The Accident

12 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment

by jwbrunken in General family news, Sabrina

Okay, I know no news for awhile. Well ,that has been because things have been pretty stable. Nothing really to report. Well, that changed last Sunday.

On the way home from the library, I misjudged a traffic light which resulted in a collision with another scooter. Fortunately, the other driver was relatively unharmed (his scooter not so much). He was a nice guy who didn’t make a big deal out of things and really worked with us. Unfortunately, Sabrina was also on the scooter with me. Sabrina and I both hit the street and slid (wearing helmets of course), but Sabrina slid further. Sabrina did not fare as well as I. She is ok, but the slide tore up the top of her left foot and one of the tendons. She also had minor cuts and scrapes on various parts of her body. I escaped with relatively minor injuries: a banged up and swollen left knee and leg and scrapes on my elbows.

Following the crash, I rushed the best I could to check on Sabrina. She was in pain and bleeding on the street (definitely the most terrifying moment of my life), and many people who were nearby were rushing to help. I’ll say this about Taiwanese people, they will always help when someone needs it. One lady in particular, a complete stranger, spoke great English and helped me with the cops (who must have been at the intersection already because they were there right away) and the ambulance drivers. That lady even rode with us to the hospital. Others helped call the ambulance, pick up our stuff, consoled Sabrina, and helped made sure I was alright in the midst of all the chaos.

Sabrina and I were hastily treated on the street and rushed to the hospital because she was bleeding pretty bad. Sabrina was very scared, but intermittently through the whole ordeal she kept asking if I was okay or about her shoes (that were tore up in the crash.) It was pretty cute. The whole time I am in intermittent contact with Hsin-yi letting her know what is going on and scaring the life out of her.

I don’t want to go through hospital details. We spent a good two hours there getting things sorted out with Sabrina, doctors, me, the police, and the other driver. A lot of it is a blur now. Long story short though is that after being examined, Sabrina had torn a tendon and would need surgery to fix it. She was in surgery for a little under an hour and then had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days. She is recovering fine, but has quite a sore foot, as you can imagine. She went back to school just 3 days after the accident, and is fine excpet for the fact that she has to kind of hobble everywhere.

I am lame too. My left leg is pretty much bruised from my thigh to my toes. I was checked out in the hospital too. The x-ray showed nothing was broken so they just bandaged me up and wrapped my knee and sent me along. They said I should ice and rest the leg, but with Sabrina in the hospital that wasn’t really possible. I still went to work the next day. I can still walk, but I have been in constant pain since. Fortunately, it is getting better.

It is events like this that really make you reflect on things. I nearly lost my daughter that day, and it would have been my fault. I felt beyond terrible for a long time after the accident even though everyone was telling me not to be so hard on myself. Even Sabrina said, “It’s okay, Daddy. I forgive you.” As a sort of repayment, I have been diligent in not complaining, not asking for help, going to work, and continuing most of my usual duties around the house even though I am injured and in pain most of the time.

Again, fortunately, everything is fixed and taken care of with no permanent damage done to anyone or anything (we hope). I was lucky to have been surrounded by helpful and kind people through the whole experience (yes, even the police officers). I still feel terrible, but accept responsibility for what happened and stay thankful that things did not turn out any worse when they so easily could have. We have to move on, though. Doting on things you can’t change only leads to needless stress and heartache. So, for the most part, right now just my leg aches, and the weekend is here for me to give it some rest. Thank you all for your concern. We are all alright and recovering well. Sorry, no pictures.