Lucky doesn't cut it.

This has nothing to do with running, but I feel like I have to write about it.

I was driving between Vanderhoof and Prince George on Thursday morning, in my big white work van.  We'd had warmer temperatures for the past couple of days so the roads were fairly clear and I was zipping along at the posted speed limit of 100 km/h.  At one point, I came up behind a big, slow truck, waited for a passing lane, and passed.  The passing lane was slushy and the slush was pulling on the van, so once I tucked back in (right behind another big truck), I decided to just stay there, no matter how slow we were going.  Better be safe than sorry!

The truck was going about 80km/h on flat stretches, so I'm quite sure I was going a little bit slower as I reached the crest of the hill where I hit black ice.  The van I drive is fairly stable when filled with people, but when empty it feels like a tin can.  The back end slid out and I tried to steer into it, I never regained control, but just slid the other way across the highway.

Luckily, there was no oncoming traffic, but there was no way to get control of the van.  The road was like a skating rink, even with studded tires and sandbags in the back to weigh me down.  I went over the steep embankment and saw the trees below.  I don't remember exactly what happened next, but once I was no longer on the road, I felt the van turning over, and ducked and covered my head.  The next thing I remember, it was very, very quiet and I was upside down, hanging into my seat by my seat belt.  There was snow and earth coming in through the windshield and the driver and passenger doors had snow up to the windows.  Everything that was in the back of the van, sandbags, safety equipment, and my overnight bags were in front of me.  Once I got my bearings, I undid my seat belt, managed to turn my body around and was trying to climb out to the back door when a man came to the side door to help me out.  Another man was on his cell phone contacting the police.

The first man helped me get back up the hill to the highway and across the highway to his pick up.  The road really was like a skating rink, even to walk across.  The man let me sit in his pick up and cranked the heat to warm me up.  I was freezing and shaking, but did not have a scratch on me.  At the time, I didn't even feel sore.

Fire and Rescue, the ambulance and RCMP arrived all at once after about 30 minutes.  The paramedic couldn't believe how low my pulse was.  When the RCMP asked to see my license and I explained it was in my running jacket in the van, the paramedic explained that running was the reason why my pulse had gone back to normal so quickly.

I was taken to the hospital and was seen fairly quickly.  I was starting to get soreness in my neck, but the doctor confirmed that was just from the seatbelt and would probably get worse before it got better.  She was right.  She said day 3 would probably be the worst, but I actually feel better today than yesterday.  Perhaps being a runner/healthy person is helping here too?!

A co-worker picked me up from the hospital and I was able to call work and the BF.  We were able to go back to the van in the evening to pick up all of my stuff, but the van is a right off.  Seeing it was shocking.  The roof was dented in in the middle and the widshield was completely smashed in.  If I'd been carrying someone in the passenger seat they would have had serious injuries, if not worse.  It looks something like this, but with the roof going down in the centre instead of up:




source


There are not words for how lucky I feel.  Again, the roads had been clear for the first 45 minutes of my drive.  I was going at least 20km/h below the posted limit.  It wasn't snowing, raining, hailing, or sleeting.  There was just black ice on one hill, and I hit it.  But I literally walked away without a scratch and if I didn't have a cough that sounds like I've smoked 3 packs a day for 50 years, I would be trying to go out for a short run today.