Five years ago today, on August 5, 1997, a tractor-trailer driver who was of questionable sobriety merged into the lane I was in, put my car into a  180 degree skid, and then he proceeded to continue to merge, changing lanes on top of me, which put me under the trailer, facing backward and under the rear axle.  The truck driver later testified that he didn't know he had hit me, and he applied the brakes because he couldn't keep his speed.  The reason he couldn't keep speed is because he was dragging me--he actually dragged me about 200 feet before he stopped.  The axle came within six inches of decapitating me.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon when this happened.  There were lots of people who saw the wreck, and they immediately stopped and called for help.  Nobody came to my assistance because they thought that nobody could live through the wreck they had just seen.  I don't remember everything, but I do remember screaming for help.  I wasn't in severe pain, but there was considerable pressure on my legs.

Yes, this is the car I was driving!

Looking around me, there was a brake drum immediately to my left which restricted my movement.  The roof of my car was literally in my face.   I even had to keep my head turned to the side because there wasn't enough room to face forward.  The retaining wall between the freeways was literally where my passenger seat had been.  One of my wheelcovers had landed in the seat.  The steering wheel had me pinned into the car, and I couldn't move at all.

I had my cellphone with me, and I gave it to a woman and told her to call my job and tell them I'd be "late" (I was on the way to work).  I vaguely remember asking someone if they thought my car was "totaled."  I was apparently in shock!

When the paramedics arrived, they started an IV and put these cold-pack things on me to keep me cool (it was about 103 degrees outside, and hotter under that truck!)  The fire department arrived and immediately went to work to get me out.  It became apparent to them, however, that it wasn't going to be an easy thing to do!

This is where I was trapped.

I ended up being under that truck for about four hours.  Getting me out involved a crane from a nearby construction site to lift the truck, but it wasn't that simple... the metal was so twisted, they had to cut my car away from the truck as it lifted.  Once they lifted the truck, they dragged my car out from under it, and then they covered me with a blanket, and cut the roof off of my car, and the steering wheel, too.  They then had five men lift me out of my car, and strapped me to a backboard.

I went home that night, but not before they literally x-rayed my entire body!  I got to watch myself on the news before I went home.  There were three 'choppers' overhead, and several news crews on the ground, too.  My family was called, and came to get me.

Tomorrow, I will tell you a bit about the aftermath of the accident and how it has literally changed my life.