Verizon literally saved my life.

[travla]

On a cold January day in 2008, I was on my way to work  from KY. to IL. and running late due to icy roads. To access my job site, I had to drive down a stretch called 3 mile road as it is 3 miles from the main highway to the job site. Just about half a mile from the job which is located in a National Forest area, may small truck hit a patch of black ice causing me to lose control of the vehicle and after a quick but violent fight with the wheel, my truck ran down a small ravine and slammed into a tree instantly breaking my neck and paralyzing me with a severe spinal cord injury. Upon making impact with the tree on the passenger side, my body was thrown from the drivers seat, through the long gear shift of my truck causing it to break, and finally into the passenger side seat. The momentum of the impact caused my head to shatter the passenger side window. I assume that is when my neck snapped. As I am a former Marine, and have had several job related courses in first aid and trauma situations, I immediately began assessing my situation. I did not attempt to move my head, I could move both arms, I checked for bleeding, a little but not gushing, I checked my chest, no feeling, my stomach, nothing, my legs, no feeling, try to move the feet, no response. The story gets fuzzy from here. It was below 30 because there was snow and ice and around 8:15 in the morning. As I was running late, all traffic from the night shift was already gone, I was the last one in for the day shift and no more cars would pass until at least 3:00. Wow, I remained conscious and calm and wondered if I would freeze to death or go into shock and die first. Suddenly I thought, try your phone. I knew this would be futile because even though Verizon where the only phones that got service in the forest, I was not yet on top of the hill, I was in a valley, no way was I going to get a signal. What else did I have to do? Luckily, I had left my Verizon LG flip in my vest pocket, which I never do.

 Otherwise it would have been on the seat and thrown out of reach upon impact. I automatically dialed my wife and without much thought said," Honey, I slid into a ditch, I am ok, call and tell them that I will be late."  I do not know why is all I can tell you. I hung up and called my Supervisor and said,"Rod, I am down 3 mile road somewhere, I am pretty messed up." I do not know how long I spoke to him and I do not remember being in a great deal of pain. Perhaps the cold helped. He said that he was coming to find me. I ended the call, closed it and threw the phone out of the window, there was nobody else that I cared to speak to at the moment. I lit a smoke and hit twice, out the window. I do not remember anything that occurred for roughly the next 3 to 4 weeks. Transport, trauma care, halos, visits, all a blank. Three years later and disabled, but alive, I do know that there is no way, any other phone would have allowed me to make those two calls because anytime a coworker needed to make a personal call, they used my Verizon.  This is my," more bars in more places" story. "Can you hear me now?"  Thank you.