The Crash
Everything can change, in the blink of an eye
Monday, May 23, 2022
Big Sur, Ca.
10:00 AM — On my way to work, I stopped by Fernwood Resort and dropped off a dozen purple roses to my best friend, Cara.
11:00 AM – 7:00 PM — I worked at Nepenthe. Leaving, I walked down to the parking lot with a co-worker and friend, doing a cartwheel before getting into a 1999 Porsche Boxter convertible (5-speed, manual).
About twenty minutes later—three miles from home—rounding a corner on the Pacific Coast Highway, about a quarter mile south of Bixby Bridge, I clipped a small curb on the passenger side, slid sideways, hit a big dirt burm, and flipped the car. It bounced off the top and landed on the tires.
Without losing consciousness, though unaware of the severity of the situation, I turned the radio off, took the keys out of the ignition, put my legs out of the car (thinking I just baged them and that's why they were numb) pulled myself up by the door, and my head was laying on my shoulder- my ear touching my clavicle.
Just then, two guys came running up— they looked panicked. "Go get David" I said, calmly...
Within 15 minutes, David and a friend were there with me- and for almost four hours David held my head through the passenger window, trying to remain calm as the paramedics figured out how to remove me- with my obviously (visibly) broken neck- from the vehicle.
My Injury
I underwent six and a half hours of surgery to reattach my vertebrae...
I woke up in the ICU to find David there...
I had also shattered all the bones on the left side of my face...