Well tomorrow is August 10th. Last year on that day was my accident. It started out like any normal Sunday. Well normal for that summer anyways. Since I was working shifts at the Taylor Pulp Mill my schedule was a little unusual. I would have gone to bed at 6am just having gotten home from work. Then after waking up in the mid afternoon I would have lazed around for a few hours then packed myself a lunch and hopped on my bike to get to work by 6 pm. The first few hours went by fairly quickly and everyone was looking forward to the upcoming days off as it was our last shift of the tour. After loading the 7 o'clock hours worth of pulp I noticed the rail cars were nearly full and decided I should go prepare the next batch to come into the warehouse. I went down the line of cars removing old seals, unlocking them, and sliding the doors open a crack to make them easier to open with the forklift once inside. When I got to the fourth and final car I did the same little routine I had done a hundred times that summer, removed the seal, unlocked and slid the door a crack. I then went to walk around to the other side of the cars to repeat the pattern on their opposing doors. My path took me right under the door which I had just slid open a few inches. Suddenly I heard the screeching of metal and out of the corner of my eye saw a wall of steel coming down. I tried to sprint out of the way but my efforts brought me two feet short of safety. I was pounded into the ground with the force of 1400 pounds of metal. My hard hat flew from my head and my body instantly went tingly. At first I couldn't breathe, the majority of the weight was on my left hip but my upper body was chest down with a portion of the mass pressing on my back, making it difficult to inhale. I fought for a minute to twist my torso on it's side taking the weight on my shoulder which allowed me to breath a little easier. I took a look at my watch, it was 8 o'clock. I still didn't think that I was in that much danger, my ankle was throbbing and my hip hurt but I thought I would be able to slide out from under the door and walk or at worst crawl my way back to the finishing line office. Maybe I would need to get driven up to the hospital if things was really bad. I began to attempt an awkward side ways push-up, my lower back burned and I couldn't even budge the door. I continued to struggle and fight until I was tired and soaked with sweat. Then I began to panic. I started screaming as loud as I could. However I was in an area not often populated, even less so as it was a night shift, so my cries for help where useless. I continued this routine of struggling to get out and and yelling when I was too tied or in too much pain pain to fight with the mass of steel. Suddenly I heard the sound of tires on gravel. "I'm safe," I thought. I started yelling as loud as I could then louder and louder as I could see the bottom halves of the tires rolling by on the other side of the rail cars. My head was free enough to look down past my feet and under the car to the area where empty rail cars are processed. The man driving the huge loader wouldn't have been able to hear a gun shot two feet from his head over the roar of his diesel motor with his ear plugs in. I looked at my watch, it was 8:15. My arms were shaking and weak from my efforts and I finally gave into to the fact the I couldn't get out on my own. I decided to save my energy for yelling and would let out a cry for help every few seconds. I came up with the brilliant idea of chewing on rocks to distract myself from the pain. The minutes rolled by slowly. countless thoughts went through my mind. "I guess this is going to put a damper on my training program for biking," "I wonder if I'm paralyzed," "I can't die hear." I then came up with one final plan to escape. If I could dig a hole under my body and then pile the rocks under the door to hold it up maybe I could crawl out. This plan lasted about 4 seconds as I made a feeble effort to dig with fingers into gravel packed by years of heavy machinery. My brain began to calculate how long it would be until someone noticed I'm gone. "Well the conveyor that holds the pulp should be full by 8:45, then Jim will wonder why I'm not helping him. He should see my forklift parked by the door that leads out here. I just have to make it till then." I looked at my watch, it was 8:30. Suddenly the adrenaline that had been pounding through my veins disappeared, and I felt extremely tired. "I can just fall asleep," I thought, "then I don't have to worry about the pain, and when I wake up they'll have found me and this will be over. No! Stay awake, you have to keep screaming!" I continued to yell for help but my strength was nearly gone. As more and more things went wrong inside my body I thought, "Nobody is going to find me in time, I am going to die right here." I began to do the only thing I new would bring me peace in a situation like this, I prayed. It's a very simple thing preparing for death, there's no distractions, or questioning. I knew that God was real and that I loved him and there was nothing to fear from death. That prayer probably lasted about 10 seconds, but that was all that was needed. I went back to my yelling. Looking at my watch I saw that it was 8:45. Finally, finally I heard the word that I've heard a million times but has never sounded sweeter, the voice of Jim Farquarhson yelling, "Robert!" My body gave me its last drop of adrenaline and I let out a cry for help. He sprinted over, saw my situation, said "I'll be right back," and ran about 10 steps back towards the mill before realizing he was carrying a radio. He called for help and moments later I was surrounded by a dozen well organized men who lifted the door off me and carefully slid me out from my prison. What happened after that is the same as what happens at most accident scenes. The fire department came and put me in a neck brace then strapped me to a spine board. The ambulance arrived and took to to the hospital.
2 surgeries, 5 units of blood, 2 months in the hospital, 2 more in GF Strong rehabilitation center, 22 ambulance rides, 9 air ambulance flights, and 8 months of physiotherapy later, we arrive at today. I have made it along way in that time, and I owe all of that to God and those who have prayed for me.
At the moment I am able to walk very short distance with crutches and braces or a walker. Thanks to a nerve block in June I am have been given a few months of relief that has extended my sitting time to around 50 minutes. The nerve block didn't do much to relieve my pain when standing so I am only able to do that for about 10 minutes. This is still an incredible miracle as at the beginning they thought I might die, or be paralyzed and need dialysis for life. So where I am at today is miles from where I could have been.
As for the future it's hard to say what will happen. My next appointment to Vancouver is for the 31st of August when I'll have an MRI and CT scan done. The following day I will meet with both the spinal and orthopedic surgeons. This trip will hopefully give them the information needed to come to a decision if or what kind of surgery will help me most.
If anyone is still checking this blog I would like to thank you so much for praying and thinking of me. How far I have come in this year is absolute proof that God is alive. To save you from having to check this unnecessarily I won't be posting anything until I get back from Vancouver in the first week of September. That is unless something significant happens.
Thanks again for continuing to follow my progress.
