The Day My Life Got Turned Upside Down

August 5 2016

Now this is a story aaall about how my life got flipped-turned upside down. And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there....

A little Fresh Prince never hurt anyone. Okay, moving on.

I have always been an active person. I love being outside and crave adventure. On August 5 I took my lunch break and went to pick up 20 cinder blocks from a local masonry for the intent to create garden boxes in my backyard (telling you this does have a purpose).
Later that day, I drove to Utah Dog Park in Salt Lake City after work to pick up my dog, Nalu, from doggie daycare. That is the last thing I remember from that day, before waking up in the hospital late that night with my brother at my bedside.

My car before, with Nalu peeking out the window.

Apparently a bank robber fleeing the police drove into oncoming traffic and slammed head-on into me at full speed. I woke in the hospital, groggy and confused, while my brother tried to comfort me and explain to me what happened. My neck was in a brace, and I remember feeling quite limp and helpless. Having suffered a concussion, most of that night and the following week was a blur.

My car after the accident.

As the days passed, more of the story unfolded. The extent of my injuries also became known.

The story goes like this:
Two men robbed a US Bank in South Salt Lake. One was the getaway driver, and the other entered the bank with a gun, demanding cash. The tellers handed over money, while also placing trackers in his bag. Police were on the scene soon after, and pursued the robbers by following the trackers. The robbers ditched the getaway car and ran on foot. The driver was apprehended right away, while the gunman had ran to the home of an acquaintance and asked to borrow their car for an emergency. He sped off again, with the police in hot pursuit.

This is where I enter the story, as the one who stopped the bank robber (cheers from the crowd). The gunman slammed into my car, flipping his car and causing mine to spin several times. Because I was still carrying those 20 cinder blocks, my Honda Element was weighed down enough where it didn't flip. Most of the cinder blocks shot out the back window, ending up in pieces all over the highway, but some remained in the car, spinning along with me and my dog.

My injuries were significant, but considering the gravity of the crash, it was incredible that I wasn't harmed more. It could have--and one would think it should have--been so much worse. I was lucky. I came away with a mild concussion, a broken C5 vertebrae in my neck, a broken right scapula, 7 broken ribs, a cracked sternum, a punctured lung, three broken lumbar wings, a sprained ankle, and a broken left big toe, among several bruises and severe abrasions.