Rolling your car in a snowstorm...

[fenchurch]

...is most definitely not the best way to start off New Year's weekend.

We're both going to be okay... rackham tried to scrape all his hair off on the ceiling of the car. Lots of scrapes, small cuts, bits of glass and a few hunks of missing hair. He also injured his neck a bit and is currently wearing one of those foam-type neck braces... and he has stitches in a deep gash in his elbow, a small fracture in his foot (probably from stepping on the brake) and some bruised ribs. Oh yeah, and lots of bruises.

I got a few scrapes and cuts, a deep gash in my elbow (also stitched), LOTS of bruises, and I broke my shoulder in three places (it's a seatbelt injury, so I can't help but feel somewhat grateful for it. Better a broken shoulder from wearing the belt than a broken neck from not. My first bone breakage ever, and I did it in a fairly spectacular way. My right arm is immobilzed, so I'm typing entirely left-handed... not too tough, but a bit slow.

And oh, yeah... it frelling HURTS. They gave me Vicodin, which I am hoping will help me sleep through the night. Or at all. (and should also explain any weird typos you might see.)

We'd been visiting my grandmother overnight in Idaho Falls and were heading across the state to Boise this afternoon, when we got hit by a storm... lots of snow and rain. We hit a small spot on the road with no snow that was actually ice, slid into some slush and had the car get pulled off the road. I don't remember rolling, just seeing the ground come up in the window next to Rackham and the next thing I knew we weren't moving anymore and there was a man standing at that same window asking how we were doing. He later told us we had rolled three or four times.

The car is completely totaled and we have no idea what we may have lost out of the car... apparently, stuff was getting tossed out everywhere as we rolled... it had been filled with all our Christmas presents as well as as our luggage.

The first two guys who stopped were absolutely wonderful. They had immediately called 911, and had dug a tarp out of their car to toss over ours, to help keep some of the driving snow out. They got us covered up with blankets and coats, put pressure on Rackham's head wounds and kept us talking. Someone from the Sheriff's department arrived fairly quickly (I think, my time sense for a large part of the day is not good). One of the two guys loaned Rackham a cellphone, since we couldn't find ours... he called his folks, who headed out to the hospital in Burley (about a four hour drive) where they were taking us.

We eventually found my phone when Rackham's twin sister hit upon the brilliant idea of calling our phones. We still don't know where his phone ended up... but we used mine to call my mom while waiting for the paramedics. The Sheriff guy said later he had been really relieved to get there and discover both of us were cogent enough to be calling family.

While the paramedics worked on us, Sheriff guy and the two guys who'd been helping us started hunting around in the snow for more of our stuff, sticking everything in the back of our car. They also located Rackham's laptop bag out on the side of the road and stuck it in the ambulance with us and at the last minute ran up with my laptop bag, which had still been buried in the stuff in the car (I'd asked for them to look for it). Which is how we ended up being able to get on the internet tonight, because miraculously, they both still work.

I'll try to type up more later, but my hand is getting tired. The upshot is that we're going to be okay, although it doesn't feel like it tonight. My right arm is out of commission for about the next six weeks and we'll be heading back down to Provo as soon as we're feeling up to being in a car that long... we'll stay with my in-laws for a little while until we're to a point that we can fly home.

Comments

[meyerlemon.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness!!!! I'm so glad you guys are (relatively) okay, and that such great people showed up to help!

Yikes! Take care of yourselves. (careful)hugs!

[typographer.livejournal.com]

Eeeeek!

Oh, my goodness!

I'm so sorry, but very relieved you guys are both alive and recovering.

Oh. My.

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness! Thank heavens that you are both safe and not seriously hurt.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness! Thank heavens you are both reasonably in one piece. Take good care of yourselves - I'm sure your in-laws will take very good care of you both as well!

Gentle hugs to you both!

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

Lucky escape! Good to hear you're both okay. Take it easy and get better.

[gamiila.livejournal.com]

So glad you're both relatively okay. Take care of yourselves - and a happy New Year in spite of all this!

[archerrat.livejournal.com]

Ouch, ouch, ouch.



Congratulations on coming out of that event in comparatively good shape, and on running (figuratively) into good folk instead of ice weasels just after it happened. I'm sorry that the accident had to be the cap on your holidays, but really glad it wasn't worse.



Ouch.

[textualdeviance.livejournal.com]

M told me all about this earlier. I'm so glad the car kept you guys as safe as could be under the circumstances. Take it easy and heal fast! I'll be in B'ham starting next week, of course, but if there's anything I can do remotely to help out, let me know.

[paratti.livejournal.com]

Meep. I'm glad you're in one pice, more or less.

(((hugs)))

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you are both relatively ok. Take care!

[hesadevil.livejournal.com]

Good to hear you're both relatively OK. Tt's good to hear that the first people on the scene knew what they were doing to minimise your injuries and were a couple of good guys.

Take care. Healng vibes coming your way.

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Yikes! Glad to hear that you are ok (mostly). Please rest, relax and get better soon - both of you. :: gentle, gentle hugs:: Best wishes for a much better New Year for both of you.

[mirandaflynn.livejournal.com]

Yikes! I'm glad everyone's reasonably ok!

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

What a freaky experience! But I'm glad that you were watched over from above and on Earth.

I hope your shoulder heals up soon. Please update us when you feel up to it.

[econopodder.livejournal.com]

Whoa, what a shock to the system. And a shoulder broken in three places must hurt like heck. Thank god you both came through that.

[elsaf]

Oh, my God! I'm so glad you're still alive! How terrible. Geez! Take care, and get well.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_jems_/]

That sounds incredibly scary and I'm so glad you're alive and relatively alright.

[ayinhara.livejournal.com]

What a horrible way to end the year! Another story about the benefits of wearing seat belts. I'm glad that the two of you were still near family, so you didn't need to go to an impersonal motel after being released from the hospital. And you both still have working laptops.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery with the least amount of discomfort while that is taking place. Best wishes for a completely safe and healthy New Year.

[yav-14.livejournal.com]

OMG! How scary. I am glad you both came through this more or less in one piece. Take care and update us when you can.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Oh, Fen! I'm so glad you're posting and still sounding very you-like; that's the most reassuring thing of all. But...day-um. It sounds every bit as scary as I'm sure it must have been, but thank everything thankable you're both basically OK and everyone who appeared to help was wonderful. And now, just take care of yourselves and don't push too hard to get back to full speed. We'll still be here when you're ready.

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

What a scary experience - I'm so glad to hear that you're both mostly all right. Take care of yourselves.

[slm76.livejournal.com]

*huge honkin' hugs*

Despite the injuries and the loss of material items (car, pressies), I'm relieved to hear the both of you are okay. It could have been so very much worse.

Adding you to my prayer list for quick healing and also as a praise that you're okay after such an event.

[queenofthorns.livejournal.com]

ACK!!! I hope you both feel better soonest! And don't strain your arm typing! ::hugs::

[bquinlan.livejournal.com]

Argh! I am so glad you both came through that in a recoverable state. Wishing you all the best!

[sabrinanymph.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad it wasn't any worse than it was. I had a broken collar bone once and it was the most annoying (and painful) break I ever had. I can imagine a shoulder would be equally bad if not worse, particularly with three breaks instead of one. It just makes me hurt thinking about it. Take care of yourself.