So Incredibly Blessed

On Saturday May 29 , Gary and I went out for date night. We were going out for my birthday dinner early because, as usual, Gary would be gone on the first for a staff meeting. We went out to the new restaurant The Firestone and had a nice dinner. We had planned on going to the show afterwards but I was feeling sick, a fever and sore throat, so we decided to head home early. We made a quick stop at FutureShop to check out the new iPad that was released that day and then we headed out of town. Because we were on the very south end of Lethbridge Gary turned left onto Highway #5 instead of driving back and taking Highway #4 out to the Wilson Siding turnoff. I got into the car and settle my seat back a little so I could rest. Next thing I know Gary is honking the horn, I looked up and saw the car in the northbound lane drifting into our lane. Gary tried to slow down and pulled over as far as he could on the shoulder but the other driver suddenly swerved right into us. The sound of cars crashing and airbags going off and tires squealing is deafening. Our car spun around and into the ditch while the other car spun and stayed on the road. After the car stopped moving the interior was full of smoke and Gary and I were both gasping for air. My legs hurt so badly I couldn’t move them for a minute and while all this is going on OnStar is trying to ask us if we need assistance. OnStar told us they had called emergency services and I managed to open the door with the help of a passerby who stopped to help. As I climbed out of the car I saw a lot of vehicles had stopped and almost everyone had a cell phone and was calling 911. I climbed to the top of the ditch while some other people helped Gary climb out of the passenger side of the car. I was helped into a minivan waiting on the side of the road to get me out of the rain and a blanket was wrapped around me because I was shaking. Gary walked up then and I noticed his hand was bleeding. All I could think about was that we couldn’t drive the car home, it was a wierd thought but I figured out later I was going into shock.
I called my dad and tried to tell him we had been in an accident and needed a ride home but I started crying and handed to phone to Gary, he spoke with dad for a minute and then handed me the phone. I asked him what dad said and he looked at me and said “When did I talk to your dad? Where are we?” For a minute I thought he was joking or something but he kept repeating “Where are we? What happened?” The police were there by then and we were in the back of the RCMP car, I told the kid doing a ride along to go get the officer and started getting Gary out of the car. We rushed him over to the ambulance, two were there by now, and the EMT’s strapped Gary to a spine board and snapped a cervical collar on him. We spent the ride to the hospital with Gary asking the same questions over and over and telling the EMT he looked familiar (he is a Seminary teacher from Magrath) it would have been funny if I wasn’t so scared and worried. Dad and Sandy had arrived at the accident scene before we left and they followed us to the hospital. They let me stay with Gary until he was in a room and being looked at, then they told
 me to go and check in so I could be looked at too.
I had made phone calls to Michael and Jenie about our kids and to Garys parents because I knew we would need men to give Gary a blessing. So very quickly Michael and Jenie, Dad and Sandy, Trevor and Nina and Rachael and Tim were all in the waiting room. Mom stayed at home to watch all the kids. People were allowed to come back and see me but until they had checked me out, taken xrays and decided I had seatbelt injuries, some contusions and was a little shocky and released me nobody but medical personal was allowed in with Gary. They kept sending nurses and doctors over to tell me how he was though so I didn’t go completely crazy in that hour.
I finally got to get dressed and go to Garys area, his leg was being bandaged and he still didn’t remember anything. They had given him 3 shots of gravol and he was finally settling down. I got permission from the nurse to have 2 people come back and give him a blessing. I went out to the waiting room and sent my Dad, Garys dad and Michael back to Gary, I couldn’t go back with them because they don’t allow that many people in the treatment areas. I spoke to the rest of the family and filled them all in while I waited. Dad and Michael came out and I got to go back to Gary. They decided to admit him for observation and we finally got a room. Meanwhile Gary kept asking the same questions over and over for 4 hours our conversation went something like this:
Gary “Okay, I can remember now, tell me what happened” Me: story of crash
Gary: “You’re okay?”
Me: “Yes I’m fine, bruised and sore”
Gary “The kids?”
Me “They weren’t with us.”
Gary “The car?”
Me “It’s totaled.”
Gary”I loved that car.”
Repeat…for 4 hours. He interspersed it with random observations but that was pretty much it until he finally fell asleep about 2:30 am, then he woke up at 4:00am and started all over again. He didn’t have any memory of the past 2-3 months, the fact that we had a Suburban and that Rachael had a baby were complete news to him. It terrified me.
We were at the Lethbridge Regional Hospital until Sunday afternoon when Gary was released, still without memory. It is slowly coming back to him now, thank heaven, although he still can’t remember if he got me a birthday present and if he did, where hid it, lol.

The car that hit us:

the driver walked away too, he says he fell asleep at the wheel.