My Daughter's Car Accident - Jem
Hi All
As some of you have probably already heard, I had to depart the UKLEM urgently this morning, just after we'd finished getting the hall prepared and I had just finished setting all my gear up.
I received news that my eldest daughter (20) had been involved in a serious car accident just north of Harrogate (West Yorkshire) on the A1 motorway. Thanks to everyone who helped me to pack up so quickly so I could get on the road straight away. It took me well over 3 hours the get to the emergency department in Harrogate hospital, it was an absolute journey from hell. I was wanting to shout at the cars in front to get out of my way as I obviously wanted to get there as soon as possible, but of course no-one could hear me and all I could do was sit helpless in the traffic queues , I had to keep reminding myself to drive carefully as it would have been so easy to have exceeded speed limits on the clear stretches of road. The agony of knowing your child is injured and you can't get there quickly is terrible.
Fortunately when I arrived at the emergency department at the hospital all was reasonably well and she had been thoroughly checked over and had had numerous x-rays. Fortunately my wife had been able to get there in about 1½ hours. Apart from concussion, huge bruises from where the seat belt was and a few minor scrapes she was relatively unscathed.
We've now got her home and she is resting. I can't tell everyone how relieved the whole family are.
A guy who had been following her in the car behind saw everything, he had stopped to offer help and he rung me on my mobile phone to keep me informed whilst the emergency services were sorting things out. I was able to ring him back this afternoon to thank him and get some information on what happened. It seems that she was travelling at 68mph in the outside lane. He says she drifted onto the rumble strip and then overcorrected the steering whilst at the same time hitting the brakes. Seemingly she spun the car completely around three times before the car shot across the two nearside lanes, narrowly missing other cars. She then hit the hard shoulder and the car became airbourne doing a full somersault before landing high up on a grass bank and demolishing a couple of trees along the way.
The eye-witness doesn't know how she managed to avoid other vehicles as the motorway was very busy at the time of the incident, he also doesn't know how she escaped alive as the car is a complete wreck (and obviously a write off). Someone from the emergency services said it was one of the worst accidents they'd ever seen where someone has escaped alive.
I'm not a particularly religious person, but I reckon someone must have been looking out for her... Thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery for Stephanie would be appreciated.
It's funny but as a parent you always dread the day when you have to let go and let your kids spread their wings. You dread even more the day when you get a call telling you one of your kids has been in a serious accident. Today could have turned out much much worse than it has, i'm just so thankful that our precious daughter is still with us.
I have to confess i've sobbed like a baby today, as has my wife, maybe it's the stress coming out, maybe it's the thoughts of what might have been. All I know is that we've been incredibly lucky.
Can I also take this opportunity to thank all of the folks who have already sent goodwill messages.
Sorry guys, but I don't think i'll be coming back down to the LEM. Much as I was looking forward to this break, my time is needed here with the family.
Cheers
Jem
Quote: "There is a theory which states that if ever, for any reason, anyone discovers what exactly the Universe is for and why it is here it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another that states that this has already happened.”... Douglas Adams 1952 - 2001