It’s been two weeks since a deer collided with my car and set off an unbelievable chain of events that left my car totaled, upside down in a ditch, but me and my dogs miraculously unharmed. In other words, Two Weeks AD (after deer).

This is a follow up post with more images and explanation. If you haven’t read the original post, you should skim it here before proceeding: https://www.melodicview.com/the-1st-of-july/.

The day after the accident, the soreness really set in and I discovered that the majority of my injuries were along the line the seatbelt created across my chest and lap. Additionally, the insides of both knees and calves sustained multiple bruises from the steering wheel column which are still sore and swollen two weeks later. I walked with a limp for 3-4 days since my right knee wasn’t fully weight bearing during the normal bending process required to walk. So, I kept it mostly straight and figure out a little slide and shuffle until I got my rhythm down.

Hazen and Otis were in the front seat, inside their fleece Dog Pocket but Otis wound up in the back seat. The force of the accident caused strong flat magnets to fly off of my car and one of my contacts to fall out of my eye. One of my 10 pound weights flew toward my head during the fray but luckily lodged between the seat and the door, stopping just 3 inches short of my head. The scissor jack from the tire change kit secured inside the back wall of the car came loose and ended up behind the driver’s seat.  Gas was leaking out since we were upside down and some of the contents of the car were unsalvageable due to the gas fumes. The car is now 2 feet longer than when I purchased it. Despite all of this, the airbags did not deploy.

While I escaped with very few minor injuries, I do have a mild amount of PTSD – the worst was 3 nights later while Russell was driving us in the RV and my mind procured the image of a deer on the side of the road which filled me with sheer terror. I screamed and blinked only to discover there was no actual deer in sight.

After saying our goodbyes to the car and removing all of my personal effects, we took a trip back to the scene of the accident to pick up my bike. (We were unable to take the kayak since it wouldn’t fit in either the RV or trailer and we now don’t have anything with a roof rack so it is still in Wisconsin until we are able to ship it somewhere else!)

To get an idea of just how far the car traveled, we took the following photos:

1. Russell is standing at the drainage ditch/driveway that I hit that vaulted the car into the air and I am standing where the car first came back down to the ground. The car traveled about 60 feet while air-born before it first hit the ground on it’s side.

2. I am standing where the car finally came to rest and Russell is standing where I first hit the deer and veered off the road, about 300 feet total.

After his mad-dash from the RV to the car, Russell managed to open the passenger door which allowed us an escape route.  For the first week after the accident, Russell said he could see the accident happening in front of him every time he closed his eyes.

I knew I wanted a picture in front of the car with my retired license plate. I asked Russell whether I should smile for this photo because it almost seemed a bit crass or like I was making light of the situation somehow. He replied, “You’re alive. You should smile.” So I did.

To view the full gallery of images taken at the scene of the accident and the day after of the damage to the car, you can click here: https://gallery.melodicview.com/accidentphotos/.

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