Our very own Batman

Death3D · Post by **Death3D** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:25 pm

Hey guys, here's a PM Batman shared with me on how post-accident events are evolving lately:

QUOTE Things are getting slowly better.

My wife came home Mar 19 fromthe rehab hospital, after weeks in intensive care, months of difficult rehab, 9 surgeries, much pain and a few "test runs" at visiting home on day passes on weekends. She is now in out-patient rehab and walking with assistance from a walker and lots of pain meds.

Out-patient rehab will continue for months on a and she faces a long and grueling recovery. Pain will be a constant companion. She must regain strength in her legs and develop as much mobility and flexibility as her many injuries will permit. The end result is not yet assured, but her progress has been steady.

On the other hand, perhaps my ordeal is just beginning. Aside from now having to answer to my wife again on a daily basis, I had surgery on my injured shoulder back on Valentine's Day (I'm a hopeless romantic) and I face likely future surgery to repair damaged ligaments in my left hand that have not healed. I am undergoing out-patient physical therapy (on his shoulder) but I am back to work nearly on a full-time basis.

My daughters continue to progress very well. My oldest rejoined the JV basketball team in January with a specially made faceguard, but without any other difficulty. My youngest returned to school in January and her fractured hip has healed nicely. She also had a Doctor's appointment on March 19th and was cleared to play sports and cheerlead, quite a recovery from a compound fracture of the hip. Needless to say, she was a very happy young lady, especially when she explained to the Doctor about being a 'flier' in cheerleading. Both of my daughters have been strong, resilient and responsible young women through this whole ordeal.

On the legal front, an indictment against the other driver for vehicular homicide (for the death of her passenger) and driving while intoxicated has been issued by the County District Attorney. An initial appearance in court had been scheduled for Wednesday, Mar 19, but given doctor appointments for my wife and daughter and my wife's release from the rehab hospital, the hearing was postponed until April 11th. The Police Report indicates that the 19 year old driver was intoxicated when she crossed the center line and two lanes of oncoming traffic on a four lane highway and struck the our vehicle vehicle head on.

I am now dealing with the financial impact of this horrific accident. My wife exhausted all her available leave from her job and is now on unpaid leave. We must now pay all of our own health insurance premiums, nearly $1,500 per month at a time when we've lost my wife's income. Her ability to return to work is dependent on the progress of her rehab, but by any measure is still months away and by no means a certainty.

There will ultimately be some recovery from insurance but the family must compete against the estate of the dead passenger for the inadequate amounts of the driver's auto policy, and medical claims will absorb most of any recovery. The sad truth is that auto policies rarely provide sufficient coverage for such catastrophic injuries to multiple people in the same accident and any monetary recovery is months or even years in the future.

Feel free to share or post this, as I don't have a ton of spare time right now to post the boards.[/quote]

TL;DR version:
QUOTE That being said -- we are all glad to be alive and able to be with one another. While the finances will be difficult, that is nothing compared to what we have already been through.[/quote]

Didn't know where to post this, thought about Off-topic, but didn't feel like it would get the respect it deserved.

Let's give him a supportive shout-out, whaddaya'll say?

Post by **Papsmear** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 3:42 pm

Glad to here your family survived although not in the best of shape at least all of your loved ones are alive.
I will assume the other drive is looking at substantial jail time but that doesn't help with the costs inflicted upon you.
This really does suck for you and your family and when all is said and done lawyers will probably get half of any legal settlement that is entitled to you.

Dark_Stalion · Post by **Dark_Stalion** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 4:12 pm

Hoping with all my heart for the best,

Sakuda

cowtown · Post by **cowtown** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:44 pm

Man thats horrible, glad everyone is alive and mending.
I hope for the best for all involved.

Cadillac · Post by **Cadillac** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:57 pm

Come back soon dude. We miss you.

Edit: Can't you guys sue for medical bills and stuff? If the accident was the other drivers fault ...

Post by **FreeBeer** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 6:03 pm

Keep on healin'!

batman · Post by **batman** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:43 pm

Thanks for the good thoughts folks.

It is amazing how fast your life can change. As for lawsuits and such -- yeah -- we can sue, but when you have an accident of this nature, there just is not enough $$ to cover everything. the other driver was on her Dad's insurance. They had 100K/300K coverage. That means that there is $100,000 per person with a total cap of $300,000 per event.

To put that into perspective, my wifes bill for the first night was more than $250,000. Her bill alone right now is more than $2.5 million. Health insurance covers much of that, but the sad truth is that we are going to have a huge financial hit.

And that is not the most challenging part. My wife having full use of her legs and feet is the most important thing right now. All of this from a 19 year old who drank and then drove.

I am fortunate in the legal sense, as I have two very close friends who are attorneys who are handling this (one is the godfather to my two daughters). Both of them have told me that there is really no way to be made whole financially from this kind of accident when the whole family is involved.

I used to hear stories on the news about similar incidents and did not think much about them. Now I know better.

Dangeruss · Post by **Dangeruss** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:09 pm

best of luck to you and your family hope you find a way to make ends meet

Xason · Post by **Xason** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:07 pm

My prayers are with you and your family. God speed

shibbyx1 · Post by **shibbyx1** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:26 am

To think it was only 2 days ago when a drink-draving accident was on the news. Glad to know your ok even though i don't know you.

Hope you and your family fully recover from this and you won't be in too much debt.

It's quite sad to see how bad drink-driving has become