When I was a kid, I remember my parents always saying, “Be careful or you’ll break your neck!”  Who knew that could actually happen?  As it turns out I didn’t (break my neck), but for a day or so, the doctors thought I’d put a hairline fracture in one of my vertebrae. 

So…here’s the story.  Saturday night I was heading back to my house after dropping Isabel off at her place.  I was driving on the second ring (Santa Cruz is made up of a series of concentric rings around the city), and suddenly I saw an older gentleman crossing in the middle of the street.  He was just looking straight down and wasn’t paying any attention to traffic (this is a major road of four lanes in each direction).  I managed to skid to a stop to avoid hitting him, but the fellow behind me wasn’t paying as much attention, I don’t think.  He slammed into me going at least 70 km/h and knocked me forward into the older guy. 

It was pretty horrible.  The older gentleman must have flown a couple of metres before he landed unconscious on the pavement.  I jumped out of my truck to see if he was okay…fortunately he regained consciousness right away.  But wow…was he mad!  =)  He was pretty drunk and out of it…and he was also pretty convinced I needed to pay him 100 bs (around $15).  I told him I was more concerned that he was okay, and that maybe we needed to get him to a hospital. 

The driver of the other truck (realizing that a lot of this was his fault too, for not paying better attention) was trying to be as helpful as possible.  So he gave the old guy 50 bs and sent him on his way.  I wasn’t very happy with that, so after I exchanged info with the other driver and he left, Isabel (I called and asked her to come help me) and I went searching for the guy I hit.

We found him sitting in front of a 24 hour gas station.  He had a big lump on his forehead were he hit the pavement, and obviously wasn’t feeling very well.  But we couldn’t convince him to come with us to the hospital.  Eventually we asked one of the gas attendants to watch him and call us if he seemed to get any worse.  Then it was off to the police station to file a report.  In the end, the fact that I tried to help the fellow I hit worked very well in my favour (not that I knew that at the time of course…I was just trying to make sure he was okay).

Here in Bolivia, there are two types of accidents.  One is for accidents that only involve other vehicles, and the other is if a pedestrian is involved.  It doesn’t matter what happened, if you hit a pedestrian, you are automatically at fault, and your vehicle is impounded until which time you can secure a lawyer and go to court to sort out what happened.

I didn’t know that.  But about halfway through giving the police officer my report, I could tell that something was wrong.  He started to talk quickly to Isabel and he started to put away the form he was working on and look for another form.  As it turned out, he was saying that we were filing the wrong report and that he needed a form for a pedestrian accident.  Isabel (being the great girlfriend that she is) started talking even faster than him.  She explained again, that I wasn’t even moving when the other vehicle hit me, and that we went back and searched for the fellow that was hit to try to help him.  That we talked to someone, to ask her to watch out for the guy.  

In the end, the police officer agreed that I did all that I could, and he agreed to write up the accident as vehicular and not involving a pedestrian.  On one hand, I do feel bad…if that older gentleman had been anyone other than a street person, I’m sure I’d be in court right now, without my truck.  But on the other hand, I feel like I did everything I could for the fellow.  And fighting my way through the court system is not something I would relish at this point.

Anyhow, after dropping Isabel off at her house once again, as I was heading back to my place when I started getting a weird burning sensation down the back of my neck.  I’d agreed (at the insistence of Isabel) that I’d go to the hospital…but in the morning….I was too tired right then.  But with the weird feeling in my neck, I figured I might as well get it over with.  So I grabbed David to go with me, and we were off to a 24 hour clinic.

Things were fine at first…I wasn’t feeling good for sure, but I figured they’d x-ray me and send me home with some good pain-killers.  When, after my x-rays were finished, they came in and started fitting me out in a ridiculously huge neck brace…well, I started to get more nervous.  As it turned out, there was some kind of line on one of my vertebrae, and they suspected that I’d hairline fractured it. 

Long story short…shorter…I ended up going home with the promise that I’d go to a neurologist the next day.  They sent me home in a bit of a silly neck brace (made out of cardboard and gauze and masking tape) because the good neck brace I was using was the only one they had. 

I was pretty tired on Sunday (I got home at 4:30 AM and then from 6:30 AM on, I had to get up every 30 minutes to get different groups of guys organized for the day (some were writing exams…others had to go to church, etc).  I planned on going to the neurologist on Monday since finding one on Sunday afternoon seemed like a bit of stretch.

But then Isabel and her sister showed up at the house after church that night, and said that they had a friend who was a neurologist and was willing to see me right then.  Off we went…  The doctor saw the same marks that the emergency doctor saw, but said the only way to know for sure was to get some ridiculously expensive x-ray (the one where you put your head in a doughnut and the camera spins around you). 

When I asked him what was going to happen if it turned out not to be fractured, he said I’d just have to wear the neck brace for the next month.   WHAT?!  Then what would happen if it was fractured?  Well, then I’d be checked into the hospital immediately.  That didn’t go over well in my head.  I have a fairly pathological hatred of hospitals (goes back a few years to spending three months in one).

In the end, there was no fracture (just a weird line) and they gave me those good pain-killers I was looking for.  I pretty much hate the neck brace (it’s not one of those nice comfy ones that wrap your neck in a little pillow).  It’s big and annoying and goes right up to my chin so my whole head can’t move. 

All in all, though…things could have been much worse.  The guy could have hit me much harder.  If I’d swerved to avoid the old guy, I’m sure the guy behind me would have ploughed right over him.  So…things to be thankful for.

Some of you have asked if I was driving my new truck.  Happily, no.  It still hasn’t come yet, and for once I’m kind of thankful for Bolivian bureaucracy. 

Thanks for praying everyone.  Once again, your prayers have made a difference.  I’ll be fine, but feel free to pray for a fast recovery and for patience with the guys.  They’re being amazing for sure, but my frustration level is growing and it’s hard not to be grumpy over dumb things that don’t really matter that much.

Anyhow…that’s my story…

Thanks again for praying!

Ken

Oh…but before signing off, let’s just take a moment to summarize the life of my current truck…

I banged into another truck driving it off the lot the day I bought it and put a big dent in the door.

The police impounded it the second day I had it, as I left the auto body shop after fixing said dent.  I had it for 15 minutes.

The rear left tire came off while driving in the mountains.

The police thought it was stolen and impounded it again.  They kept it for a week…did nothing…and charged me $50 for parking it on their lot.

A pig I was hauling tried to escape and put big scratches all over the tailgate.

The front left tire came off while driving in the mountains.

And finally… I got severally rear-ended and, for the first time in my life, hit a pedestrian.

Rest in peace dear Hilux…rest in peace….