Post by Joe Lyddon on Apr 15, 2010 17:08:29 GMT -8
I've been studying online Traffic School... I didn't yield enough when turning left...
I just read & heard this story... It hit me hard, I just had to share it with you:
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THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY FROM A MADD MEMBER…
(Mothers Against Drunk Driving)
The Barneys
Friday, December 20, 1996, is a date my family and I won't soon forget. It is the night that we were hit head-on by a drunk driver.
We were on our way to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas with our families. Instead, we got to celebrate our lives. We had traveled for approximately one hour and 15 minutes when our crash happened. We were also only 10 minutes from our first scheduled stop at my parent's house.
The man that hit us had been at a company Christmas party and had been drinking for about four hours. He was quite drunk. We found out later that he had a Blood Alcohol Content of .25 four hours after our crash; they estimate that he had a BAC of .30 when he hit us. Three times the legal limit!
Our children were in the back seat, my husband John was driving, and I was in the passenger seat. We were discussing all of the people we wanted to try to visit in the week we were to be in Wisconsin. I was watching for deer in the road, when I noticed head lights on our side of the road. Everything seemed that it occurred in slow motion, but I know that it only took about 10 seconds before the impact. We were doing about 55 mph and the drunk driver was doing between 85 and 100 mph!
The sound of the crunching metal, breaking glass and our screams were deafening. If this were not enough, we were then hit a second time by a semi-truck. The truck driver did not even stop to ask if we were okay or if he could help in any way.
A family from St. Cloud, Minnesota witnessed the whole ordeal. Fortunately, they had a cellular phone and they immediately called 911. The woman in the family came to our car to see if anyone was alive and saw that I was the most conscious. She asked me if she could call anyone for me. Since we were on our way to visit my parents, I called them and told them that we had been in a very bad car accident. My mother didn't believe me until she heard the sirens of the approaching emergency vehicles. My parents then got to the scene before all of them could arrive.
The impact had jammed our doors shut and it took a long time to get us all out. My father had to help cut my children out of their seat belts. Our youngest was alert until this point; when they cut her out, she passed out. Josh, our oldest, was also alert, but he began throwing up shortly after the crash. It had taken about 20 minutes to extract him.
Another 15 minutes and I was freed from the car. My legs had been pinned by the dash and I couldn't move.
My husband, John, took almost two hours to remove from the car; the tool that they usually use to cut people out was broken and they had to get one from another county. The paramedics were quite surprised that John had even survived the crash, let alone the time that he sat in the car unable to move. His jaw was broken in three places, the steering wheel struck him directly under his chin, he had chest injuries, the break pedal went through his right heel and metal from the car had cut his left leg through all of the muscle and nerves down to the bone. He lost a lot of blood as well.
We were all taken to Barron Hospital, which is not a hospital familiar with treating traumatic injuries. The kids were air lifted to Eau Claire Hospital. John was taken to Rice Lake Hospital by ambulance in the hopes that they could stabilize him. I was left at Barron Hospital to be treated.
Josh suffered a perforated intestine and had emergency surgery to remove part of his intestines. Jessica, our youngest, had bleeding on the brain and a bruised lung. She was kept under observation. I just had many bumps and bruises but definitely felt horrible.
John's father and brother met him at the Rice Lake Hospital. From what they now tell me, John did not look like he was going to make it. Once they got him somewhat stabilized, the doctors made the decision that they needed to transfer him to another hospital-one that was better equipped to deal with all of his injuries. Before they were able to leave Rice Lake, they had to remove him from the ambulance to restabilize him because he had begun bleeding profusely again. When they put him back onto the ambulance, they also had a nurse on board. John was an EMT at the time, and he knew that when a nurse is sent with the ambulance, the prognosis is not good.
By the time I got out of the hospital, it was 2 a.m. I did not know if my kids or husband were still alive. My parents drove me to Eau Claire to be with my family. I was not prepared for what I would see! John was still in the emergency room and had been there for about an hour. The doctors did not want to risk surgery because they thought they would lose him anyway and did not want to do so on the operating table.
He looked horrible and neither of us knew how the kids were doing. But, we still managed to joke with each other, which is typical for us.
John did survive surgery, which was done about 9 a.m. Saturday morning. And the kids were doing as well as could be expected. I was in a lot of pain, but I had to make appearances to everyone's room so they would know I was still around. I also had the nurses take the kids to John once he was put into a room.
John and the kids were in the ICU for Christmas. Friends and family donated presents and a tree. My best friend in the world sold her prized Tickle Me Elmo doll that she had gotten for her nephew to get a Santa Clause to visit the kids. I am still amazed that Santa agreed with only a couple of days before Christmas!
Jessica was released from the hospital on December 26, and Josh got out the next day. John was transferred to Ramsey Hospital in St. Paul (now Regions Hospital) on New Year's Eve. I was so relieved to have my children home and John that much closer.
He finally was released from the hospital on March 7, 1997. John missed Christmas, New Year's, and Josh's and my birthday. But he was alive, and that was all that mattered.
To date, he has had eight or nine surgeries; hopefully that is all, but we never know. The kids are doing fine now, and John has recently begun walking without any assistance and is looking good.
As far as we are concerned, we feel that the drunk driver got off easily; he died almost immediately. He was 22-years-old and left behind a wife that was 2 months pregnant with their second child. The other child was a one-year-old daughter. We do feel for his family and his children.
We also have lost so much because of this unfortunate and unnecessary crash. John, as I stated, was an EMT and a volunteer fireman. We do not know if he will ever be able to go back to these jobs, and he absolutely loved them. Financially, we do not know if we will ever recover-but we will survive, and that is the most important thing that we could have hoped and asked for.
We have also met some wonderful friends-people that we would not have met had this not happened. We are active with MADD and hopefully we can make a difference.
=====================
Never drive after you have been drinking! Ever... It's not worth it.
I just read & heard this story... It hit me hard, I just had to share it with you:
=====================
THE FOLLOWING IS A TRUE STORY FROM A MADD MEMBER…
(Mothers Against Drunk Driving)
The Barneys
Friday, December 20, 1996, is a date my family and I won't soon forget. It is the night that we were hit head-on by a drunk driver.
We were on our way to Wisconsin to celebrate Christmas with our families. Instead, we got to celebrate our lives. We had traveled for approximately one hour and 15 minutes when our crash happened. We were also only 10 minutes from our first scheduled stop at my parent's house.
The man that hit us had been at a company Christmas party and had been drinking for about four hours. He was quite drunk. We found out later that he had a Blood Alcohol Content of .25 four hours after our crash; they estimate that he had a BAC of .30 when he hit us. Three times the legal limit!
Our children were in the back seat, my husband John was driving, and I was in the passenger seat. We were discussing all of the people we wanted to try to visit in the week we were to be in Wisconsin. I was watching for deer in the road, when I noticed head lights on our side of the road. Everything seemed that it occurred in slow motion, but I know that it only took about 10 seconds before the impact. We were doing about 55 mph and the drunk driver was doing between 85 and 100 mph!
The sound of the crunching metal, breaking glass and our screams were deafening. If this were not enough, we were then hit a second time by a semi-truck. The truck driver did not even stop to ask if we were okay or if he could help in any way.
A family from St. Cloud, Minnesota witnessed the whole ordeal. Fortunately, they had a cellular phone and they immediately called 911. The woman in the family came to our car to see if anyone was alive and saw that I was the most conscious. She asked me if she could call anyone for me. Since we were on our way to visit my parents, I called them and told them that we had been in a very bad car accident. My mother didn't believe me until she heard the sirens of the approaching emergency vehicles. My parents then got to the scene before all of them could arrive.
The impact had jammed our doors shut and it took a long time to get us all out. My father had to help cut my children out of their seat belts. Our youngest was alert until this point; when they cut her out, she passed out. Josh, our oldest, was also alert, but he began throwing up shortly after the crash. It had taken about 20 minutes to extract him.
Another 15 minutes and I was freed from the car. My legs had been pinned by the dash and I couldn't move.
My husband, John, took almost two hours to remove from the car; the tool that they usually use to cut people out was broken and they had to get one from another county. The paramedics were quite surprised that John had even survived the crash, let alone the time that he sat in the car unable to move. His jaw was broken in three places, the steering wheel struck him directly under his chin, he had chest injuries, the break pedal went through his right heel and metal from the car had cut his left leg through all of the muscle and nerves down to the bone. He lost a lot of blood as well.
We were all taken to Barron Hospital, which is not a hospital familiar with treating traumatic injuries. The kids were air lifted to Eau Claire Hospital. John was taken to Rice Lake Hospital by ambulance in the hopes that they could stabilize him. I was left at Barron Hospital to be treated.
Josh suffered a perforated intestine and had emergency surgery to remove part of his intestines. Jessica, our youngest, had bleeding on the brain and a bruised lung. She was kept under observation. I just had many bumps and bruises but definitely felt horrible.
John's father and brother met him at the Rice Lake Hospital. From what they now tell me, John did not look like he was going to make it. Once they got him somewhat stabilized, the doctors made the decision that they needed to transfer him to another hospital-one that was better equipped to deal with all of his injuries. Before they were able to leave Rice Lake, they had to remove him from the ambulance to restabilize him because he had begun bleeding profusely again. When they put him back onto the ambulance, they also had a nurse on board. John was an EMT at the time, and he knew that when a nurse is sent with the ambulance, the prognosis is not good.
By the time I got out of the hospital, it was 2 a.m. I did not know if my kids or husband were still alive. My parents drove me to Eau Claire to be with my family. I was not prepared for what I would see! John was still in the emergency room and had been there for about an hour. The doctors did not want to risk surgery because they thought they would lose him anyway and did not want to do so on the operating table.
He looked horrible and neither of us knew how the kids were doing. But, we still managed to joke with each other, which is typical for us.
John did survive surgery, which was done about 9 a.m. Saturday morning. And the kids were doing as well as could be expected. I was in a lot of pain, but I had to make appearances to everyone's room so they would know I was still around. I also had the nurses take the kids to John once he was put into a room.
John and the kids were in the ICU for Christmas. Friends and family donated presents and a tree. My best friend in the world sold her prized Tickle Me Elmo doll that she had gotten for her nephew to get a Santa Clause to visit the kids. I am still amazed that Santa agreed with only a couple of days before Christmas!
Jessica was released from the hospital on December 26, and Josh got out the next day. John was transferred to Ramsey Hospital in St. Paul (now Regions Hospital) on New Year's Eve. I was so relieved to have my children home and John that much closer.
He finally was released from the hospital on March 7, 1997. John missed Christmas, New Year's, and Josh's and my birthday. But he was alive, and that was all that mattered.
To date, he has had eight or nine surgeries; hopefully that is all, but we never know. The kids are doing fine now, and John has recently begun walking without any assistance and is looking good.
As far as we are concerned, we feel that the drunk driver got off easily; he died almost immediately. He was 22-years-old and left behind a wife that was 2 months pregnant with their second child. The other child was a one-year-old daughter. We do feel for his family and his children.
We also have lost so much because of this unfortunate and unnecessary crash. John, as I stated, was an EMT and a volunteer fireman. We do not know if he will ever be able to go back to these jobs, and he absolutely loved them. Financially, we do not know if we will ever recover-but we will survive, and that is the most important thing that we could have hoped and asked for.
We have also met some wonderful friends-people that we would not have met had this not happened. We are active with MADD and hopefully we can make a difference.
=====================
Never drive after you have been drinking! Ever... It's not worth it.