| The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . | |
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+1002liberty k_enn TJ Roll-Cage momstoy Mudslinger XterraXtian Orangecrush JeeperX Green Bay TJ 14 posters |
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Green Bay TJ
Posts : 251 Join date : 2012-07-09 Age : 63 Location : Bel Air, MD
| Subject: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Sun Sep 23, 2012 6:02 pm | |
| Or . . . How I almost killed my family on 22 Sep 2012 So we're heading up to RC Saturday afternoon for a Sunday guided ride. We're heading northbound I83 about 15 miles north of the MD line. I'm not going to go into the details, but I end up rolling the jeep next to the median divider 5 or 6 times. Billy and I were up front, wearing our belts, Mary was in the back not wearing hers. The trooper later told me she had a "soft" ejection. As the jeep rolled along the jersey wall between the northbound and southbound lanes Mary came out of the jeep. After what seemed like an eternity the jeep finally came to a stop, Billy and I were hanging upside down in our seats. There was an army of good Samaritans, including an ER doctor, who stopped and rendered aid until EMS arrived. They cut Billy and I out of our belts and Billy crawled out and walked over to Mary. I've never had a worse feeling than hanging upside down in the jeep I was driving and seeing my wife lying in the road 20 feet away, her head covered in blood and thinking I'd killed her, and not knowing how bad my son was hurt. I hope none of you ever have to go through something like that. First photo in the link below shows our jeep after the accident. http://www.abc27.com/story/19613129/83-north-shut-downExtent of injuries: Billy was in the front passenger seat with his seat/should belt on. He received a burn on his cheek from the air bag. He also has a diagonal body bruise from the should belt and is tender in the stomach area from the lap belt. CT scan revealed no internal injuries, but he is a little sore today as expected. Mary has some head trauma and hurt her shoulder, had to get 3 stitches in her head and was taken to the trauma unit at York Hospital and spent the night for observation. She has some aches and pains today, got the worst of it being ejected, and I think is feeling the effects of a concussion (some nausea and dizzyness). The discharge nurse at the hospital told us this could be expected and should clear up in the next couple weeks. I had a 1-2" laceration on my forehead, someone applied pressure with a towel until EMS arrived. I also had a couple good knots on the front and side of my head, and some road rash on my shin and knee. Since I had a head trama, was off to the trama unit, and overnight for observation. No one in the other vehicle was hurt, I was told only minor vehicle damage. Brutus - the dog - was also ejected and covered in ethylene glycol, and ended up with a limp. He's currently at the emergency Vet in York, bloodwork is clear for the ethylene glycol he was licking off, but he broke his femur and hip socket, and should be getting surgery tomorrow. Reagarding the seatbelt issue, I think this might have been one of those very rare instances where not wearing a seatbelt saved a life. From the picture I've seen of the accident scene, I think the rear seat of the wrangler came out and if Mary had been wearing her seatbelt I think she would have been killed; same for Billy if he had ridden in the back - he always wears his seatbelt. If I ever buy another Jeep Wrangler, first thing I'm going to do is through away the rear seat. I'm aware of a post from a FB page Chris shared where someone died after being ejected from a jeep. I'm not an advocate of not wearing seatbelts; the fact that Mary survived was nothing short of a miricle. I think the picture in the link above shows the rear seat lying on the ground beneath the spare tire. Over the past day lots of people told me how lucky I was. I don't think it was luck - no one deserves to be that lucky. I really believe it was divine intervention, God reaching down his hand to shield us. A minute or so before the accidnet happened, I recall thinking of a line in the Casting Crowns song "My Own Worse Enemy" that goes: "Lord Jesus rescue me." When we were released from the trauma unit, we visited Billy in the ER and my bed was wheeled next to his to keep him company until his aunt arrived. I told him when he grows up if anyone ever tells him there is no God, all he needs to do is remember 22 Sep 2012, and he will always know there is a God. God was merciful to us yesterday. If you can't be grateful to God, who can you be grateful to? | |
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JeeperX Admin
Posts : 1147 Join date : 2008-07-01 Age : 54 Location : Forest Hill MD
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:30 pm | |
| Holy hoooie! I am so glad to hear that you are ok!!! I am sorry you lost your Jeep but all things considered that in minor. Thank you God for looking out for our brother Jeff and his family. | |
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Orangecrush
Posts : 183 Join date : 2012-07-06
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:34 pm | |
| Jeff, we are so thankful to God that you, Mary, and Billy are Ok. God truly had his hand upon you looking at that picture. I got chills looking at your picture. We of course are praying for you guys....we love you and please let us know if you guys need anything. | |
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XterraXtian Admin
Posts : 2316 Join date : 2008-07-01 Age : 52 Location : Forest Hill, MD
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:41 pm | |
| Jeff, it took me so long to read this...through tears...to get to the end. I am sure I speak for EVERYONE that we are so happy that you, Mary and Billy are alive. This is so scary and I'm sorry for the feelings you encountered during all of it. I cannot imagine what it was like to feel trapped and see Mary where she was. Remembering God's gift will help in the healing of the mental injuries...and time (and lots of Tylenol) will heal the physical.
I still cannot imagine how lucky we ALL are that this turned out the way it did. I am going to remember this to remind me to let those I care about know everyday how much I love them. And that includes you and your family. We love you and are glad you're okay. | |
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Mudslinger Admin
Posts : 519 Join date : 2008-10-26
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Sun Sep 23, 2012 9:52 pm | |
| Just like everyone else...I am so thankful that all of you are Ok. I understand that helpless feeling...looking at your family going through something like that. Several years ago, before we got the jeep, I had a Harley. My wife and I were on 851 in PA and going through a really sharp turn where there was some loose gravel and the bike started to slide. As I started to get the bike under control there was a bad dip in the road which jammed my handlebars and front wheel. It caused samantha to fly over me, over the handle bars and bounce onto the pavement. I went down with the bike and slid for quite a few feet. Luckily, samantha bounced into a yard (instead of hitting the tree) and I came to a stop below her (luckily on the same side of the road). I remember feeling so helpless watching her go off the bike and not being able to do anything. Of course, our accident was not anything near what you guys experienced... I can only imagine what you all are going through.
God bless and please let us know if you need anything... | |
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momstoy
Posts : 2 Join date : 2012-05-10
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Sun Sep 23, 2012 10:32 pm | |
| We thank our God that he had his hand upon you all. We are Dennis' Mom and Dad, and we met you at Mountain Christian Church on connecting Sunday at the Alpha/Omega table. We are so sorry this has happened to you. We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we do know WHO holds tomorrow. We will continue to keep you and your family in our prayers.
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Green Bay TJ
Posts : 251 Join date : 2012-07-09 Age : 63 Location : Bel Air, MD
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:52 am | |
| Thank you all for your support. I'm really beating myself up over this, thinking about what might have been. I know that's not healthy, I guess everyone has forgiven me, except for me. That last one will take a little time. Mary and Brutus were last minute additions to our trip. I really believe God placed each one of us in the right seat in my jeep. Today will be a little rough - I'll be calling the salvage yard and probably be going back up 83 to get my stuff out of the jeep and retrieve the plates. | |
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Roll-Cage
Posts : 209 Join date : 2011-03-26
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:09 am | |
| wow...one hell of a story, i'm glad to hear of all the Good Samaritans that stopped to help you out right away. I've worked some vehicle rollovers at speed with my volunteer activities in the past few years, and any wreck like that where everyone lives and is not severely injured requires a lot of luck... or a guiding hand (shush OrangeCrush i know what you're thinking! i'm not admitting anything except my having superstitions right now) | |
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TJ
Posts : 290 Join date : 2008-07-23 Location : NJ
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Mon Sep 24, 2012 8:30 am | |
| I am so glad you all survived what looks like a horrific accident.
With the roll, etc, it might have been worse in a sedan w/o a roll bar, less frame strength, etc. Its one of those things where there are so many potential variables, you can never really know for sure...but having a body on frame rig might have helped more than being in a unibody, etc.
It might be time for a Jeep JK Unlimited, with a real backseat, some family sized cargo space, etc....to upgrade over the TJ and the "throw-away back seat", etc.
The fact that you SURVIVED the accident is a testament in of itself...probably structurally and spiritually.
God would not want to you to give up what you love, and accidents are just that, accidents. You should therefore look at how you can get back in the saddle, and not let fear grip you and defeat you.
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k_enn
Posts : 464 Join date : 2008-07-02
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Mon Sep 24, 2012 10:13 am | |
| Praise to God that you all survived a crash like that. His angels must surely have been watching over you.
Take care, and espacially keep an eye on Mary. My wife had head trauma, and I know how that can affect a person. Head trauma can be tricky, and the full extent of an injury may not be readily apparent. Also, it can take a very long time for the effects to go away. Take good care of her -- I am sure you will.
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02liberty
Posts : 78 Join date : 2010-07-24 Age : 50 Location : Frackville, Pa
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Mon Sep 24, 2012 6:45 pm | |
| WOW Glad everyone is OK.. We will keep you guys in our thoughts and prayers . | |
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JeepGurl
Posts : 294 Join date : 2010-01-25 Age : 44 Location : Abingdon, MD
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:07 pm | |
| Oh my! Glad to hear everyone is ok. Thoughts and prayers to you and your family! | |
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Green Bay TJ
Posts : 251 Join date : 2012-07-09 Age : 63 Location : Bel Air, MD
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Tue Sep 25, 2012 11:23 am | |
| I have the best friends in the world, you're all awesome. So yesterday I went up to the salvage yard to get my stuff out of the jeep. Was a little strange heading up 83 again, but you can either crawl into a shell and live in fear, or you get back into the saddle and live life abundantly. I know which way God wants me to go on this. Mangled wreck of a jeep, roll cage held up for when it was needed. I think we'll all be heading up to York again tonight to get Brutus out of the vet hospital if he's ready to come home - he had surgery yesterday, had a broken hip and a broken femur. Yes, very expensive, but when we were talking about this the other night and making the decision (obviously other choice would be to put him down), my son Billy told us "There are a lot of people out there who won't pay to get their dogs help, but family is family and you got to take care of family. And we got to take care of Brutus, he's our family." Plus we had to have Rex put down this summer, it would be too much for us to lose two dogs in three months. I think I'll be looking for a used Cherokee. My first jeep was a 1993 Cherokee sport, I should be able to get a Cherokee with 120-160K miles for not all that much. | |
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ih8pepl73
Posts : 205 Join date : 2012-07-31 Age : 50 Location : Bel Air
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:03 pm | |
| Just read this story. Wow is all I can say. So glad you're all ok - for the most part. I get sacred about this stuff everytime I have my family in the Jeep. Scares me to death sometimes. I wish I could afford a really good roll-cage to help but even that won't solve everything. I'd rather be ejected than any of my family! Thank God that you are all recovering well. My prayers go out to you guys!!!
Last edited by ih8pepl73 on Wed Sep 26, 2012 8:18 pm; edited 1 time in total | |
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Notacon
Posts : 71 Join date : 2012-08-20 Location : San Tan Valley, AZ
| Subject: Re: The demise of the Green Bay TJ . . . Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:11 pm | |
| Absolutely stunning event, very glad to hear that you will all make a full recovery. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, intricate and resilient, yet also very fragile beings. May it cause you to cherish each other, the breath of life and He who gives it to you. Expect that He has a plan to use this experience He's given you. Can't imagine what it was like, thankful you were not alone. | |
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forrest
Posts : 59 Join date : 2011-11-01 Age : 40 Location : essex, md
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