On Tuesday, January 6th, my dad was hit by a car while plowing his driveway. Their house is on a street that is known for having many slide-offs during the winter. There are many curves and blind corners and people don't realize how dangerous the road can be in snowy weather. They have already had 6 slide-offs this year. My dad knows that it can be dangerous and so he is very careful when he shovels the driveway. He makes sure there are no cars coming and if there are he goes back down the driveway until it's clear. This time he saw that there were no cars and so he started back down the driveway. Just as he turned around, a 17 year old kid came around the corner and lost control. He slid across the driveway and hit Dad. My Mom heard pounding on the garage door, but thought it was Dad stomping the snow off his boots. Suddenly, the kid bursts through the door yelling, "Call 911, I just hit someone!" Mom called 911 and went outside to find Dad lying in the snow with their neighbor (who has had many cars sliding into his yard and fence) sitting with him. The police, ambulance and fire truck closed the road when they arrived so that they could help Dad. What's really interesting about this...at least to me...is that just at that time I was on my way to their house. I came to the intersection to find it blocked. I asked the police officer if he knew where the accident was and if I could get to my Dad's house. He said he couldn't tell and so I should drive around the block and try to get there from another direction. As I started down the road, I decided to call Mom to find out what was going on. When I called, I asked what was going on and very calmly Mom said, "Oh nothing we are just sitting in the ambulance."
When they got to the Emergency Room they ran all kinds of tests to make sure that there wasn't any internal bleeding or injury. Dad broke his left leg below the knee. They say 3 places, I say it was pretty much shattered. He had to have surgery and put some metal plates, screws and pins in his leg and ankle. The surgery took about 3 hours and was alot more complicated than anticipated. The surgeon said that he had problems getting all of the pieces of bone to go where they were supposed to. After surgery, Dad stayed in the hospital for 2 nights. It's hard to see my dad in this situation. He is such an active person and he has never has any health problems. He really not happy because the doctor said that he won't be able to golf until May or June. I am so grateful that the only thing broken was Dad's leg. So much more could have happened and everytime I think about it I realize how precious my family is to me. I know that he will have challenges is front of him as he starts physical therapy, but I also know that he will come thru this with flying colors and be better than he was before!
