Showing posts with label car accidents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label car accidents. Show all posts

Monday, 16 October 2017

I know I am not the only one worried about car seats for older kids...


Be Safe car seat
Thumbs up for a new car seat - BeSafe iZi Up X3 #CarseatFullstop
It sometimes feels like nobody cares about car seats when kids grow older! We have had to deal with Little Miss as well, whose whole peer group seems to go without car seats and happily sits in front with their parents!

We have had to deal with Little Miss being bullied about using a car seat, and this year I have had to insist again each time when other kids ride with us that they strap in. I always tell them that I don't want to be the one that tells their parents they flew past us through the window because they were not strapped in! They have to strap in before I drive off!
CarseatFullstop logo

I have been following Mandy-Lee Miller's CarseatFullstop campaign, and it makes me even more aware of how vulnerable our children are when cars collide. The statistics are scary!

Thursday, 1 October 2015

She got the sling! It turns out you really need your left arm!


The Student gave us a big fright with the accident two weeks ago!
She was discharged after two days in hospital and recuperated for a week at home.

She is back at university since Sunday, and coping very nicely with one arm.

She has made the following adjustments:

- Buying most of her food. It is very difficult to prepare food and wash dishes afterwards.
- We bought dry shampoo to make her hair last a bit longer.
- We bought pants that she can pull on, without zips and belts.
- We could not find a cover for the arm. She is using a plastic bag with an elastic.
- Friends have to help with washing her clothes.
- She has to ask for help from other students.
- She had to cancel her holiday work that's coming up.
- She has to use a mouse with her laptop since it is very difficult cutting and pasting and adding punctuation.
- She is seeing a campus counselor about the nightmares she gets after the accident! She is very jumpy in the traffic!
-She cannot ride on her newly bought bicycle just yet!


That left arm is sorely missed, but she copes!
I am proud that she takes it in her stride!

What would you miss doing if you were left with only one arm?

Monday, 21 September 2015

A weekend from hell that made us feel very grateful!


The lamp pole in question

We got a call near midnight on Thursday night. The Student was in an accident, and she was still sitting in the car waiting for the ambulance. They were driving on an unknown dark corner of Potch, and there was a turn in the road and the lamp pole jumped in front of them! The car went on it's side before it landed on the wheels again. Unfortunately it was on my daughter's side of the car!

She told us that she knew immediately her arm is broken when she saw it behind her and had to bring it forward...

It was hectic! As a parent you want to jump in the car and race to the scene. But she is a one and half hours away! Luckily we kept talking to her and the friend who was with her in the accident. They kept us in the loop while getting into an ambulance until they were admitted to hospital.

My default mode is going into scold mode before I am able to process it: "What are you doing out so late?" And "Why don't you use the maps on your phone when you know you are prone to get lost?" (She and the friend have lost their way before...)
But if is only for the first few seconds of processing this information...
We were worried and could not sleep!

We got in the car at 6 am on Friday because we thought she would be operated on already at 8 am! Little Miss had to tag along because we did not know if we would be able to fetch her the afternoon. Just as well, because we had to wait until 6 pm for the operation and she only came out of the operating theater after 8 pm on Friday night!

The bones and muscles in the elbow had to be reattached and she has 8 screws and 2 plates in her left elbow!

We could go and fetch her yesterday and she is recuperating at home for the week!


There is so much we are grateful for:

- Except for the arm, both the students are fine! The car is written off!

- The seat belts and airbags saved their lives! There are huge glass pieces sticking into the air bags. They have minimal scratches!

- Medical Aid made everything so much easier. The ambulance took her to a private hospital where she got great care! I did not have to worry about paying exorbitant fees! Everything was covered!

- Student friends allowed us to stay over in their flat for the Friday night! That helped immensely after we left the hospital at ten on Friday night. We stayed until we were sure she was ok.

- Student friends brought her clothes and gifts and visited The Student during the course of the weekend!

- A nice old lady in the same room in hospital who took care of The Student while we could not be around!

- The personnel and staff at Medi-Clinic in Potchefstroom did a great job! Dr Hattingh needs a special mention! It seems he knows what he is doing! He also came to talk to us and her on several occasions and kept us informed. He is also very happy with the operation and believes she will regain the use of her arm!

- It's the left arm that's affected!

- This week The Student also does not have classes and she can stay at home!


Now we have an Iron Woman in our midst!


Do anyone know where we can buy a cover for an arm in plaster?
Apparently Dischem does not stock it anymore and I have phoned one pharmacy at a hospital who also do not have it in stock.

Thursday, 23 August 2012

When a daughter of 19 gets ripped away...


I have heard the saddest news ever...
That news that every parent dreads to hear, and never ever wants to hear.

A young girl of 19 who was on her way from university got killed in a car accident on Tuesday. It is the daughter of the niece of a friend.

The news twisted my stomach in knots, because she is the same age as my daughter.
She is also a first-year at the same university my daughter goes to!
And she died on the death-trap of a road going to Potchefstroom.

That road was one of the main reasons I first told my daughter that she could not even consider going to that university...

I worry each time she gets a lift coming home, or going back. The one and half hour drive keeps me checking my BBM until she is safe!

Somebody said yesterday that I should keep watch over my children. As if we can keep our children safe from harm in everything they do...


Dear Daughter, I hope you stay safe in everything you do! Even if you sometimes decide to stay out late, or get up to some mischief! (I love that you are enjoying your life!)
But please come home to us!


Peace to Vanessa and her family!
RIP Melissa!


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