Don't Look Back, But Always Look Over Your Shoulder - IMRAN™
Don't Look Back, But Always Look Over Your Shoulder - IMRAN™
As I had written earlier, multiple traumas over 30 years added up to literally be a pain in the neck. It started with my being T-boned (no pun intended) as a passenger on a motorcycle hit by another motorcycle at 18, just at the start of my Engineering University studies in Lahore. I was riding behind my friend Naeem Safdar on The Mall road in Lahore. It was 2 AM in 1980 with no traffic visible.
We were with another pair of friends on their bike. When those guys unexpectedly did a U-turn just past Pakistan State Guest House, Lahore Naeem quickly turned. But he did so without looking over his shoulder-- even as he said to look behind if anyone was coming.
Too late. Before I could look over or say anything, an unrelated couple of guys going like 80 mph suddenly saw us turn too late to stop. Naeem's right leg was shattered from the impact.
The other driver flew past us between us, scarping his whole face on the road surface from not wearing a helmet. That guy's passenger flew straight into my neck like an NFL player - with neither of us having any head or body protection.
By the grace of God,I did not break anything. However, the sudden total twist of the head and neck into my shoulder started the discs and vertebrae damage. But, hey, to me it was a miracle to have lived so far without breaking anything.
Later several such traumas over the next three decades made things worse. None broke anything, so insurance companies wiggled out of it but the damage and deterioration continued and accelerated.
One such accident was in 2000. I was a passenger in a rental Ford Taurus. I had told the girl driving that car just the previous night that her habit of changing lanes without looking over her shoulder was very dangerous. She made light of it.
On a California freeway she took the exit lane, then suddenly changed her mind, and got back onto the main expressway lane. Yes, again in this case, she did so without looking over her shoulder. Boom! A speeding car behind us in that lane struck us on the left rear passenger side where I was sitting.
We spun across 4 lanes of a California expressway. We ended in a ditch next to the opposite lanes of traffic. We barely avoided being smashed to pieces by an 18-wheeler.
Despite that whiplash injury, nothing was broken so I am gratfeul to this day. Plus, not being crushed by the 18-wheeler made me consider it yet another miracle.
So, I do not look back on my life with any regrets. But I never forget the miracles that kept and keep me alive. I do tell people, don't look back... but always look over your shoulder!
Back then, in that 2000 accident era, most cell phones did not have cameras. That is why I do not have any photos of the shattered Ford Taurus that we all fortunately walked away from.
This photo is from exactly 20 years ago, the fall of 2003. It is from another traumatic experience a few years later -- which I will share the story of later. Thank you for the love and prayers, always.
© 2003-2023 IMRAN™
#IMRAN, #Mercedes, #MercedesBenz, #AMG, #airbags, #accident, #autobiography, #accident, #transportation, #safety, #miracle, #blessed, #grateful, #gratitude, #driving, #drivinglessons, #BadDrivers,
Don't Look Back, But Always Look Over Your Shoulder - IMRAN™
Don't Look Back, But Always Look Over Your Shoulder - IMRAN™
As I had written earlier, multiple traumas over 30 years added up to literally be a pain in the neck. It started with my being T-boned (no pun intended) as a passenger on a motorcycle hit by another motorcycle at 18, just at the start of my Engineering University studies in Lahore. I was riding behind my friend Naeem Safdar on The Mall road in Lahore. It was 2 AM in 1980 with no traffic visible.
We were with another pair of friends on their bike. When those guys unexpectedly did a U-turn just past Pakistan State Guest House, Lahore Naeem quickly turned. But he did so without looking over his shoulder-- even as he said to look behind if anyone was coming.
Too late. Before I could look over or say anything, an unrelated couple of guys going like 80 mph suddenly saw us turn too late to stop. Naeem's right leg was shattered from the impact.
The other driver flew past us between us, scarping his whole face on the road surface from not wearing a helmet. That guy's passenger flew straight into my neck like an NFL player - with neither of us having any head or body protection.
By the grace of God,I did not break anything. However, the sudden total twist of the head and neck into my shoulder started the discs and vertebrae damage. But, hey, to me it was a miracle to have lived so far without breaking anything.
Later several such traumas over the next three decades made things worse. None broke anything, so insurance companies wiggled out of it but the damage and deterioration continued and accelerated.
One such accident was in 2000. I was a passenger in a rental Ford Taurus. I had told the girl driving that car just the previous night that her habit of changing lanes without looking over her shoulder was very dangerous. She made light of it.
On a California freeway she took the exit lane, then suddenly changed her mind, and got back onto the main expressway lane. Yes, again in this case, she did so without looking over her shoulder. Boom! A speeding car behind us in that lane struck us on the left rear passenger side where I was sitting.
We spun across 4 lanes of a California expressway. We ended in a ditch next to the opposite lanes of traffic. We barely avoided being smashed to pieces by an 18-wheeler.
Despite that whiplash injury, nothing was broken so I am gratfeul to this day. Plus, not being crushed by the 18-wheeler made me consider it yet another miracle.
So, I do not look back on my life with any regrets. But I never forget the miracles that kept and keep me alive. I do tell people, don't look back... but always look over your shoulder!
Back then, in that 2000 accident era, most cell phones did not have cameras. That is why I do not have any photos of the shattered Ford Taurus that we all fortunately walked away from.
This photo is from exactly 20 years ago, the fall of 2003. It is from another traumatic experience a few years later -- which I will share the story of later. Thank you for the love and prayers, always.
© 2003-2023 IMRAN™
#IMRAN, #Mercedes, #MercedesBenz, #AMG, #airbags, #accident, #autobiography, #accident, #transportation, #safety, #miracle, #blessed, #grateful, #gratitude, #driving, #drivinglessons, #BadDrivers,