Rollover Accident

April 9th, 2008 at 04:02 pm

I haven't blogged for a few days. I've been busy dealing with unexpected life events instead. It's taken me some time to get my thoughts together enough to sit down and write a blog entry.

At 12:30 a.m. on the 7th our fire department was toned out for a roll-over vehicle accident. It was reported that "Car 40" was on scene. That is never good news because that is code for the county coroner. As DH is getting dressed to respond, I realize that I don't hear DS#2 moving around in his room to go also. That means he did not get home from work yet. He should have been home an hour before this. I knew immediately that it was him in the accident so I got up and got dressed.

Sure enough, DH got on scene with the 2nd ambulance and was immediately pulled aside and told that it was our son. The county coroner had been responding to another call and was the one that discovered him. He had fallen asleep, crossed the opposing lane of traffic, climbed the enbankment and hit a rock outcropping with the undercarriage of the vehicle. That sent the SUV rolling over. He rolled at least 3 times before bouncing back up onto all 4 wheels. He ended up sitting across the lane of traffic for 30-45 minutes before the coroner came along. Thank goodness no one else had come along and hit him meantime. He was unresponsive and the coroner thought that he was dead at first.

He ended up being flown out to the nearest trauma center. All we knew as we made the 2-hour drive was that he had become responsive to the ambulance crew before they flew him out.

Miraculously, he had NO injuries! Not even a bruise from the seatbelt. He was discharged from the ER 3 hours after we arrived and has only had a headache since.

I highly recommend the Mitsubishi Montero. If it had been any other type of vehicle I don't think he would have survived this accident. It costs an arm and a leg to keep gasoline in it, but it sure outdoes itself in an accident.

The picture above is one that the firemen took on-scene. Pretty scary for a mother to imagine her child being involved in that!

Posted in Life Happens | 37 Comments »

37 Responses to “Rollover Accident”

dickyvman Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:10 pm

Thank the Lord he was ok! He was watching over your son that day!
rduell Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:15 pm

I firmly believe that this son has a hedge of angels surrounding him at all times. He has been through SO many things that it is just amazing he's still alive. He has a purpose on this earth that has not been fulfilled yet. I don't know what it is, but there's a reason he's still around.
dickyvman Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:19 pm

To bring Glory to Him!
Broken Arrow Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:20 pm

Oh. My. Goodness!

I'm glad that your son is alive!

Um....

I wrecked the family station wagon when I was a teenager, because I also fell asleep at the wheel. Ever since then, I've always taken fatigue behind the wheel seriously... though I still sometimes drive even when I'm tired. I need to stop doing that.

Perhaps this is a bad time to mention this... but a sedan chassis is a lot less likely to rollover than any SUV chassis.... For example, when I wrecked my family's station wagon, it never rolled, just spun around all over the highway. Of course, it depends on what you hit as well, but, well anyway, I'm just glad that your son is alive.
rduell Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:25 pm

Thanks BA. He has already said that his next car will be a smaller one. We had advised him not to buy this one because we knew it would be expensive to keep on the road, but as kids do, he didn't listen. Had to have it. He quickly learned that all he made either went into repairs or gasoline.

He is being charged with careless driving. He knew he should have pulled over, but thought that if he rolled his window down a little and sat his seat up straighter he could make it home. He was only 10 minutes from away. He's learned a lesson the hard way, as he seems determined to learn them all.
reginaastralis Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:30 pm

I am glad your son is ok! I have almost fallen asleep at the wheel a couple of times (I used to work nights and drove home during rush hour, talk about a scary time to start to fall asleep!)

What a scary thing to drive up to ... and knowing it was your son. Wow ... so glad everything worked out!
PauletteGoddard Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:47 pm

How frightening! Such a relief to have only a headache after an accident that harrowing! How are you feeling?
rduell Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 04:51 pm

It didn't really hit me until Tuesday morning. I think Monday was all on autopilot. I have to drive by where it happened every day to get to work so going by and seeing the bank all torn up really reinforced it all to me.
mom-sense Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 05:05 pm

God is good!
compulsive debtor Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 05:17 pm

Wow! Your son is very lucky to have walked away from that unscathed. I saw that picture before reading the post and thought for sure someone was dead or badly injured. Glad to hear he's OK.
JanH Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 05:22 pm

Oh, WOW. DS constantly calls me on the road after gigs, often sleepy and late at night. I try to talk to him as much as I can because it scares me like crazy to know he is on the road again. I'm going to talk to him about this and maybe he'll stop pushing himself so hard so he'll be safe. I'm so VERY glad your son is okay! That had to be the most frightening thing to go through as a parent!
dmontngrey Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 05:48 pm

Oh my goodness! You scared me at first by mentioning the coroner... I am SOOOOOO glad to hear your son is ok!!
terri77 Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 05:59 pm

I'm so happy to hear that he was okay after that horrible accident. What a horrible experience that must have been for you and your family.
scfr Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 06:16 pm

Merciful heavens! So sorry for the anxiety you went through, and so thankful he is okay.
merch Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 06:42 pm

Wow. I don't even know what to say or what you must be feeling.

I am glad that your son is ok.
LuckyRobin Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 07:27 pm

Oh, I am so relieved for you. I did not think the story was going to end the way it did. I am so happy your son is okay.
Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 07:32 pm

I felt my blood pressure bottom out as soon as I read, "He should have been home an hour before this." I could only read on because I thought that you could only be blogging now if your son was more or less okay. Thank God.
boomeyers Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 07:39 pm

Isn't mothers intuition AMAZING!!! You just KNEW did'nt you?? What a wonderful blessing he is alive and well, and so many great people responding to the accident! I hope YOU recover soon!
sillyoleme Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 07:42 pm

Glad to hear he's okay! I was so scared for a minute!
shiela Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 08:28 pm

OMG, that horrible.
So glad your son is okay.
Fatigue can be a killer on the road.
clubneary Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 08:59 pm

Glad to hear he is OK. My thoughts are with you and your family.
76Chick Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 10:36 pm

I am so sorry to hear that... Glad he has no injuries. After all he's been thru - they are still charging him?!?! /sigh
Broken Arrow Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 05:13 am

I would go to court and plead with the magistrate to drop the charges. There's a good chance that he or she may just do that, in light of the circumstances.
monkeymama Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 07:16 am

WOW! I don't know what to say. I am so glad he was so unscathed though. What a terrifying experience for your whole family. You must feel extremely blessed to all be okay today.
Carolina Bound Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 08:38 am

I am SO glad he is OK! What a terrifying experience!
nance Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 09:08 am

Thank God he was okay. How terrifying for you and your family.
Aleta Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 09:56 am

Sorry to hear this. Glad that your son walked out of it OK.

It sure brings us all to pause and maybe just give a kids a hug. Hang in there. Our prayers and thoughts are with you.
homebody Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 12:23 pm

I'm with Boomeyer... mother's intuition is a special thing. Thank God he's okay.
rduell Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 03:39 pm

Thank you, everyone.

I don't know how to explain that I just KNEW it was him. I just did. I even said to DH as he was getting ready to leave that he wasn't home and it still didn't register with him that it might be. I don't know why because he's responded to other accidents worried that he would find one of our kids involved. I think this time it was more of a protection for him not to be worrying about it all the way there.
ceejay74 Says:
April 10th, 2008 at 05:28 pm

I'm so happy everything turned out OK! I too was in a near-fatal car accident, 12 years ago. (And yes, because it was ever so barely my fault, I did get charged, though the policeman admitted it was a terrible intersection and hated to do it.) Though I'm still jumpy in a car now, there's nothing that makes you feel alive more than a near miss like that! I hope your son feels that euphoria and renewed determination to appreciate life.
DeniseNTexas Says:
April 11th, 2008 at 09:45 pm

I'm running behind on reading entries and just found this one. Thank YHWH your son is alive! It wasn't his time to go but wow... just wow! I know you had to have your heart in your throat waiting to find out what happened. It's amazing he's got no injuries. What a story! And the picture..it gives me goose bumps.
Ima saver Says:
April 12th, 2008 at 05:43 am

I am running behind on reading also. Thank goodness your son is ok!! Bless your heart, what a terrible thing to go thru!!
campfrugal Says:
April 18th, 2008 at 01:31 pm

I am just catching up, but thank the Lord that he was protected during that time. Such a scary moment for your family and him.
CRAZYLIBLADY Says:
April 19th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

I just say your original message. I guess I haven't logged in and read a lot of messages lately. Your son apparently had someone watching out for him. This is a time when we should all be counting our blessings.
rduell Says:
April 19th, 2008 at 02:13 pm

We had our System librarian meeting on Thursday and one of the librarians was searching to see if I have more gray hairs from this incident. LOL! I had wondered the same thing on our drive home from trauma center.
Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
April 20th, 2008 at 08:58 am

rduell, I still really feel for you on this. Even though your son was okay, as Moms, we know and fear how easily it could have gone the other way. An accident like this has huge, huge significance to you,especially in those first days afterward, of course. My own son is close in age to yours and he recently had a sudden "health event" for which I had to drive 4.5 hours at night on unfamiliar interstate and country highways to get to him. The adrenaline in my system was nearly disabling until I could get to him and see that he was not really at the brink of death. Our kids can come through just fine, but the impact on us parents lingers. We older folks know more about mortality and the reality of odds. How has every parent who has gone before us managed?
rduell Says:
April 20th, 2008 at 04:53 pm

Joan, you are exactly right and I appreciate your concern. I held up under it all with barely any tears shed, but it really hit me the following Sunday in church. I nearly had to leave. I still haven't allowed myself to really break down over it because it's never a convenient time.

With DH being an EMT he has seen way too many accidents of this type so we well know how easily this could have had a very different ending. I think it's his worst fear when he responds to an accident to find that it is one of our kids.

I think this will live with us for the rest of our lives. I know that every time I hear the medical helicopter fly over now I say a prayer for all those involved, victim and family. It was a very ominous sound that night to hear it go over and know it was for my son.

Paying Off the Debt

My journey out of debt and in to a life of freedom.

Rollover Accident

37 Responses to “Rollover Accident”

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