This is something I never really discuss, I don't think I've mentioned it here and I barely even talk to friends about it, if I've bothered to talk to anyone at all much in the last year.
On February 14th, 2017 my parents, Harry and Jan Vorderbrug, were in an automobile accident. They were T-boned by a pick-up truck at an intersection equipped with a stoplight and a camera. The camera was not recording at the time. The crash resulted in my parent's vehicle rolling over and leaving them both unresponsive at the scene, with Dad trapped upside down pinned by the steering wheel and with his airway blocked because of his position. They both were wearing seatbelts and their airbags deployed as intended. The truck driver emerged from his vehicle with minor injuries from the airbags.
Since the intersection is the border of two different jurisdictions multiple units responded. Both city Fire Departments, the local Police and the county Sheriff. The Police Department, whom shall remain anonymous, took charge of the scene and despite the insistence of the same cities Fire Chief of 35 years and a Deputy with of 30 years experience decided not to do any investigation beyond questioning the pickup driver and some people he had already talked to at the scene. This left Dad holding the bag for being at fault which made it extremely hard to find an attorney to handle the case. He never received a ticket, but the report blamed him for the accident. He nor my Mother have ever remembered the accident.
The truck driver claimed to be going 35mph in a 45mph zone when he hit them. This is what the car looked like. After my friends at the Fire Department removed the door to extract Dad. I forgot to mention that was the station I used to Volunteer at.
After just coming home from night shift, I was asleep at the time. The Chief had a Fireman run 4 blocks to my house to try and wake me because he thought they would have to cut Dad's leg off to get him untrapped and Chief didn't think he'd survive that and wanted me to see him while he was in one piece to say goodbye. That didn't work but the next phone call did which was just "Don't say anything, your parents were in a bad accident, get your ass to the hospital now!"
I took FMLA and Paid leave from my job with FL DOC, who never check in probably 6 months to see if they or I was okay or needed anything. my brother was in the Philippines. I spent most of those first 6 Months all day every day eating fast food and going from room to room in the hospital hoping they would be okay 8 or more hours a day. The rest of the night I spent drinking until my meds kicked in and put me to sleep. Dad had a shattered hip, shattered pelvis, four broken ribs all on his left side and severe brain trauma. Mom had several broken ribs and severe brain trauma. Eventually, the moved mother to rehab so then I had to drive back and forth to see that they both ate and participated in therapy. After dad made it to rehab he developed aspirational pneumonia and sepsis from improper feeding through a peg tube and went back into ICU with a less than 30% chance of survival. My brother had made it back from the Philippines but lives in the U.P. Michigan made it down finally. Before the accident, Dad was 81 and Mother was 76.
I never returned to the DOC, when they finally did reach out it was to see if I was ready to come back to work. Due to stress, my med list has gotten longer, and I probably drink more, also I don't talk to many different people often. I can't talk to anyone about any of this except the Fire Chief who I haven't seen in months. I do odd jobs, write the scripts for Mark Trail and then I spend the middle of the afternoon with Mother and Dad for two or three hours. It makes them happy, but when I leave it leaves me depressed and unmotivated.
Today was Dad's 83rd birthday. The week before the accident (at 81) he was literally busting up a concrete sidewalk with a 10 lbs sledgehammer, today he walks with a walker and still has difficulty (even that took 9 months of hard work). The day before the accident you could have given him a set of plans or blueprints to a house, a bridge, or even a runway with the slightest flaw and he could have told you exactly where you went wrong. Today after fifteen minutes he forgot that they had thrown him a birthday party (that happened on and off since day one). Mom's memory lasts about 30 seconds and she knows about 4 people besides dad, normally she know's I'm her son (although sometimes I'm adopted), sometimes my brother is only a family friend and sometimes he has son status. The only saving grace is that they are together in the same room and that I can go visit them (otherwise mom would go nuts) even though it takes a toll on me. It's like having your Parents and your best friends one day, months of hospital visits, and then having them return to you two three-year-olds that are so excited to see you every day that you just can't say no.
I haven't quite found a way to cope with it yet. I know breaking shit doesn't help, it only leaves you with broken shit. Legal remedies are still possible but a long shot. Oh, Almost forgot... they guy that hit them still has a lawsuit against them for bodily injuries that he still hasn't claimed...
So that is how I spend my time and holidays and birthdays are an extra special kick right in the feels...
There was a GoFundMe page listed under their names, which I haven't bothered to update, because of so many other causes like Cindy's cat needs a make-over for headshots to try an become a star in a commercial and that guy Brad's hamster needs a teak Viking ship so they can give him a proper funeral.