Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Just A New Car!

Last week was an interesting week that started out kinda fun. Ike had been studying cars for weeks if not months trying to decide exactly the car he was to get next. He wanted a smaller car to drive back and forth from the office.  It is 25 miles one way.  His big diesel truck was just using too much gas and putting too many miles on it.

Ike finally came to the conclusion that he was going to get a black 2 door coupe convertible Mercedes.  He had found the most awesome deal on this particular one.  It had everything he wanted plus more.  He was so excited.  He got to pick it up on Tuesday afternoon.  He was having a great time and enjoying his new car.

Fast forward 3 days to Friday.  Ike and I had just attended a funeral of some dear friends of ours who had lost their precious grandson days before.  The funeral was in Queen Creek. I had rode to the funeral with my friend Marilyn and met Ike there at the church.  After the funeral we left and were going to go meet Marilyn and Mike at YC's which happens to be one of our favorite restaurants.  We decided to go a different way home and took Power road.  We had just stopped at the stop light that had turned red at the intersection of Rittenhouse, Power and Pecos Rd.  Ike stopped a little hard because the light turned quickly.  As I watched in my side view mirror a white AC van come barreling out of no where slamming into the back of our car.  It hit us so hard it sent us about 25 feet out in to this huge intersection.

We found out later the AC van was going about 50 miles an hour when he hit us.  The airbags behind our head deployed and the seat belts sucked us in like a sardine.  As we sat there contemplating what just happen and if we both were really still on earth I quickly began trying to get this seatbelt unlatched because it was so tight I couldn't even breath.  I unlatched it and opened my door to get out so I could stand up to breath again.  My chest and head were in immense pain. Airbag deployed caused the head pain and the seatbelt caused the chest pain.  Not too mention the incredible jolt tweaking my whole body.

Several people came running to help us get out of the road and to safety.  Ike lingered in the car a few more minutes trying to decide if he should move out of the intersection or not.  He chose to do so and brought the car to rest on the side of the road where he was safe.  Paramedics and police were called and quickly responded to our accident. I was checked out by the paramedics.  They tried to get me to go in the ambulance to the hospital to get checked out but we decided that we would head over to the hospital to get checked out afterwards.  Ike had so much adrenaline that I don't think he felt the pain he had until a while later.  Marilyn and Mike came and sat with us and then drove us to our home after.

We got home and then headed over to Banner Gateway Hospital to both get looked at and evaluated.  My sternum was really hurting.  It was determined that I had a severely bruised sternum and that we both suffered terrible whiplashes.  Both vehicles were towed away.  Oh by the way did I mention it was my first real ride in the new car? We both were very sad to see the car go but at the same time so very grateful we were in that car.  The safety features are what saved our life.

The damage to the car seems minimal but trust me it was like that van hit a tank.  It will be interesting to see what damage was caused under the car due to the incredible impact of the other vehicle.  Mercedes's are one of the strongest and safest cars made.  I feel very grateful that Ike and I walked away with such minor injuries compared to what we could have had.  I did have to return to see an orthopedic doctor today and found out I have two fractured ribs.  Nothing I can do but at least I know where the pain is coming from now.  Ike's back continues to be sore as does mine but again we are both so grateful we survived a very scary ordeal.

Another funny twist to this crazy accident is just a few days before this accident Ike had been asked to speak in church. Guess what his topic was?  Adversity!  He had a great real life experience to tell.  Ike did a fantastic job on his talk!  Here are just a few pictures of the accident.


2 comments:

Tami said...

So thankful you were driving a tank and weren't hurt too badly! You did forget to mention the best part of that story, though, and that was Ike giving a talk in church on adversity two days later! Nothing like a personal experience that directly relates to the subject at hand! He did a fabulous job! :)

Tonya said...

Thanks for the reminder Tami. I added it!