Me, Her, the Boy and a Dog

First, Ginger and I are doing OK for the most part. We have bruises on our chest and hip from the seat belts and bruises on our legs from the impact with the console of the car. It goes without saying that our necks are really stiff and according to the emergency room doctor at UVA Medical Center, tomorrow will probably be even worse.

Second, thank you for your thoughts, prayers and outpouring of support - we really appreciate everyone’s concern during the last 24 hours. Right now we are dealing with insurance, scheduling follow up doctor’s appointments and debriefing family.

Here’s what happened…

Ginger and I were traveling south on Rt. 29 just north of Charlottesville in the left lane. Ginger was driving and I was in the front passenger seat when a Chevy Silverado pickup truck traveling north on Rt. 29 attempted a U-turn, but did not stop to see if any cars were coming south bound and he pulled right in our path. There was no time to react and we slammed into the right side of his truck doing 60 miles per hour.

The collision was violent, loud and frightening. After the initial impact, the car deflected to the right and ended up in front of a sign for a driving range and golf shop. We were both dazed and disoriented - both airbags deployed on impact and there was a lot of smoke in the cabin. The seat belt impact knocked the wind out of me and we both had trouble getting a deep breath for a few minutes after the accident.

We checked each other to see if we were alright and then managed to get out of the car. We looked for the truck but it was no where to be found. Another car following the truck had the truck driver’s wife and a real estate agent inside. The real estate agent dropped the wife off and went to get the driver of the truck and get him to come back.

He eventually came back, but he did not drive his truck, he rode with the agent. When he got back I overheard him telling the sheriff’s deputy that he didn’t see anyone coming and that he did not know he’d been hit. How do you get hit by a car going 60 mph and NOT know you got hit? A Silverado is a sturdy truck but it’s not a tank.

Ginger had some chest and neck pain so they took her to UVA Medical Center for precautionary measures. They checked me out on the spot and I felt okay other than the usual pain you’d expect from a collision of that intensity, so I signed a waiver so I could ride in the ambulance with Ginger. Make no mistake, though, I am going to see a doctor tomorrow morning.

We got the hospital and the ER was pretty packed so it took some time for a doctor to see Ginger, but he checked her out and she was doing fine - just neck pain, shoulder pain and all the other pains you’d expect from that kind of accident. The doc advised us to see our family doctors in the next couple of days and warned us that we would probably start feeling the real effects on Tuesday. Fun. Not.

A Virginia State Trooper came by to take our statements and after he was done, he told us that the driver of the Silverado had been charged and was “clearly at fault.” He told us the court date for the case if we wanted to appear and to testify.

Ginger’s parents drove down from Jeffersonton (it’s near Culpeper) with an extra car for us to drive home. While Ginger was waiting to get looked at, her dad and I drove back up to where her car was towed and got all of our stuff out of it. Then we drove back to the hospital, by which time Ginger had been discharged.

We said goodbye to her parents and got in the minivan (yes, I finally had to drive a minivan despite years of denials) and drove the remaining 2-1/2 hours home. It was a tense drive home because suddenly, you are on the look out for all the crazies (and there are a TON of them) on the road that are not paying attention.

We’re very grateful that it wasn’t much worse. The car, which is totaled, can be replaced. Clearly, Ginger and I, cannot - and let’s face it, we’re two WONDERFUL people, right? RIGHT!!?? :-) See, we’re still smiling and laughing - but it kinda hurts a little when we laugh - sore necks, chest, hips, legs … well, you get the point.

Thanks again for all of your kind words, thoughts and prayers - it means a lot to us and it is good to know that we have such a loving bunch of people in our lives!

The car formerly known as a 2006 Honda Civic… :(