Glad to be Alive... Close call...

[USMCBay]

I for one was really touched by your story. I have laid under many of trucks from Rangers to Pete's and wheel chocks is one thing I have neglected too many times. From now on I will not crawl under a truck without them, even for a second.

Glad you made it with minimal injuries seeing as it could have been awful. And that's too nice of a family to leave behind. Hope you have a speedy recovery but don't push it till your 100% again.

Honest to goodness - this post really got to me! Brother if it made a difference for ONE PERSON - It makes my pain okay to know that it may someday save someone else. Wheel chocks are a serious safety step - I make it a point for my mind to be in a constant state of safety. If it "can" happen - it "will" happen is my mindset. And look what happened to me... It CAN happen...
Thank you for sharing this - I will never forget this! I assure you...

 

[rockchucker]

Whoa! Dude. Glad you are still around man. I will never and have never gone under a vehicle without Jack Stands. It just isn't worth it. Once it is up in the air a violent shaking of the Vehicle is done by me before I go under it. Of course the same deal with big Trucks that you don't need to lift to work on them. Wheel Chocks are a must even when working on a flat surface.


Glad you made it out alive, Sir.

 

[USMCBay]

If I was on the way to that with my dept, 90% of the time that is fatal before we get there. God was looking over you. Nice work from local EMS! Good luck with the healing, glad you are still with us.

Wow... Wow... WOW is all I can say. My connection to my EMT's is a pretty strong bond now. They did tell me when they showed up that 1.) they didn't believe that the Victim was the caller as dispatch told them... and 2.) It didn't look good for me knowing what happened and seeing my color and symptoms.

This really hits home with me what you said.

Thank you sir... I mean that! Thank you!

 

[USMCBay]

damn dude you are lucky. just reminds me of how stupid what i did this weekend was. i redid the front brakes on my bronco, both wheels off on stands. my drive has a very slight slope to it. at one point i had no brake fluid in the truck at all, and the e-brake wasnt set. it didnt move, but i realized it afterwards that i could have, no offense meant, ended up like you or worse. and the tires on the bronco are 14.5in wide, so maybe they would spread the load, or just catch more stuff.

Man that gives me the willies just reading your story... often I wonder if I'd been laying this way or that if I would have been able to get the truck off of me... when it stopped in my stomach my thoughts were so extremely clear... I remember thinking how quick I made a fatal mistake and I felt incredibly helpless with no air to call for help and just pinned with a 4+ ton truck sitting on my guts. It's a moment that somewhat haunts me still - but knowing that if it WOULDN'T have stopped - it 100% would have killed me when it rolled over my heart, neck, and head! Man do me a favor and I already know you are... but me and you should promise each other right now - at least 3 levels of safety every time we work under a vehicle. E-Brake WITH chocks and stands... I just will never forget the feeling of "I can't believe I made a mistake that quick and now I'm lying here helpless and dying..." It is 100% avoidable!!!
Thanks brother!!!!

 

[USMCBay]

Wow - best wishes from me and my family - glad to hear you made out the other end. Would be good of you to talk about safety as much as you can now....

So far it has been in our safety meetings all over the US and Internationally. Embarrassingly enough I am on our "Beyond Zero" corporate safety committee... I am also going to put together a "Crush Injury" mini seminar for our company in the near future.

 

[USMCBay]

Damn, I know that feeling when you hear that "pop" I pulled the same damn stunt a couple years ago. Luckily I was able to get out from under neither before the tire got to me. Now I will not go under any car without chocks.

Gives me the shakes just reading your story. Glad you made it out mostly okay.

Man I'm glad to hear you made it out!!!! I really am!!!

 

[USMCBay]

First, I don't know if you're a religious man or not; if not...I suggest you reconsider.
You have a beautiful wife and a beautiful pair of children..congratulations on being around to see how the future turns out, you are a VERY fortunate man. And frankly, we are all fortunate to be able to read your story and remember the same thing or something just as bad could happen to any of us...afterall, we're all similar types of guys....doers.

Thank you Lord for saving this fine man for his family and letting us all learn again the lesson of how precious life is.

EDIT: P.S. "Close call"? Uh...no. Respectfully, no. Close call is when the truck missed you by THIS much. Running you over from head to toe right down the middle including your package AND living to tell of it is downright miraculous.

Hey Dan... Good to hear from you! Yep - It was Gods Grace, Strength, and Miracle working that helped me live...

Thanks buddy!

 

[USMCBay]

Alright, that's it. I am now adding chocking the wheels to my routine before I get under a car. Always relied on e-brake or parking prawl and only chocked when lifting the drive or non e-brake wheels, but now, if I am going under, it will be chocked.

May be good to keep a cell phone within reach too, especially when alone.

Thanks Giraffe - hearing this MAKES MY DAY - MY WEEK - it just makes it all good some how!!!! Thank you for saying this!!!!

 

[USMCBay]

thanks for sharing the story.
I know it's been said many times before but you're one lucky SOB... who would have guessed some MMA classes would help you get out of a submission from a truck.

RIGHT!!!! My brother told me in ICU - "who knows - the Lord may have had you learn all of that stuff for this one day!!"

 

[USMCBay]

Oh, I must have mis-read somewhere. Aren't they what were being used as wheel chocks ?

What a survival story ! And +1 on the glad you're OK wishes.

Ha ha... I think they slowed the roll a bit!!! ha ha... Actually it was the Kickstand that got bent!!!

 

[USMCBay]

Glad you're alive... On a lighter note... you didn't have to search for change for the pay phone to call for help right??? Best oif luck on your full recovery. You have a great looking family who really needs you ....

Ha ha... Ouch - Ribs and Sternum!

 

[USMCBay]

Thank you Lord for saving this fine man for his family and letting us all learn again the lesson of how precious life is.
Amen. and WOW! God must have some big plans for you and your family! Glad to hear it and we all have learned and been reminded of things we should not take for granted; family, our time here and Safety!.
ps. Thanks for your service to our country!

You know... when I woke up in ICU the Nurse said "I don't know what you're supposed to do on this earth - but you haven't done it yet!"

That was really interesting to me coming from a Trauma Nurse! She said when she saw my file she knew it was going to be a loooong night... but I slept all night thanks to Gods Grace and healing!

 

[USMCBay]

I thank the Good Lord that you are safe and all has turned out well. You have a beautiful family that still wants to spend time with you. Thanks for posting so we all are more appreciative of how fragile life is and how special each and every day is.

I need to go home and hug my kids after reading this.

Take time off and really enjoy your Happy Thanksgiving this year.

That's great... I love it!!!!! There are LOTS of hugs in our house these days!!!!

 

[USMCBay]

Re: Really glad you are able to post up.

Really really glad you are still able to post up here. Thanks for taking the time to share your story so we can all learn or be reminded from it.

I made the exact same mistake about 12 years ago. I think I rolled the truck forward to get to the top driveshaft bolts easier, then forgot to re-set the brake or chock the wheels. Took the last bolt out and BAM! Here she comes!

I quickly jammed the driveshaft into the pavement and my truck stopped before hitting me or anything else. (I can easily fit under my 4runner and I was not inline with the wheels.)

What have I learned since then? ALWAYS chock the wheels. I even chocked them last weekend when all I was doin' down there was greasing the driveshafts and welding on a shock mount with all 4 tires still on the ground.

What else have I learned? I have learned that I just can't work fast. I get hurt a lot less when I don't rush. *shrugs* So what if I'm slow.

Bet you are one sore pup. Broken ribs are the worst because there isn't much you can do except tape them up. I remember it hurt to SMILE because you just knew you might LAUGH next! Ow.

Brother - major heeby jeeby's reading your story!!! THAT's WHAT I DID... and I "thought" I set it again...

And yes laughing hurts and I watched "The Women of Saturday Night Live" tribute last night and thought I was going to have another EMS call. Oh man was it funny. I had to fight hard to STOP laughing... especially the "Mom Jeans" commercial. It's probably on YouTube!!!

 

[USMCBay]

OKAY... Sorry about all of the replies - but what you are saying means a lot to me... Every one of them and all of the well wishes sink right in with me.

I appreciate you guys and all of your concern.

Promise me to Chock those wheels and we can all call it a day!!!

Thanks again from my heart to yours... see - I'm all mushy now! (no pun intended ).

 

[Bigpigdave]

Good to hear you are going to be alright!!! I had a pretty serious accident in 2001 where EMS/ Lifeline helped save my life. We are so fortunate to have these services available to us today, 40 years ago it would have been a different story. Make sure to "double" hug your family every chance you get and tell them how much you love them. I'm sure you now realize that life can end in an instant, don't leave anything unsaid or undone. Good luck healing up.
Dave

 

[jamesemery728]

Wow, what a story. God was certainly watching over you on this one. I hope that your posting this story will help to save someone else's life also. You have a beautiful family that needs you to be there for them for a good long time. I hope your story helps us all to be more careful in the future.

 

[blue dog]

Glad you are ok. Here a shot of the interior of my 2001 dodge 2500 4x4 after a big rig ran me off the road in Montana. 5 days in a comma and a 12 hour surgery on my head, this was in 07. I dam near died. Life is different now for me, i sure look at things different and realize that life can change in a millisecond. So get well and go out and do the things you have all ways wanted to do. [ like go race the Baja 1000 in 13 days from now ]

 

[PassnThru]

Dude - sorry to hear it happened but glad to hear it worked out. We're your 'family' too after all and we also want to keep you around

 

[ZRX61]

******** Marines... truck runs over your junk so you walk into the garage to make a phone call...

 

[Tommydogg]

Semper Fi Marine. Glad you made it out! I did something stupid at least once, not as bad, I did not strap a transmission on a ****** jack and it fell about two feet onto my right forearm, it was a C6. The only thing that kept it from pulverizing my arm was that my neon drop light on the floor beside my arm did not fully compress thus protecting my arm. I wound up with a horrible black and blue slightly cut up arm from fingers to elbow and a smashed droplight.

I'm glad you made it!

 

[Tommydogg]

Oh yeah, being that you are a Jarhead, when you drive your truck again, you will probably find that you flatspotted your tires!

 

[USMCBay]

...I'm sure you now realize that life can end in an instant, don't leave anything unsaid or undone. Good luck healing up.
Dave

Dave - what an awesome thing to say! I would have to add that this goes for EVERYONE reading this! Life IS fragile... and you always think its the OTHER GUY who gets killed!!!

Great point brother!!

 

[USMCBay]

Glad you are ok. Here a shot of the interior of my 2001 dodge 2500 4x4 after a big rig ran me off the road in Montana. 5 days in a comma and a 12 hour surgery on my head, this was in 07. I dam near died. Life is different now for me, i sure look at things different and realize that life can change in a millisecond. So get well and go out and do the things you have all ways wanted to do. [ like go race the Baja 1000 in 13 days from now ]

Blue Dog... a friend of mine that went down in an airplane and had an 'out of body' experience wrote me and said "Welcome to the Superman Club". Kinda laughable but glad to be alive after facing death - You Know!!!!

 

[USMCBay]

******** Marines... truck runs over your junk so you walk into the garage to make a phone call...

Bwahh ha... Okay - I think I laughed a snot bubble just now!!!!!

 

[USMCBay]

Oh yeah, being that you are a Jarhead, when you drive your truck again, you will probably find that you flatspotted your tires!

Ha ha... Someone told me if it would have ran over my Jarhead - I'd been just fine!!!! Ha ha... He's a Navy Boilermaker and we always cut at each other... I told him good thing I wasn't in the Navy or it would have killed me!!! Ha ha... Hey no bad recourse guys... I respect all service members!!!! Just gotta give my buddy a hard time back... Ha ha...

 

[blue dog]

Blue Dog... a friend of mine that went down in an airplane and had an 'out of body' experience wrote me and said "Welcome to the Superman Club". Kinda laughable but glad to be alive after facing death - You Know!!!!

Amen brother, amen.
On a side note, if you can take a cummins powered ram rolling over you at 7800 lbs give or take if it is a 4x4, you are one tough SOB.
Semper fi and take it easy while you heal, hug your wife and kids everyday and realize that someone was on your side. We are here at the garagejournal.

 

[cowboyjosh]

"WOW" is the only thing I can think.

Kind of reminds me of a dude I know who was a Navy Seal who hit a tree at a high rate of speed while snowboarding a few years ago in Colorado; he was coughing up blood, everything internal was broken; etc. He proceeded to get up and made it to the base of the mountain with his own power before he collapsed and was in a coma for 5 weeks, before making a full recovery.

Im amazed you made it to the phone with your own power, I bet that journey to the phone seemed like it was 5 miles at the time; and being a proponent of land line phones (I hate that folks are getting rid of land lines for un reliable cell phone carriers) Im glad you had a land line when you needed it most!

 

[MrSnicks]

I'm glad you're okay. Take it easy and recognize the positives in your life. On a side note I think you might have an idea for a new tattoo.

Patrick

 

[Cryptic1911]

Blue Dog... a friend of mine that went down in an airplane and had an 'out of body' experience wrote me and said "Welcome to the Superman Club". Kinda laughable but glad to be alive after facing death - You Know!!!!

LMAO.. ****** situation, but that's goddamn funny

 

[USMCBay]

I'm glad you're okay. Take it easy and recognize the positives in your life. On a side note I think you might have an idea for a new tattoo.

Patrick

Right!! I thought about having Micheline give me permission to plagiarizer their tread pattern...

I was thinking about getting a Silhouette of the Life Flight Helicopter with "Tango 1565" - that was my Name to the Trauma Center from Life Flight!!!

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Hey Dan... Good to hear from you! Yep - It was Gods Grace, Strength, and Miracle working that helped me live...

Thanks buddy!

You're very welcome,

Now that this is over (he's says casually because it wasn't HIS junk that got run over), we can josh you. If you were in the room we'd all be laughing and calling you a knucklehead...once we were sure you were ok.

This is the GOOD side of the internet, guys. Sharing something with "friends we haven't met yet" - that could have happened to any of us, maybe saving a life or at least a terrible injury, appreciating that YOUR family was saved from heartbreak but by sharing it also preventing one of OUR family's the same fate and of course last...having a laugh about it once it's over. SOMETIMES, 'ya gotta love the web.

Here's to 'ya

 

[jtbinvalrico]

Great testimony. God bless.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Wow. I just saw this thread. Very glad to see you made it through that.

I wish there were a clever kind of 'dead man switch' alarm system that could be rigged into a garage. Where you could tap a particular pattern on the floor (and then confirm it) for an alarm call to go out or a bell to ring. It's hard to come up with something that wouldn't be subject to false alarms -- that could also be triggered when you've got one hand free and there's a very heavy object on top of you.

 

[rickycobra]

I'm glad your alive, thanks for posting your story.

 

[robertgreen79]

I can't believe I hadnt seen this thread before. What an amazing story. Thank you for sharing

 

[LEVE]

In a few decades I expect something like this to be said of you, one tough Jarhead:

 

[MikeYC]

Whew... That was a close one!!! Make sure that one goes in your memoirs.

Be safe Brother,


Mikey C

 

[Kevro]

Holy ****! Glad you're okay!

I had decided a few days ago not to bother putting a telephone in my garage, since only politicians call our land line - your story changed my mind! I'm going to install a phone, but keep the ringer turned off.

 

[Tommydogg]

Ha ha... Someone told me if it would have ran over my Jarhead - I'd been just fine!!!! Ha ha... He's a Navy Boilermaker and we always cut at each other... I told him good thing I wasn't in the Navy or it would have killed me!!! Ha ha... Hey no bad recourse guys... I respect all service members!!!! Just gotta give my buddy a hard time back... Ha ha...

Dood I'm a retired Navy Chief, so I can cut with ya too! If a tire rolled over a Chief it would have been flat!

Semper Fi!