Monday, November 17, 2008

And then we got hit by a drunk driver....

Last Thursday (the 13th as it happens), is a day that will live in infamy.

We had spent the evening looking after Krys' nephew. We looked at toys, we talked about animals and what they say (by the way elephants apparently say "neigh," though you'd like to know), and we snuggled. Had a wonderful time. Krys' sister is raising a very cute and well adjusted kid.

We were heading toward I-15 on 45th in Murray. I was in the back seat with Matt because he was fussy and needed to go to sleep. We stopped at a light. The light had just turned green and Krys was watching traffic in front of us. Suddenly, there was a crash.

The drunk driver hit us at an estimated 55 mph. The impact crushed most of the trunk, shattered the back window of the car, and buckled the frame. We'd had a mesh sun shade (like this one) in the rear window and it caught the glass that would have landed on Matthew.

As soon as the cars were stopped, I got Matt unbuckled and got him out of the car. (He was in a Graco Safeseat.) He was screaming and I knew that if he could be calm enough, he needed to nurse. A CNA who had seen the cars and stopped, let me sit in her backseat with Matt. He didn't want to nurse, but he did sit quietly with me while we warmed up.

I was able to watch the goings-on from the CNA's car. The police officers arrived and pretty quickly started giving the drunk driver a field sobriety test. It hadn't occurred to me until then that he might be drunk. He had seemed out of it to me, but I was too concerned about Matt to pay much attention to anyone other than to check that they didn't have major injuries. Sure enough, the kid admitted to having had at least 5 shots in the last hour and later, the officers found a half empty bottle of Jim Bean in the front seat.

As of now: Mostly we seem pretty good. Matt is just fine. Krys has some mid and lower back pain. I have whiplash (no headrests in the back seat) and shoulder pain along with headaches.

We haven't decided on whether or not we're going to pursue litigation.

1 comment:

Mommara said...

I am reading this for the first time. Oh my gosh, I am so glad you guys are ok. Glad you are pursuing more also.