EAGLE TALON'S SWAN SONG

Part II





A man in a white, Chevy truck, had just left work and was hauling some MDF boards in the
truck's box. He took a peek in his rear-view mirror to be sure the wood wasn't shifting around
too much. When he looked forward again, he saw a car driving through the ditch in front of him.
At his current rate of speed, he was going to hit the car if it managed to cross the highway.

The man slammed on his brakes and was amazed to see the car suddenly shoot out of the ditch
(as if being launched from a slingshot) and fly (at a 45 degree angle) about 15 feet into the air.
The little red sports car did a lazy spin, and 14 meters later, landed on it's passenger's side
tires -- which promptly exploded as the rims and axels bent. The car bounced a meter and a
half and landed back on the wheels again. One final bounce occured before the car finished
it's sideways spin and landed on the same angle as it's windshield -- directly on it's roof.





Every window in the car exploded simutaneously upon the final impact, and the momentum
of the vehicle sent it skidding on it's roof, across three lanes of traffic, over a distance of
37 meters. Somehow, miraculously, the two large gravel trucks that were heading
towards the car managed to swerve and drive around the sliding, Eagle Talon.
A large, Loraas Disposal truck, also close by, did the same.

The man's Chevy finally stopped on the ice, and missed running into the Talon by a foot.





With the very first bounce of the car, something hit me in the face -- hard. I looked down, and saw
something moving around on my leg. It took me a second, but I soon figured out that the air
bag had gone off, and what I was now seeing was the bag quickly deflating. Even with the air
bags used, I still expected that I would soon come to a stop and would be able to continue
my drive to work -- where I could swear over the damage, and leave it to fix for another day.

Then the Eagle bounced once more, and landed on it's roof. Upon landing, the sunroof
exploded along with all the other windows. My head and left shoulder scraped along
the asphalt at 80-90km/hr before the car finally came to rest, blocking off the
second and third lanes of the express way - still on it's roof.

All traffic stopped, and the man in the white, Chevy truck called 911 on his cell phone.

The EMS arrived within five minutes, and worked for twenty-five minutes to get me
out of the car. The Jaws of Life were needed to rip open the passenger's side door.





I recall bits and pieces of the rolling though the air. I was, of course, very disoriented,
and when the car landed, my head was slammed into the roof as the top of the car folded
down to meet me. I'm about 6'3, and as it was, my head would already brush the roof.

I recieved two long gashes on the top of my head and numerous stitches (both from
the initial impact, and also from the asphalt slide). My left ear was nearly torn off,
and I also broke my spine between the third and fourth vertebrate.





Somehow, while dangling from my seatbelt, upside down in the driver's seat, I managed
to undue the belt, and with a broken neck -- fall to the roof. In a daze, I crawled over
shattered safety glass to the passenger's side of the car, and lay down for a little while
on the air bag, on the roof. I faded in and out of consciousness -- between the
dreamworld, and the real one which had just turned into a nightmare.

I lay on the airbag while I bled from my head and my hands (which I cut on the
shattered windows while trying to find a way out of the wreck), and I stared
through the side window, watching the snow blow by, shivering from the cold.







The EMS asked me quite a few questions to test my alertness, and also the severity of my head
injury. All I could remember was my name, my age, and where I lived. I didn't know where
I was going, exactly what had happened, where I was, or even what day or time it was.

By the end of the day I could remember everything again. For the next three days the
doctors repeatedly asked if I had any numbness or tingling in my arms or legs. Considering
what I'd been through though, I felt fine. Everything that should be able to move, did.




I was stuck into Halo Traction, which is basically a hard plastic brace or jacket that fits
around your upper body. From the jacket are four rebars which attach to a steel ring
around your head. Out of the ring come four, pointed screws, which are imbedded
into your skull to prevent your neck from moving while your spine heals.



Click above (on one of the actual pins that was sticking out
of my head) to get to the Halo information pages.


It truly is amazing how, in a split moment - totally unexpected, your life can change or even end.

Some have said that my accident must have been caused by me traveling too fast, or by
not paying enough attention to the road. Others have said I put too much faith into my
all-wheel-drive car, or that I trusted my reflexes or ability to handle the vehicle too much.

The funny thing is, they are all both right AND wrong.





I was driving the car at a speed I felt more than comfortable with and I was fully alert
and attentive. I saw the truck in front of me as soon as it was in view and I started braking
immediatly. That I didn't notice how icy it was until I actually braked for that first time could
of happened to anyone. I'm sure the AWD and the ABS of my car helped a little bit. The thing is,
this accident was totally stupid, and totally unexpected. There was honestly nothing I could
have done to better prepare myself for it and nothing I could have done to prevent it
(although if I had the slighest idea anything like this would have happened,
I would have rear- ended that sucker in the truck and paid a
couple $100 in repairs to my front end).

I've put more faith than may be warranted into my car's AWD in the past. I also believed that
an Eagle Talon would be one of the least likely vehicles to flip -- given it's heavy weight and low
center of gravity. I would also never have believed one could jump 15 feet off the ground by
going only 100 km/hr, but it happened, and my life has been changed because of it.


DON'T OVER-ESTIMATE YOUR OWN VEHICLE!!

It *CAN* happen *TO YOU* when you least expect it.




There were quite a few media stories made about my accident. Click on the car
picture above to view some of the articles, follow some of the links, and
eventually see on-line, internet movies of the television interviews.