My sister was in an accident much like yours, back in 2001, although she was more badly injured. She lost control of her car on the highway one day on her way to work. (We think she had a tire blowout.) Skidded off the road, rolled 360 degrees, and came to a rest in a ditch. She was wearing her seat belt and the airbag deployed.
My sister climbed out of the car because in her adrenaline and pain-charged haze, she was convinced she'd need to flag down someone to help her. In fact, this happened on a major highway during morning rush hour; there were probably calls being placed to 911 before she'd even come to a complete stop. Several people pulled over and came running down the embankment, shouting at her not to try to move. One of them had a blanket in his car, which he wrapped her in, and then they stayed with her until the ambulance arrived with a neck brace and a back board. Which was a really good thing, because her neck was broken in two places, C2 and C7, and she wound up needing both fusion surgery and a halo brace. None of the nerves were damaged, though, so after a lengthy recovery she was able to go back to her normal life.
Thinking about her accident makes me profoundly grateful for seat belts but also for those people who stopped. They didn't even need particularly specialized skills; "treat for shock" is one of those things I learned in Girl Scouts (and have used myself to help friends and strangers on various occasions). I have no idea who they were; apparently the guy with the blankets was a construction worker.
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My sister climbed out of the car because in her adrenaline and pain-charged haze, she was convinced she'd need to flag down someone to help her. In fact, this happened on a major highway during morning rush hour; there were probably calls being placed to 911 before she'd even come to a complete stop. Several people pulled over and came running down the embankment, shouting at her not to try to move. One of them had a blanket in his car, which he wrapped her in, and then they stayed with her until the ambulance arrived with a neck brace and a back board. Which was a really good thing, because her neck was broken in two places, C2 and C7, and she wound up needing both fusion surgery and a halo brace. None of the nerves were damaged, though, so after a lengthy recovery she was able to go back to her normal life.
Thinking about her accident makes me profoundly grateful for seat belts but also for those people who stopped. They didn't even need particularly specialized skills; "treat for shock" is one of those things I learned in Girl Scouts (and have used myself to help friends and strangers on various occasions). I have no idea who they were; apparently the guy with the blankets was a construction worker.