It is not widely known outside my friends and family and my home NASA region that I was involved in a wreck in March, which resulted in being transported to the hospital, and then a weeklong stay.
The abridged version of the story is that I lost the back end of the car in a fast turn, slid off track sideways and caught something, which flipped the car a time or two — not entirely sure — and it came to rest upside down. I remained conscious throughout the whole event and when it stopped, I shut off the engine, and waited for the EMTs, who were on the scene fast. I wiggled my fingers, toes, hands and feet. So far, so good.
With a cage, a race seat and harnesses, I would have loaded the car and drove myself home. But I had not yet put them in my TT5 car. That was going to be a summer project. What I had was a roll bar and a factory seat and harness. They did an admirable job, and I am glad I had them.
When the medics said they were going to transport me, I realized I was pretty banged up. Once the adrenaline subsided, the pain from broken ribs flared hard. As soon as they strapped me down in the ambulance, they started a ketamine IV.
I don’t know how anyone can use that drug recreationally. It’s like an exponential dose of nitrous oxide mixed with bad dreams, bed spins and an acrid taste in your mouth. It’s awful. I spent a couple of days in the ICU, and a few more in the hospital with five broken ribs, six spinal compression fractures and a punctured spleen, but I was up and walking three days after the crash.
When I got out of the hospital, I went to acute rehab for another five days, and then I went home to recover. Three and a half months in neck and back braces, physical therapy, the whole bit. It was as horrendous as you can imagine, but throughout the whole process, we had the resources to deal with it.
Starting at the track, NASA keeps advanced life support ambulances on site to deal with emergencies like this. I have heard of other track day organizations that only keep basic life support ambulances on site, and still others that don’t have ambulances on site at all. They call 911 if there is an incident. I can’t even fathom that.
As you might imagine, it pays to have good health insurance, and our plan covered a lot of the costs, but it didn’t cover everything, which is where NASA’s secondary medical insurance coverage was such a blessing. There are a lot of track day organizations and racing sanctioning bodies to choose from these days, so it’s probably worth investigating the kinds of coverage they offer, if anything at all.
A member benefit we don’t talk about much, this insurance is supplementary to any personal health insurance coverage that the participant might have. It is designed to help cover costs that aren’t paid by the participant’s primary insurance in the event of an incident during a NASA-sanctioned event, but it also will act as primary coverage in the absence of it. Where our coverage left off, the NASA insurance kicked in and we were covered.
To make this perfectly clear, this is a benefit all NASA members receive when we sign up for an event.
Look, insurance is not sexy and no one enjoys paying for it, but given the serious nature of the sport we participate in, when it is needed, it is critical. I was so glad NASA management took it upon themselves not only to make supplementary insurance part of a NASA membership, but also to keep those advanced life support ambulances on site.
The looks on peoples’ faces as I was going through this whole ordeal were telling, and with my whole heart, I am sorry to have put them through it. To the doctors and EMTs and nurses who got me through this, I am forever grateful. To my brothers and sisters in Time Trial that day, I apologize for bringing out the red flags so early in the session. My bad.
To everyone, from my family and friends to my NASA family, thank you for looking after me, visiting, emailing, calling, messaging, lifting heavy things for me, moving cars and trucks, walking my dogs, and checking in to ask how I’m doing.
The good news is I am on the mend and feeling pretty good, all things considered. I look forward to seeing my NASA family at the track again soon.
