Today marks the fourth anniversary of my jogging accident. On Thursday, April 26th, 2007, I went for a jog after work. I stopped at the street in front of my house and watched traffic come to a halt. A lady in a car that had stopped waved me across and I stepped out just in time to see another car coming from the previous direction. I turned away from the car and tried to jump up before it hit me.
I was hit by an Oldsmobile Cutlass going just under 40 miles an hour, flipped up over the hood, and did a face plant in the asphalt in the next lane over. I rolled on my back as an SUV came to stop about 20 feet away from me. I got to my knees and started to stand up. The driver who hit me told me to stay down and that I’d been hit by a car. (No kidding. He’s a nice guy though so I felt bad for J-walking and playing tag with his car.)
The ambulance came, back-boarded and C-braced me, and took me to the hospital. A full-body MRI showed no internal bleeding and no broken bones, a complete miracle. I busted out three of my front teeth, split my chin, and got a decent-sized goose egg on my forehead from where I landed. I hit the right side of my jaw on the car’s hood and couldn’t open my mouth without extreme pain for three days.
The next six to eight weeks involved me getting my teeth fixed, my chin sewn up, and a pretty steady dose of nightmares. By the grace of God, He let me live when I should have been killed. I thank God it was only an Oldsmobile and not one of the many semis that use that road to access the quarry four blocks south of there. It was a miracle that God spared me like He did and I thank God for days like today to remember.
And yes, I do look both ways before crossing the street today.