What’s up with Lance? An Update and Thank You

If you don’t follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may not have heard what happened.

I got hit by a truck.

Not a car. No. If I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it right. I got hit by a truck.

Last Friday (Feb 4th), my girlfriend and I were walking home and… well, that’s the last thing I remember. The next thing we know is that we both woke up in the hospital.

My whole face was swollen and I couldn’t open my right eye. I had/have fractures around my eyes and a massive case of road rash on my face and chest. My girlfriend had/has a small skull fracture over her left eye and another small fracture on her pelvis.

I was released on Monday (she was released on Tuesday) and had it not been for an EMT who was there at the scene, we’d still not know any details. No one came by to tell us what happened, no police officers came to talk to us…nothing. It was all a mystery.

Thankfully, an EMT came by and told my girlfriend his side of what happened.

He was visiting his girlfriend in my building. He got up to get a drink of water and heard brakes screeching then a loud bang! He ran to the balcony to see my girlfriend lying in the middle of the road and a truck smashed into several cars.

He ran outside where he saw me lying face first, my head on the curb. He ran to check on us; we were both passed out, he said.

A crowd of at least 25 looky-loo’s gathered to watch. At some point, there was someone else there who was trying to check my pulse and couldn’t find it. He freaked, turned me over and started pounding my chest to revive me; I woke up screaming in pain. That’s actually how I wake up normally.

When I finally woke up in the hospital, I had no idea where I was. After asking about my girlfriend, my second concern was why I wasn’t wearing any underwear. I’d never been in the hospital before so I had no idea you’re not allowed to wear them. I also had no idea that they literally cut off my jeans, favorite new shirt from Christmas and threw away my jacket because there was so much blood on it.

Today is Friday, a week later and I’ve been home for several days. Thankfully, we’re both alive and on the mend. I won’t be fully recovered for a couple of weeks (hopefully sooner) and I still may need some type of surgery but I’m on the tail-end of one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had.

I want to thank my parents, my girlfriends mom (Jackie), friends Natalie, Jeska and Austin. They’ve all made everything so much easier this week. My Uncle Donald and friends Bob, Shannon, Jay and Sugar for visiting me at my worst in the hospital.

I also want to thank everyone who called and all my incredible friends on Facebook and Twitter. Especially on Twitter. On Facebook, I know everyone and seeing their messages was like a warm blanket of comfort. On Twitter, I’ve never met half of the Tweeps who have checked up on me, DM’d me and wished me well. But they we’re all there, concerned about me as if they were part of my family. And they are now.

Lying in the hospital, since I could barely open my eyes, my only entertainment was Facebook and Twitter via my phone. You all kept my spirits up and I can’t thank you enough.

Oh, and the story your mom always tells about wearing clean underwear if you get into an accident? That’s totally true.

~ Lance

Thankfully this clip of Brad Pitt from Meet Joe Black isn’t as violent as what happened to me.