On January 23 a close friend of mine Tiny (that’s his nickname) who I regularly play pool with, had to swerve out of his lane to avoid hitting a driver who crossed onto his side of the road. He hit a telephone pole and now he has to purchase two wheelchairs.
I went to visit him Sunday (March 5th). He can’t walk. Though he is getting some feeling back to his lower body him and his family, have been told it will be a “marathon, not a sprint” and it may take up to two years for him to be walking well again (if he is able to 
walk).
I’m praying he gets better. Though I know from my professional life in the safety and health field just how devastating an accident can be it still hits you in a more personal way when it happens to someone you know well and is a long-time friend.
TIny will be in rehab for about five more weeks. Besides purchasing the two wheelchairs (he needs a backup wheelchair in case his powered one isn’t working.)His insurance company will pay for most of the first one’s cost. He’ll also has to have another bathroom built on the first floor in his home, passageways need to be widened, he had to retire from his profession and he almost died from an infection two weeks ago, etc. etc. etc.
This would be an extremely long blog if I listed all the difficulty and disruption Tiny’s injury has caused to his “normal” life. We’ll never know why the other driver swerved into Tiny’s lane and it doesn’t matter at this point. However, what happened to Tiny has been a reinforcement for me in remembering how important our work is as safety and health professionals and more proof that you’ve got to pay attention when driving!
I hope I can write another blog soon saying I beat Tiny at pool.
