I was in a car accident on Saturday, Sept 11. Pretty scary! I was driving to work around 3:45pm. I live off of hwy 12, and work off of hwy 12....its a 2 lane country highway. I go though one town (Darwin) on my way and takes about 12 min to get to work-- straight shot....seems simple and the least likely place to get into an accident...but accidents can happen anytime anywhere. I had God on my side and came though relatively unharmed.
I was following a SUV- big Suburban type though Darwin. The SUV slowed through town-- posted speed limit is 45, and then stayed on Hwy 12 and started to speed back up to the posted 55mph, but then had her left blinker on almost like she wanted to turn but missed her turn??? We were just out of Darwin now and there was no turns, just corn fields LOL. So I slowed and then she sped up again and turned blinker off. Thought it was weird, but kept on my path to work.
I was back up to about 60 mph, and far enough behind her not to really think anything else was up....all of a sudden as I got closer to her, I realized she was slowing and almost at a stop on hwy, but it was too late, I must have glanced down or looked out my side window for a second because I never saw her slow or brake or signal or anything, and slammed into the back of the SUV at about 50-60 mph...I think I did realize she was too close at the last second and might of braked but it happened so fast there wasn't anything I could do once I realized she was there. I think she was attepting to make a u turn on the highway and didn't see any cars around her, because when I hit her, my van stayed pretty much in the lane, went slightly towards center line, and her SUV was across the opposite lane facing the other direction on the side of the road as if her wheel was planned to turn that u turn when I hit her. I think if I hit her dead on from the back, her SUV would have moved forward, not in a big circle. I guess it depends on how her wheel was, but anyway....I never did her story on why she stopped in the middle of the road, but did hear her daughter who was 11, tell the nurse her mom missed a turn-- they were gonna stop in Darwin to see the "Ball of Twine" (historic attraction in the town), which is why I believe she was gonna make a u turn later down the road.
There were 3 people in the SUV-- the mom (in her 50's) and her 11 yr old daughter and her daughters friend, also 11. It was my fault for not paying attention in those last seconds, but also her's for slowing in her lane/ almost to a stop and attempting a u turn...no citations were given and it was determined 50-50 fault.
The air bag went off in the van and it was smokey or something in the van from it, so I got out instinctively right away, my door did open, with a push and I just plopped down next to the van in the middle of the road, which is when I saw their SUV on the other side of the road kinda behind- across from me. I thought they'd be in front of me. I was coughing from all the smoke or whatever was in the van when I hit.
Almost instantly witnesses came and a lady stayed by my side till paramedics got there. This lady was really nice and kept me calm, and said she was from Dassel too-- It's gonna bug me, but I thnk I knew her, just wasn't for sure. She also said she would stop by my work and tell them what happened. Many others helped with traffic as my van and myself were in the middle of the hwy. Volunteer firefighter/rescue people were there first, then police, then about 2-3 ambulances.....there were 4 of us to transport. Myself-- it was my knees, and the other car was their necks-back it seemed. They were all strapped on the hard board with neck braces, and I got lifted on a stretcher cuz of my knees. They cut my pants to assess my knees. My neck or back wasn't a concern at that time. The only time my neck /back hurt was the next morning...when I woke up EVERYTHING HURT. I got an IV in the ambulance which was interesting cuz the ride was so bumpy, I'm not sure how she hit a vein. I was on oxygen too, cause of my coughing.
Xrays were taken on my legs and everything came back ok, nothing broken. The Dr that took care of me in the ER was very comforting. I was shaking so bad, had very high blood pressure, oxygen made me cold, ice packs on my knees felt cold... I just felt cold regardless,(temp was 98.1) so he kept bringing me warmed up blankets. I thought it was nice the first time and it felt so nice and warm....but he did it for me about 3 more times. Even the nurses were saying he must be on a warm blanket kick. Anyway I appreciated it. I got pain meds through my IV and that also relaxed me more, I even got the giggles at the end. Steve came back after going to fill my Rx and the doctor told him last I checked she has a case of the giggles. After about 3 hours in the ER I was discharged and Steve took me home in his truck....yup his messy green work truck...surprised there was room for me in there.
The mom and one of the girls was up walking around at this time too, the other girl was still strapped down with neck and back pain. She was only 11, and seemed to be in good spirits talking and such, and as the nurses were asking her pain level she would consistantly say a 9 or 10 out of 10. The nurses tried to explain to her if they cut off her arm would be the worst pain you ever had would you still rate your pain now a 9 or 10, and she said yes...although her attitude didn't indicate excruciaing pain they were being cautious with her. I bet it's hard to acess kids and them not having gone though many things like this, every plain owie is a pain level of 5-7 and something this tramatic would obviously be a 9-10 in their eyes.
I hope it wasn't anything serious, but will probably never know.
I am healing, and taking it easy-- Sunday was the worst day waking up with everything hurting....on 800mg of Ibruprofn and Vicodin every 4-6 hrs.
My knees were iced for the first few hours but havn't been doing anything else for them except rest.
It's mostly soft tissue damage, swelling, and bruising in my knees and should heal in a few weeks. My seat belt brusied my left shoulder-chest and stomach pretty good and the air bag left me with abrasions on both arms and under my chin. My neck and back have been doing surprisingly good and haven't had any pain in those areas, just some stiffness and soreness the first day, and some crackling when I turn my head side to side. I will keep a chiropractor in mind if anything more comes up later with that.
Mostly just want my knees and sore muscles to heal now. Each day it seems to be getting better.
My van which was a total loss...:(
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