened(thank you Tim), I was lucky that he had a cell phone being 1996 and all before everyone had them. Doctors say he saved me from bleeding to death. I had a compact fracture of my right femur along with a dislocated hip, broken right arm, broken collarbone, and a smashed up right eye from hitting the steering wheel. The compact fracture missed the femural artery by centimeters Doctors would later tell me.
Firefighters and CHP arrived on the scene (thanks to them as well for me being alive today). They had to cut the top of the truck off and use the jaws of life to un-pin the dash board that was pinning my right leg which had caused the compact fracture and hip dislocation.
From there I was air lifted to a hospital. I required three different surgeries and a month long hospital stay to get put back together. A metal rod was placed in the right femur. I was told it would be permanent, but it came out three years later when everything had healed faster than expected.
The recovery was very painful and long, but I made a full recovery. Today there are zero signs that the accident ever happened. I am so grateful for the ability to be alive, be able to walk, be able to live a complete life as if nothing ever happened. I was even able to complete the police academy two years after the accident.
If you are still reading, thank you. I will leave you with this, don't take life for granted, or the ability to enjoy life for that matter. In my time as an officer, I have seen many people who were not as lucky as I was, accidents take people lives everyday. Be thankful and grateful for today and everyday for that matter, I know I am
