USMCBay Senior Member



Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Heritage Park - Friendswood, TX Posts: 352

Glad to be Alive... Close call... As some of you may know - Sunday I was crushed by my 4x4 Quad Cab Dodge Diesel while working on it. I was rolled over by the Front tire... from my foot to my arm with it stopping on my stomach for a short time before I was able to leverage it enough to roll over my Chest, Shoulder, and Arm. It is a Miracle for me to be here and I would like to thank with all of my Heart the Friendswood EMT's, EMS, Life Flight and Herman Trauma Center for the fast response and great care. There were 3 times I thought I was slipping away but God's grace allowed me to get back home to be a Husband, Father, and hopefully a better person.



Details:

I changed my U-Joints and marked my driveshaft to reassemble it. I installed it but had a time with the bearings falling out. So somewhere while putting the bearings in my second half rolled on me making my marks out of line. I got a high speed vibration and then knew my counterweights were off.

Anyway Sun after Church my wife went to town and I was going to be a hero and redo my Driveshaft in a hurry before she returned.



Well I pulled the Truck into the Drive and Set the E Brake. But I later turned the truck around because the exhaust was in the way and I wanted more room to work from the other side. So I turned the truck around - jumped out and went back to work forgetting to set the Emergency Brake again (Wheel Chocks I know - I know...!!!!!) The whole time I'm thinking "Well the brake is set, I have safety glasses, gloves, steel toe boots, and long pants" Safety first you know!



Well I was horribly wrong in being so confident in my own safety.



I got the Driveshaft bolts out to the last bolt and moved parallel to the edge of the truck. Front wheel at my feet and back wheel down hill.



The last bolt 'popped' out and by the time I looked at the wheel I had to put my foot up to try to stop it... Instead it took my foot down and ran over my foot, ankle, shine, knee, thigh, hip and dropped into my stomach like a pot hole causing me to throw up into the air and my upper body went completely stiff busting all vessels on my chest, neck, shoulder, face, and eyes (patechiae). I knew I only had seconds left before passing out and I couldn't move anything but my left leg. If for no other reason but for this day I remembered a move from our MMA gym to plant your foot next to your hip to roll/sweep a person off of you. I planted my foot and twisted my hips as hard as I could. The wheel started to move over my rib cage and I could hear it cracking as it moved and I turned my head to keep my face and neck out of the way... It rolled over my shoulder and arm that was now on top of my tool box. The front tire was weighed on a Pasadena Police Scale and dialed in at 2900lbs without any frame torsion or vertical motion. (Possibly in the range of 3100lbs +/-???)



I looked up and over and saw my truck rolled across the street and two blocked against the curb with the driveshaft yokes (...bent!!!). I rolled over and couldn't breath for a while - when I could I started to yell for help... I didn't see anybody coming then lost my sight for another short while due to blood pressure dropping. Then I thought if I just sit here I'm going to die. So I stood on what I thought was a broken leg and hip and went to a pay phone I have in the Garage and called 911. When I stood I have to admit I thought I was leaving my body because everything just started to look see through and back-lighted. While on the phone some neighbors who heard me started to show up and help - Friendswood Emergency workers started to show up (2min response time according to EMS) and Life Flight was 8min away.

I woke up Mon and realized I had no broken bones and no surgery - see list of injuries below. The EMS later told me they didn't inflate my lungs because the thought my bowls were in my chest cavity and that would have been serious if not a fatal infection to puncture my bowls in my chest. I was in and out of shock twice - the EMT's told me my body simply turned around on its own and came out of shock.



I am just amazed and can't believe what DIDN'T happen - I am truly blessed to be a Husband and Father today instead of buried on Thursday. I just can't believe it... It was the engine side that ran over me and on a personal note it ran over my junk (just bruises) which proves it did go right up the middle of me as well as the clear tracks and marks. I am just thankful to be alive and it really changed me to think of how close I came to leaving my family behind...



Here are the details per my release papers from Memorial Hermann:



Pneumothorax - Right Lung (25% collapse  self resolving w/ 1-2 wks breathing exercises)

Fractured 4-5 Ribs - Right side (self resolving)

Lacerated Liver  Right Side (self resolving)

Broken L1  Upper Lumbar Spinous Process (self resolving)

Multiple Contusions to Right torso and Extremities  Right Side (self resolving - Bruised Leg, Abdomen, Chest, Shoulder, and Arm) Attached Images Herman Trauma.jpg (57.8 KB, 892 views) __________________

2003 Road King - 211Cam - Titanium P-rods - Hi-Comp Springs - AttitudeCustomPaint - 1.5" dropped rear - V&H FuelPak / StraightShooters - USMC