Everything I knew as health was taken away from me in the blink of an eye. The last thing I remembered was shifting into second gear. As I felt a set of hands go under my head, shoulders, upper and lower back, buttocks, thighs, knees, and feet, I heard someone say, "Lift on three". I was lifted up and put on something cold and hard. I thought to myself, "Why were so many people lifting me so carefully?" I opened my eyes and everything was white. I knew I was in an operating room. I knew this wasn't good. I told them my name and address and asked what had happened and what was wrong with me. The Doctor started telling me just what was broken and torn and that he had just finished operating on me to basically screw and plate all my bones together. He said he would worry about all the muscles, tendons and nerves later. Twenty minutes later he was still talking about all my injuries. I asked him if I was going to live. He told me he didn't think there were any internal injuries and that he thought I would live. Having heard enough, I told him I would deal with this when I woke up. So I shut my eyes and went to sleep.

When I awoke I found out my main injuries were to my right arm and shoulder. My right arm was severed at the elbow and my shoulder was so badly crushed that the radial head (the ball and socket) was broken in half. My left shoulder was also crushed but not as badly. The crushed discs in my neck and broken legs didn't even seem to be important to them. Most of the muscular (padded) areas and skin was ground from my entire body. Even my finger and toenails were all ground off. But these also were not given much attention because the time was ticking to replace my torn off arm. We only had three days, and then the nerves would die. If that happened, the arm would have to come off. The reality of this hit me hard. All I could do was cry and pray.

It all started the night before when my friend, Roger, and I innocently drank a few beers in a bar in eastern Colorado. Next to us sat a man who was interested in the motorcycles we rode and he questioned us as to how fast they were. He kept it up for a couple of hours while we had a few beers. As he continued to taunt me, the chip on my shoulder grew. I wasn't drunk. I'd only had a few beers, but it was enough to alter my good judgement. I made a decision that I'd regret the rest of my life. I agreed to race him for the quarter mile. He assured me the road went on for at least a mile, so off we raced. When he returned to the bar alone, Roger asked him where I was. He laughed and said, "I guess he didn't know the road ended in a couple of blocks"!

When Roger found me I had tumbled six hundred feet down a dirt driveway, bounced along the side of a parked car, slid up a twenty foot lawn through a hedge row and hit a brick house hard enough to knock the dishes off of the wall. Roger took me to two nearby hospitals who told him they could try to help but they would probably do more damage than good. Finally, one Doctor at the third hospital sent me to a pioneer in microsurgery in Colorado Springs, CO. I awoke there while being removed from the operating table after the first of four operations in three days to save my arm. Three months later when I left the hospital, my arm was reattached (first successful reattachment of its type) and was working slightly. I've been rehabilitating my self ever since.

That was on September 6, 1980. I've always heard the saying; "it's a smart man whom can learn from other's mistakes". Please try to learn from mine. Let me bear the pain so you don't have to. Don't let this happen to you. Believe me, living in constant excruciating pain is almost worse than dyeing. I know! I DID FOR ALMOST SIX YEARS AFTER MY ACCIDENT. Keep in mind that even after a few beers; your judgement will be impaired. The next time you drive your car, motorcycle, boat, airplane, or any vehicle, DON'T DRINK! Because like me, everything you know today as health could be taken away in the blink of an eye.

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David Belcher, the author of this article, is now the lead automotive mechanic for the Postal Garage and is a recovering alcoholic for the last nineteen years. He built and owns an AC Cobra replica and has only used Diamond Luster Wax on its show winning quality paint. He recommends you order Diamond Luster Wax for your car.