I thought I was a plonker after the TV arial incident but the term plonker is now nowhere strong enough as I managed to totally destroy our car early on Monday evening (6:15 pm 20th July). We both managed to survive with surprisingly little damage although poor Sue did less well than I suffering a bang on the head, leading to some tissue loss, a broken thumb and a badly gashed elbow. I suffered only flying glass cuts and both of us have aching neck from whiplash type injury.
Neither of us have any clear idea of exactly what happened, my only memory of immediately prior is of steady driving in lane one and I have no memory of the crash itself or immediately afterwards. My memory restarting as people started calling as they approached.
Two cars behind us there was a woman, who I understand from the Police is their main witness, who was at our car almost as soon as we stopped moving and took very firm control, organised a first aider from the stopped cars to attend to Sue,and while attending to me organised others to jam a tyre under the car, which had come to rest on the near side, to help stabilise it and another couple of burly chaps to help stop it rocking. It was I believe she who called the emergency services. When all those emergency services were assembled, three fire engines, air ambulance, two road ambulances to name part of the list. The paramedics from the air ambulance and the road ambulances assessed us and decided that we were in a condition to transfer by road and the job of getting us out of the car started. After stabilising the car with jacks and props the firemen started to cut into the car to remove the roof and one hour and ten minutes after the starting the medical team were able to ease us from the car onto “long boards” and we were removed to the ambulance where a more thorough check over began.
Arriving at the hospital we were triaged and in the fullness of time Sue went for a head and neck ct-scan and x-rays to the left thumb and elbow and I went for a ct-scan to the neck and an x-ray to right elbow.
Around 3:30 in the morning Sue was admitted and I was discharged. At this point I should in reality have left the hospital and sorted myself out but the sister in A&E brought a bed into my treatment room and allowed me to stay the night, then in the morning she arranged with the day staff for me to continue in the room until my brother Richard, who I had phoned at 7am and asked if he would take me back to the boat, arrived. During my wait I was supplied with tea and breakfast.
We were in the hospital car park when the phone rang, it was the sister on Ward 12 where Sue was. The sister was enquiring how I was in order to reassure Sue that I was well. I was actually opening my phone to call the hospital to enquire about Sue when the ward sister rang so I was able to get updated and acquire phone numbers to enable further contact.
On our drive back to the boat the policeman in charge of the incident rang and started his conversation by saying that we should give testament to the engineers who designed and built our car. He continued to say that as he was walking from his car to ours on arrival at the scene, saw the condition of the car and feared the worst. Although his investigation is incomplete his initial feelings were that he would mark it “Unfortunate Accident - No Further Action” and file it away. (This may of course change and is not confirmed).
The hospital rang again that afternoon to say Sue would be staying in another night but would, in all probability, be released the following day.
Richard and I spent the night on the boat and the next morning I was back on the phone to the hospital to get an update on Sue “She’s been moved to Ward 9", I was transferred and after getting my update I asked if there was any way I could speak to Sue, "Of course" came the reply, we have a ward mobile I’ll get the number and ring you back". A few minutes later she rang back and suggested a video call asking if I had Zoom on my phone, I said I didn’t so she stayed on the phone giving instructions while I downloaded it and then gave me the meeting id number and password and “ding” there was the nurse looking at me on my phone. Sue and I had a chat and later in the morning the hospital rang to say Sue was being discharged and how long would it take me to get there to pick her up, agreeing that 3:30pm would be best. I rang off and Richard and I started to get the boat into a state to be left for a while and got on our way.
The Walsall Manor Hospital had arranged an appointment at Broomfield Hospital the following day which when we attended was a meeting with a surgeon who was to clean Sue’s head wound and cover with a skin graft taking skin from her neck. He decided that the thumb did not need an operation just a cast. He was less impressed with the state of her elbow cut as he was convinced that dirt and debris had been left in the wound when it was stitched and decided he would clean and “debride" it when he does the skin graft.
Well thats everything so far, still bruised and battered but getting better on a daily basis, Sue’s operation is scheduled for tomorrow morning (Sunday 26th) after which we can hopefully start to put our lives together again.
Here are a few photos, they are possibly distressing so available only by clicking here