Hot off the presses! An Anderson Exclusive!
NOTICE – IF YOU HAVE LESS THAN 30 MINUTES DON’T START READING
Well as I’m sure many of you have heard, Serra V and I (Brian) were involved in an accident this last Thursday. It was a truely terrible experience that we won’t soon forget, however we also recognize just how blessed we are that Serra V walked away completely unharmed and that I walked away with only minor bumps and bruises and a very sore body. Here’s the story of how it happneed …from the beginning;
It was Thursday afternoon and Brent and I had to deliver and set up two RVs in Ventura for some weekend vacationers. Pam was gracious enough to meet us there with Serra V in tow, not to mention some turkey sandwhiches for the weary, and drive us back to Calabasas to finish out the day. It worked out well as Pam had been invited to Mellisa Devore’s baby shower in Calabasas that evening so she was planning on going down that direction anyhow. After dropping Dad and I off at the shop we arranged that I would meet her back at Mom and Dad’s house and that I would take Serra so that Pam could have a kid free time at the baby shower. I was more than happy to oblige as I would enjoy the time with Serra and it meant I wouldn’t have to drive the Saturn back home (which still meets our needs but has been reduced to a bucket of rattling bolts). There was some debate as to whether we’d save Pam the Saturn experience by swapping Serra’s car seat in to the Saturn, but in the end it was deemed not worth the effort.
All was going as planned as I picked up the Camry and Serra V and started for home at approximatly 5:20 or so. It is about a 1 hour commute from Calabasas to Santa Paula that time of night and this night was no different. My customary route takes me through Camarillo and then I take several back roads in order to cut off about 20 minutes or so of trip. I remember noticing that I was feeling very tired as I was on one of these backroads (about 15 minutes from our home) and decided to pop in a book on tape (lent to me by Dallas), open up the sunroof, and turn up the A/C in order to help keep awake.
About 5-10 minutes later I remember thinking I should pull over and just rest for a second. I’ve done that before but it’s typically when I’m coming home after a late night at school (10:30 pm or so) and I have good reason to be tired. I rationalized that I was almost home, it was only 6:30 so no way I could be that tied, I had Serra V in the car with a very wet diaper, and a pooch at home that had been locked up since this afternoon and who’s barking has caused the neighbors to complain recently. Needless to say I didn’t heed my subtle promptings and carried on.
The last thing I clearly remember is closing the sunroof (but not closing the cover so sun could still get in) as I was pulling on to the 126 freeway. I did this so that Serra wouldn’t get blown away by the wind and wake up (she’d fallen asleep shortly after I picked her up). My next conscious memory was about 2 miles down the road as I woke up as the car had hit a curb and was airborn. We slammed down on the ground straddling the curb I’d just jumped with the driver side tires on the pavement and the passenger side in the dirt. It’s amazing the thoughts that your mind processes and the speed at which it does it at times like this. I remember very clearly my exact thoughts “Man, I’m in trouble here…keep your hands strong on the wheel…don’t brake hard and don’t jerk the wheel….see if you can ride this out….what are the people behind me thinking…..is this it…..my God, Serra is in the back seat.”
About 2 seconds later, and about time that final thought went through my head, I remember losing total control as the car lost all traction due to the steepness of the hill I was trying to teeter on and the soft dirt. The first roll came and there was a big crunch and a TON of dirt flew in to the car and everything went dark. I wasn’t blacked out but rather it was the immense amount of dirt the sun roof had “scooped up”. After going dark I remember atleast two more complete rolls, maybe three, and then finally resting right side up down a 20 foot hill and next to a lemon grove. The rolling sensation was odd as I kept feeling like the momentum of the car was slowing down and that we were about to stop, only to roll again….very odd and frightening feeling.
After coming to a rest I immediately turned to Serra. I could see her through the thick dust and asked “Serra…are you ok?”…to which she calmly replied “Yep”. I quickly checked her over for any cuts, bleeding, or anything and to my astonishment and utter relief she appeared to be in perfect shape. Not only was she not crying but she pointed out more than once that “Daddy dirty” as I was frantically checking her out. No sooner than I did a quick check of her that a I turned and saw a man bounding down the hill yelling an inquiry if I was alright. I raised my hand through the nonexistent sunroof to assure him that we were ok. He proclaimed himself to have been trained in handling emergencies and told me not to move too much. Within what seemed like 20-30 seconds a woman arrived as well as what seemed like 10 migrant farm workers to inspect the scene. More people began to show up claiming to be trained as EMT’s but mainly they were just asking me lots of trivia questions “Whats your name, how old are you? What month are we in, what day is it today, etc.” apparently trying to ascetain if I had head injuries. I was very grateful to have people stop and offer their help. I asked the woman to please get Serra out of the car as the dust was still very thick and I was concerned about her and thought it better she get out of the car as soon as I could. The woman obliged and Serra went with her without a fuss.
Once Serra was out of the car I began inspecting myself a bit. I couldn’t feel any major pain other than my shoulder but I could tell I had some major adrenaline going on. I ran my hands up and down my legs and over my chest and arms to feel for anything broken and was relieved to find nothing out of place. My head was a bit sore and the gentleman that was first on the scene told me I had a little blood coming down my neck but it didn’t look like anything serious.
It seemed very quick but I imagine it was 5 minutes or so when a CHP officer showed up on the scene. He quickly inspected me and the car and assessed the situation. He began shuffling through the glove compartment looking for my registration and insurance and to my surprise asked me for my license. I let him know that it was in my back pocket and politely asked him if he wanted me to get it for him, expecting him to say no. To my surprise he said “Yeah, if you can.” to which I should have said, “Yeah…you can wait till I get in a little more comfortable position.” but I wasn’t in the arguing mood and made the effort to get my wallet out. In retrospect, given my condition and unkown bodily injuries, I find that odd that the officer would ask me to do that and even odder that I obliged.
At any rate, it was shortly therafter (10 minutes as I had overhead the ambulance driver repeat the time it took them from report to arrival) that the ambulance and fire truck arrived at the scene. I remember the EMT guy immediatly put me in one of those real uncomfortable looking neck braces (they feel like they look) and began asking me a series of questions. It was at this point that I made my assertions to him that “I’m fine, I could climb out of this car right now. Let’s forget this neck brace thing and all this…really I’m fine.” to which he responded “Sir…you don’t understand the severity of the accident you were just in. You probably are just fine but if you are hurt we need to take every precaution to make sure you don’t get hurt more.” As he was explaining himself I flashbacked to when my Dad fell and hurt his neck in the backyard of our home in Las Vegas. Like me, he was insisting he was just fine…which of course he wasn’t. I respectfully and sheepishly responded to him “I understand and respect that. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”
By now the place was swarming with firemen and to my surprise and relief I recognized one of them as being our High Priest Group Leader Brother Steve Lazenby. I remember him coming down the hill and peering in through the sunroof and saying “Hey, I know him.” and not saying anything directly to me. (As a side note, today in church he said that he first saw and recognized Serra V and then looked in the car) He directed the firemen to bring the backboard to which I chimed up and warned them that if they thought they were going to carry me up that 20 foot hill they’d better realize that I was no small sack of potatos to which Bro. Lazenby replied, “Yeah, he’s not small…let’s get some guys down here.”. It was then that they brought down the dreaded “backboad” from the ambulance and worked on prying the driver side door open as it’d sealed shut by the impact. When they got it open they directed me to slide out on the the backboard head first. My mind again flashed back to my Dad’s experience with the backboard and his recounts of how uncomfortable it was to lay there and also the scab left on his forehead from where they pulled off the tape. I reluctantly went along with their plan and sure enough, they taped my head to the board and began trudging me up the hill. When we started up the hill one of the firefighters stated “This isn’t too bad.” to which I apologized for being such a fat butt.
Due to the tape and neck brace I couldn’t turn my head. I’d wanted to see the car but I was soon up the hill and getting loaded in to the ambulance. I made sure that Serra would be riding with me in the back of the ambulance and they happily loaded her car seat in right next to my head.. The woman who had been on the scene from the beginning was still with her and had loaded her in the car seat. She sat down in the ambulance and one of the EMT’s asked her if she was family. She responded that she had just been at the scene and the EMT politely told her that they could take it from here. I thanked her profously for everything as she departed as I recognized I probably wouldn’t ever get another chance to. Before we left the scene the fireman asked me if I needed to get anything from the car before I left. My only thought was that I needed to get my cell phone in order to contact Pam later on. The fireman looked for it and couldn’t find it. They then asked me for the number and called it. To their surprise it had lodged itself in to the cavity between the headliner of the car and roof that had been buckled due to the roll. They let me know I’d need to get a new cell phone but were shocked when it was still working after fishing it out.
During the ride to the hospital I made small talk with Serra and the EMT’s. They asked me more questions that I’d already answered previously and also asked me what hospital I wanted to go to. I told them I had Health Net insurance and that I didn’t really care where I went as I didn’t know where any local hospitals even were. They told me that they’d normally take me to another place a little futher away because of my insurance but that because this was an emergency situation, the insurance would cover me wherever I went. It was in the ambulance that Serra V got a new stuffed animal, a little teddy bear that she’s named “Boom Boom” in honor of the events leading up to her getting it. Apparently it’s a thing someone does as a service project, providing stuffed animals for children involved or part of an accident. It sure seemed to help Serra as she took right to it. The gravity of it all and what was happenign all began to start to sink in and I was fighting back tears the whole trip. I asked the paramedics what I could expect to happen when I got to the hospital and they filled me in.
At the hospital, they wheeled me in to a room and I was immediately surrounded by a host of nurses and a doctor. It reminded me of those Emergency Room shows on TLC that I watch every once in awhile. They got busy hooking me up to some blood pressure and pulse machines while asking me the same questions I’d already answered before. The doctor was very friendly and seemed encouraged that I was all with it mentally and didn’t appear to have any major injuries. He ended up cutting my new $30 Expedition Motor Homes and Trailers shirt and my garment top to take a better look at my shoulder. His first impression was that it was dislocated but ordered some Xrays to double check everything. As soon as they finished with me they went over to Serra, who had been being held by a nurse, and the doctor began examing her. He squeezed her wrists, then her elbows, then her shoulders, her ribs, her hips, her thighs, her knees, and down to her ankles. All the while he’d ask her “Does this hurt?” and she’d matter of factly reply “Nope.” As he finished he said to her “Do you have any ouchies?” to which she finally said “Yep.” The doctor thought he might be on to something until she lifted up her pant leg to reveal a scrape she’d had on her knee that was several days old. He smiled a broad smile and said “She’s just fine.” to which I began to cry for the first time.
After that things quieted down significantly. They rolled me off the backboard and ripped the tape off my head. It hurt pretty bad and I can see why my Dad complained so much about it. The nurse pulling the tape kept saying “I’m so sorry..I’m so sorry..” as she was yanking hair off with it. It wasn’t long before Serra and I were left alone and told to wait for the xray tech and that it’d be some time before he came. The nurses were kind enough to get Serra V a coloring book and some crayons which occupied her for about 10 minutes. The rest of the time she just sat there or would wander around the room and peaking in the curtains next to us to see what all the fuss was about over there (a guy with a broken finger and later a little 10 year old girl with an asthma attack). She did at one point alert me that her pants were wet to which I remembered Pam warning me that she’d needed her diaper changed when we got home. It was now approx 7:30 and apparently the diaper had reached critical mass. Again, the nurses were kind enough to change her diaper and bring Serra a little set of pajamas and socks when she refused to put the pants back on cause they were “wet”. I kept trying to get Serra to give me kisses but she insisted that I was “dirty” and I wasn’t going to get kisses till I cleaned up some.
As time progressed I began asking questions of the nurses as to how I’d be able to contact Pam who was at the baby shower in Calabasas. The cell phone was not getting any service from within the hospital and they wouldn’t let me get up so I asked a nurse if she would be kind enough to go outside, call Pam, and let her know we are fine but would need her to pick us up on her way home. I was worried when the nurse came back in and told me she’d left a voice mail but that she thinks it was a little garbled cause she wasn’t getting great reception. I envisioned Pam getting a partial message of “….this is Ventura County Hospital….husband and daughter…..acccident….pick up….click..” I asked her to please go back out and try again to which she did and then reported back that she left a clear message. I assumed Pam had her phone off or had left it in the car rather than take it in to the party. As it was, she realized she was getting calls but was unaware of how to get her voicemail to work properly.
When the Xray guy finally came in it was about 8:45. He was a pain in the neck as he wanted me to extend my arm out and hold a big yellow board in order for him to get a good xray of my shoulder. Needless to say that it wasn’t a very comfortable position and he had to keep retaking it due to the fact…as he put it ”you’re a big boy…I need to up the power on this baby”. Whenever they did the xrays they had to take Serra out of the room and the xray tech had a big rubber suit on…made me think that maybe I should have one on to. He didn’t offer and I didn’t feel like asking.
30 minutes later the doctor looked at the Xrays and told me I would just be very very sore and that I was very lucky. He told me I could leave and asked me how I planned on getting home. I told him I hadn’t been able to reach my wife yet but that I was sure I could now. He offered to get me a taxi but I explained I had no cash on me….he told me I’d better try and get ahold my wife. I was finally given permission to get up and go to the bathroom and clean up a little. As I was getting out of the hospital bed a nurse who I hadn’t seen before said to me “Man…you’re dirty. I saw you earlier and thought you just had a great tan.” She provided me with some wet wipes which I cleaned off the first layer of dirt and she helped pick some sunroof glass out of my head. I felt weird when she was doing it…kind of like those monkees you see picking lice of one another. She was also kind enough to tape up my shirt so that I looked half presentable when I finally left.
It was about 9:45 when I finally got ahold of Pam. I used a phone at the nurses station. The conversation went something like this;
Pam - Hello?
Brian – Hey, where are you?
Pam – On Vineyard.
Brian – Ok, good, I need you to come pick us up?
Pam (sounding panicked) – Why, what happened, where are you? Did you get in an accident.
Brain – We’re ok. We were in an accident. We’re ok though..just really dirty….we are at the hospital….(asking nurse: What hospital am I at?)…we are at Ventura County Hospital.
Pam (understanably upset despite my best but bad efforts at calmly delivering the news) – I don’t even know where that is! Dirty? Did you roll over or something?
Brian – Yeah…I’ll fill you in when you get here. Here’s the nurse to give you directions.
It was about 10-15 minutes before I saw Pam come through the doors…a welcome sight indeed. She hugged us both and I briefed her on the goings on over the last several hours. It was a quick but joyous renuion. After siging the appropriate documents we were packing up in the Saturn and heading home. I drove.
Here are some pictures of the damage;
Notice the copious amounts of dirt in the car. There is literally 6 inches of good top soil in the floorpans of the front driver and passenger seats (and in my ears.)
Here is our wonderful sunroof. Needless to say it won’t be a big selling point for our next car purchase. Ouch.
On Friday, I got the bright idea of going in to work. My reasoning to Pam was that I didn’t want to upset our lives anymore than we had to and that if I felt fine then why not? (translation; I wanted to pretend this never happened) I admittedly didn’t feel well but went in for a couple hours or so and ended up doing an orientation, checking in a coach, and handling some paperwork. I felt a little worse than I thought I would. We then ran home in time to meet with the tow truck driver in order to clear our remaining belongings out of the car. That’s when we took the above pictures. After seeing the car we were farily impressed with how well it held up considering the impact and the speed we were going. I was glad to find my watch, which I will sometimes take off after work and leave in the car, had found a safe spot in the back window ledge and looked no worse despite taking an obvious trip from the front seat. Both Pam and I marvelled at how much dirt and damage was in the front two seats but how Serra’s area, sitting in the middle back in her car seat, looked almost untouched. She’s walked away from this without a single scratch and with very little memory other than recalling “Mommy’s car go boom boom”. With everything that was happening around her, dirt, rocks, glass, watches, cell phones, etc. to walk away completely unscathed (not even sore), it’s no doubt in our mind there was some divine intervetion involved. I on the other hand needed to be taught a lesson or two…but for me to walk away with my relatively minor injuries is in itself an astonishment. It certainly causes us pause for thankfulness and recognition that we are truely blessed.
Saturday we decided that it would be a good idea to get out and take a look at a possible replacement car. My shoulder was still bothering me and I was extremely sore but I was managing it with high doses of advil and a determination to be normal…i.e. carry Serra on my shoulders around the car sales lot (again, not my brightest of moments). I have very little patience for car salesmen and even less when I’m not feeling so hot so we didn’t stay very long at any of the places we went. Pam test drove several cars and we decided that we’ll be buying another Camry. (more details to follow) On the way home we stopped at the spot where the tow truck driver had told us where he’d pulled the car from. It took us about 10 minutes to find it and it was truely humbling to see the tire marks and relive the experience from a different vantage point. Looking at the tire marks, I was able to peice parts of it together and marvel at how blessed we were to avoid three large Eucalyptus trees by about 5-7 feet and a bridge on one side by about 20 feet. It caused my heart to skip a beat when I saw my hat laying in the weeds and one of Serra V’s sippy cups about 10 feet away. This was a significantly poignent reminder of our mortality to me and how quickly it can be taken from us and how different this story could have been. After that we headed home for a baptism in our ward and then back to Camarillo to attend Katrinas B-Day celebration. It was nice to see the family albeit painful to recount the events but understanding for inquisitive loved ones. I began to realize I’d over done it in my stubborn quest for normalcy and really began to hurt towards the end of the party. I took advantage of Mom Arnells gift of some lovely pain killers that allowed me to sleep. Only one nightmare so far.
Today at church it was nice to see our High Priest Group Leader and to thank him personally and to give him a big hug. A few tears were shed and he recounted his experience at the scene and reconfirmed how blessed we are to be ok. The rest of the day has been fairly uneventful other than being set apart as Young Mens President. I’ve got a good, yet small, group of boys….I’m really looking forward to the calling. I fit in much better with the boys than I do the Elders Quorum.
I’ve been kindly reminded by many people that “It gets more and more painful, with the third day being the worst.” Those aren’t kind words when you are only on your 1st or 2nd day, however having been through my 3rd I think I must be par for the course. I haven’t done myself any favors by overextending myself (pointed out by Pam that only a very stubborn man would insist on carrying his daughter on his shoulders while expereincing severe body pain in a quest to forget that the accident ever happened). Tomorrow I intend on doing my part in helping shuttle some coaches in the morning and then finalize a decision on a new vehicle for Pam. I should be back to work full time on Tuesday and start school back up on Wednesday. No doubt we’ll be tempted to “Get back to normal” but I’m realizing that this sense of mortality and the greater appreciation for those around you and the small simple times of family togetherness and love for one another are really what it’s all about. I’ve gloried in the last few days in the small moments that I’ve spent with Serra and Pam just being together and doing the things we usually do every day…just now it’s different.
