WesWorld

One friend told me once that luck doesn't exist, that it's a concept the human being created for it's usefulness...so I guess you can simply not believe in it. But if you believe, that it does exists there's something undeniable: sometimes in your life luck is a bitch, sometimes a blessing. I do believe in luck, much more after what I've gone through. And It hink this time was a blessing, up to a point that I probably won't be able to think it's sometimes a bitch anymore.


It all started sunday morning. I was returning to Madrid from Bilbao, a 250mile trip I've done just so many times in my car. When you drive for long spans of time you always end kicking in the "auto" mode when driving is as instictive as it is walking: you don't actually think you must put a feet in front of the other, you do it and that's all.


I was about 50km from my destiny when mist started to appear. Light at first, heavy then. I reduced speed acordingly but kept on the "auto" mode; I've driven a lot of time with mist, there's no secret in it: reducing speed and keeping your atention for red lights in front of you.
But this time it all ended quite differently. This truck was on the right side of the highway, on the side I was driving on. And it had the lights off. I didn't see it in front of me until I was quite too near.

The truck must have had some engine trouble I guess, not sure, noone has told me about it. It was parked on the right side, half of it taking space of the highway itself. So when I saw it little more than meters away I reacted fast enough to barely miss hitting it. At 100km/h and with proper reactions it should have been enough to just let me scared at hell (here in spain top speed allowed is 120 on highways), but nothing else.

This was quite different, too. Temperature on the outside was -6ºC, and mist had made the floor wet. Under-zero temps and wet roads don't mix very well: there was a bit of ice on the highway, too. So when I suddenly turned the weel left to miss the truck nothing happened, but when I put it quickly straight to keep myself on the left side of the highway, the aft wheels lost adherence.

The car started to slip to the left; but again I was able to correct it turning the wheel to the left. For a moment it seemed I had regained control, but was not to be. The car stopped slipping left but suddenly slipped the other way, to the right. And this time I could not stop it, it kept going sideways until it was almost perpendicular to the path of advance. Then it stated to roll and spin, in a lateral fashion.

It shouldnt have been too long of an experience, you know...since when the car started rolling until it hit the ground for the last time, out of the highway, it may have been something like 10 seconds. But this time I've proven that time is relative for the human being: those ten seconds seemed minutes. I recall each and all of the times the car top hitted against the road or the ground when it went out from asphalt: a total of 4 times. I recall seeing the motion in amazement, kind of "wow!!" feeling. I recall knowing, not actually thingking, that I was mostly death.

I recall hearing the aft side of the car's top collapsing on one of the hits against the ground when it fell with that part. I also recall the last of all "Bumps" against the ground,this time the car hit the ground with the part of the top over the passenger seat. It also collapsed, dragging some of my side down and giving me a good hit on my head.

What I don't recall is being scared. That came later when I went out of the car (had to get out from the driver's glass which is was broken, because the door was stuck). When the car stopped I had this feeling of "OK, it's over, time to get me outta here". When it went out and looked at my car it was like "shit, I'll be driving no more in ages".

Finally when I saw ALL the car's top collapsed except for the zone over the driver's seat I got it. Had I had passengers all of them would've been seriously injured or dead. Had my car hit the ground with the side of the top over me, I would have been dead, too. I'm a pretty big guy, 184cm tall, and when I drive a mere 2cm are left between my head and the top.
I had a good hit on my head because the last roll hitting the passenger side top (which dragged some of my side's down hitting me in the process), but if one hit had been over the driver's zone I would've had a quite bad day ended prematurelly. Or worse enough, I would have had my head collapsing over the spine leaving me paralized.


When I saw the car I understood what had I just gone through, I also understood the black lady with a blade had just passed milimeters away from me and decided it was not the moment. Or whatever. Thing is: I should be dead by now had everything worked the way it usually does in real life. I'm not. Luck must exist: otherwise I am dead and still not noticed it.

Some of the things that ppl say they think when they barely miss death are very beatiful, but I guess I'm not like them because I didn't saw my life in a movie before my eyes. I didn't think in all those who would miss me if I died (that came later). I just thought...in fact felt... "this is the ultimate ride, not many people have been spinned inside their car, and hey! it's got it's emotion...which is not bad for the last one in my life". Very appropiate for an extreme sensations lover like me who's always the first in the extreme atractions on tematic parks and wants to do a parachute course as soon as I get the money.


I also haven't reconsidered my whole life afterwards. I'm not going to join the jehovah witnessess, nor any weird sect because I had seen god. I do believe in some way. But that's no god act, and if it was, God is a real lover of heavy jokes: first he almost gets me killed then he saves me in some weird lucky fashion. That's not the kind of God I believe in, trust me.

What I wasn't able to avoid, and can't do it either right now (reason why I have a nice whisky bottle on my side and I'm getting quite drunk: to stop it), is that I should be dead. The accident itself is recorded on my mind crystal clear, as I had photographical memory (and I don't have it).
I've rehearsed it time after time in my memory during the 24 hours of observation in the hospital -I'm unscathed other than my head and some cuts I got when escaping through the broken glass- .The hit in my head was a severe one and they wanted me in observation. Each time I rehearse the accident on my head the evidence is overwhelming: I should have died...how in the hell can I still be here?.

not sure why. But I am.

The funny thing is that everybody who has been near death seems to extract a lot of filosofic thoughts about life and death and about why and what are we here for.

Not me. My only conclussion is that luck exists. And that I'm a lucky being.


Time to get totally drunk, fellas...later.

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Time to get totally drunk, fellas...later.

That sounds like an excellent plan to me.

Glad you're still with us, RAM.

I'm glad that you're not seriously injured, or worse...

Strangely one of my mates rolled his Fiat Uno only last week and emerged unscathed as well.

Luck is when preparedness meets opportunity.

Glad to hear you're OK.

Cheers,

Quoted

Time to get totally drunk, fellas...later.

Um, I wouldn't get too drunk - with a head injury ; )

Cheers,

Glad to hear youre OK...

Ouch....Least you made it.

Sounds like you need a a new car...perhaps one that is made even stronger. (old car made of steel perhaps).

I'm glad you're still among us.

Glad to hear your still in the land of the living! As for the Luck aspect of the whole ordeal it makes you wonder.
Cars accedents are quite odd events, a split second here or there can make a difference.

My first accedent (and so far only one, knock on wood) was an interesting ordeal. On the third day on morning shift (4am-noon) I was driving to work, it was raining and I was dead tired having worked a noon till 8pm, and I managed to pull accross three lanes after visiting the bank machine at which point I heard a loud klang and saw a flash of light as my car jumped, I remember hearing myself shout WTF?!!! As things began to settle down I realized that my car was just coming out of a 180 degree spin and rocking on the centre curb.

Needless to say I was shaking like a jackhammer, and reflecting on the accident I realized that if I wasn't such a leadfoot and pulled out a second or so later, I could have taken the hit right on my driver side door (which would have hurt) instead of the rear wheel/bumper. The way the accident worked out seemed not too bad, other than writing off my $2,200 car all I had was a sore neck and a slight bruse on my knee.

The crazy thing was I drove the car a block to my work and worked my shift!!

Luck seems to be tied in with timing IMO.

"The funny thing is that everybody who has been near death seems to extract a lot of filosofic thoughts about life and death and about why and what are we here for.

Not me. My only conclussion is that luck exists. And that I'm a lucky being. "

Well, and musing about luck is not philosphic? ;o)

Glad you decided to stay with us...

Thanks for the good wishes, to all of you.

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Originally posted by Ithekro
Sounds like you need a a new car...perhaps one that is made even stronger. (old car made of steel perhaps).

Needless to say, car is totalled. Engine is untouched, tho,and some money can be done by selling it. Other than that, the car will soon be converted to razor blades or something like that...

Don't think I'll be driving in a good while. In fact it depends, my mother's car is parked permanently in Bilbao because she can't drive because a neck problem. Maybe they will "release" it for me to drive it...however that's left to be seen, after how the last one ended.


My head is Ok, other than a good hit and a decent headache for some hours after the accident. Those 24 hours in hospital were in fact cosmethic , doctors said I was allright, but they kept me for a day just in case. I got two good lessons out from it:

one: young nurses are tha bomb; and if you know how to be funny to them it gets even more interesting. Sadly the one who attended me was engaged...maybe I start smashing cars around just to get me into an hospital so I have the chance to get together with one like her

two: hospital food is pure crap. I'm not sure if they want to save the sick ppl or get rid of them ASAP by poisoning. I'd bet on the second.


To be true I have a stronger headache now than after the accident. But it's not the first hangover of my life, so I guess I'll survive. If going "kaboom" with my car doesn't kill me I guess one bottle of Ballantines won't do it .



Wes, I'm glad you got OK from that one. For me the terror didn't come while I was rolling, nor immediately after. Only when I was well clear of danger, some 5 meters away from my car and staring at it I started to shake. Guess I'll call that "slow reflexes" .


Hooman: not sure if my musings are philosophic. Guess in some weird way they are . No matter what, keep in mind that the message was written by a half-drunk guy and not by a sane mind (that actually means nothing as I'm not exactly sane when I'm not drunk anyway ).
But at least I'm not joining the "saviors of the 7th day" (not sure how you call that sect in english) because I've seen the light after my "close-quarters" rendezvous with death. So I guess that if I've got philosophic, at least I haven't got too much, whatever that means


Off to drink some coffee to fight the hangover, then I have a couple of posts to write. Thanks again, everyone

Quoted

two: hospital food is pure crap. I'm not sure if they want to save the sick ppl or get rid of them ASAP

Probably the latter - thoses nurses ain't gonna get anything done with young bucks like you hanging around all the time...

Except for the pain and generally feeling lousy, I liked the Hospital. The nurses made me feel right at home, I was getting quite comfortable, unfortunately Hernia sergery dosn't require an overnight stay....

Funny thing about accidents is they happen so fast that your mind seems to be in a daze trying to figure out what happened. Then you start feeling the shakes.