Ouch!

Tags

Kaweah Delta District Hospital, Quality Meats -- Visalia, red light runners, St. Paul's Episcopal Church -- Visalia, traffic accident

Today started off so beautifully!  I went to church with the girls (I was lucky enough to teach children’s chapel this week), then took them home and got ready for a vestry meeting and work.  But they say life happens while you are making other plans, and my plans were interrupted quite thoroughly.

On the way back to church I was hit by a woman who ran the stop light.  Fortunately for me I was just pulling into the intersection for a left-hand turn when I realized she was not stopping and hit my brakes…so she didn’t completely broadside me with her big truck.  But she caught me right at my driver’s door hinge and busted my wheel (and also probably my brand-new front axle shaft and tires), shoved me into the opposite direction on the road, and left me sitting quite still.

And all I could think of as I sat there shaking was that I needed to call my priest and let her know I wouldn’t be at the meeting!  Kind employees at Quality Meats came out and called 911, then came back with ice to put on my head…my purse had dumped upside down and I couldn’t reach my own phone.

I can now strike “take an ambulance ride” off my bucket list (if it were ever there), along with “have a CT scan” (and yes, there is a brain in there).  I don’t have a fractured skull or broken neck, just soft tissue bruising and a nasty headache.  I expect to be totally stiff and sore tomorrow, though.  And after nearly four hours in the Emergency Room at Kaweah Delta District Hospital, I went home to the excellent care of my family.  The staff was caring and efficient, and the doctor turned out to be the father of one of Georgia’s elementary/junior high school classmates.  It was fun hearing an update on his family, too.

Tonight I am filled with gratitude for so many things, the first being that Lily and Olivia were not in the car with me.  I appreciate the messages of love and prayers for my healing I have been receiving all day.  And I am grateful for excellent car insurance that should get my vehicle issues sorted out quickly.

Please, everyone, be careful at traffic lights.  Hesitate a few seconds before pulling out after the light turns green, and don’t fudge on the yellow lights.  The life you save may be your own.