[silver_pilate]

Good thread....

July 2, 1996.

I was late for a meeting in Plainview (about 20 miles away). I have been driving these roads since I was 12 with my dad when I would work summers for him, so I've got all the short-cuts down pat. Well, this day, I wasn't feeling too well. I had just eaten some McDonalds and it wasn't setting too well. Also, I had just taken some Benadryl (no biggie...I popped those things like candy and never had problems). Well, I guess the combination of the two piled up this day.

I decided to take a road I hadn't traveled in a while to cut the time to town. The road was a dirt road, and aside from a few intersections where I'm always careful, it was a fast and straight shot to town. I knew there was an S curve ahead in the road, and I knew it was fairly sharp from driving it countless times. However, this day I was a little out of it, I hadn't driven the road in a while, and I had Jars of Clay playing loud through my portable CD player and tape adapter through my cheap-A 10" subs behind the seat.

Anyway, I was cruising along about 80-85 mph (VERY STUPID to do on a dirt road) and I suddenly came up on this curve. It comes up very fast without much warning if you're not looking for it. Anyway, I knew I wouldn't make the curve, and it was way past too late to slow down, so I tried to cut the curve on as straight a line as I could. I let off the gas, and just feathered the brake to ease through the curve, but the speed was WAY to much for my little F-150 to handle. The wheels turned, but the truck went straight head on into the ditch on the other side of the first curve. I hit the ditch HARD and remember thinking to myself, "Here we go!" When I hit the ditch, my hands were thrown off the steering wheel and both went through the windshield, shredding my finger tips. The next thing I know, I'm watching the horizon very slowly and smoothly turning upside down. It was smooth because I was flying through the air. The next thing I remember for a while was watching the truck land upside down and a giant mass of dirt coming through what used to be the windshield.

When I woke up, the truck was upside down, and my head hurt real bad. In fact, somehow, when the truck landed, I was thrown sideways and didn't get my head taken off. However, my head was through where the windsheild would have been and the truck was on top of my head and I had dirt piled up covering half of my mouth. I thought to myself, "yeah, I've got adrenaline pumping, I'll be able to get out..." Well I couldn't. I first undid the seat belt, which almost killed me because I was suspened upside down. When I released it, my body fell, but my head was stuck, and I just about broke my neck. My attempts to kick out the door were less than futile, and I couldn't get my head out anyway.

I screamed at the top of my lungs for what seemed like hours until two farm hands pulled up. I hear the gravel crunching under the tires in between the slow "drip, drip" of oil coming out of the intake. I hear the doors open and close, and this hispanic voice say, "OOHHHHH MANNNN!!" I was like, "GET ME OUT OF HERE!!"

The short of it was that they got a jack and lifted the truck off of my head and pulled me out of the driver's side door. The truck come to rest about 150 feet from where it initially hit the ditch, upside down, and facing back the direction I came from. I had a massive concussion, bruises bad enough to soak through the skin and scab on my temples, a few scrapes, and the top half of my ears were purple for about two weeks where the truck pinned my head. Aside from that....God saved me, without a doubt. Believe what you will, but I give God the credit on this one. Here's the pics:





If those don't come up for some reason, here's the URL:

http://www.geocities.com/silver_pilate/wreck.html

Take care, and God bless.

--nathan