Why am I still here?

[Terrible Johnny]

You're here because it didn't kill you. You were injured, but not mortally wounded. Not much of a question or mystery about it. It probably did help though we've come such a long way in medical care, even in just my life.
I wish you luck in luck recovery.

So, I’m a tough hombre. And thanks.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

How do you know about the 18 wheeler running over you, if you blacked out?

Police report from witnesses. Especially the truck driver, which wasn’t at fault.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

Wow! Not many people would ever come back from something like that.....and with no pain!
No wonder they think you had some sort of divine intervention.

If nothing else, you have a heightened sense of appreciation for life, having almost lost yours in what sounds like a nightmare of an accident. Glad to hear that you are recovering well.

I DO have a new appreciation for life, and thank you.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

I am glad you survived your bad accident and hope you will make a full recovery. I think your survival was more down to luck than any intervention on the part of a god.

Thank you for your input. Tough hombre, it is.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

I am very glad that on the scene medic's, and later nurses, doctors, surgeons, a plethora of support staff were able to do their job and put you back together again following your accident and their dedication and work is showing results in your healing...

Nothing to do with god magic, perhaps luck in that your injuries were not worse, simply hitting the ground at slightly different angle could have made the difference between you being here now or not.

Praise medical staff who deserve praise

May your recovery be swift!

I have praised medical staff every day I was at the hospital. And thanks.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

One can choose how one sees such things, but as mentioned by others, the work and care of those who treated you - and possibly saved your life - would be first on my list of those to look for thanks. I have broken many bones too - many of which I knew were broken by the crunch felt rather than any pain - so pain is not inevitable with such injuries, and you obviously did have pain medication.

I had an incident on a motorcycle too - one that nearly ended my life - but I placed any providence in my quick reactions rather than anything else - and some luck in timing. My near-death experience occurred on a fast main road, mostly very empty, where a motorist exited a tunnel on the wrong side of the road. I was travelling too fast and it was but a matter of a few seconds as to my surviving or not, since if the car had not been outside of the tunnel at the time I would surely have gone straight into the front of it. He probably was forced to do what he did since he was overtaking two foolish cyclists riding slowly side-by-side uphill in the tunnel (an avalanche tunnel, so some light). Looking back, I perhaps should have aimed for the cyclists rather than sneaking around the car and avoiding the tunnel wall since I might have had a better chance of surviving even if I might have injured or killed one or more cyclists - it was mainly their fault that the incident occurred after all in my view.

Overall, we could see the hand of the divine at work in many places, but what about all the innocents (especially children) who are killed because they seemingly were in the wrong place at the wrong time? It hardly makes any sense if one looks at it this way - some are killed and some are saved - since this is just our human response in trying to find meaning from coincidence or luck.

Anyway, glad you survived and hope you recover fully in time.

I get what you’re saying; and thank you.

 

[Quagmire]

I like what Einstein said about this sort of thing:

There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Physicist & Nobel Laureate


Me, personally, I think God is in charge of everything.


Here's to a speedy and complete recovery.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

I'm sorry to hear about your accident and wish you a speedy recovery. In response to your questions in the OP...



Causality. It happened because you made some choices. What happened was a result of those choices.

You chose go get on a motorcycle. You chose to drive the motorcycle into it into traffic where someone made a mistake that resulted in a terrible accident.



If you were lucky, you wouldn't have been in an accident to begin with.



The most likely scenario. That and the areas of the body that suffered trauma weren't life ending and you had good doctors.



I don't believe in a god that intervenes in our lives. Everything that happens is a result of choices we make.

If you're looking for someone to thank for being alive, I would thank the doctors that worked on you.

I have thanked all the doctors and nurses involved with my care, and am thankful for them. I just feel something deeper is involved in this. I appreciate your input, even though I DID think about those obvious points already, I just don’t feel satisfied with it. Again, thanks.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

In a way when something good happens and other people insist its a miracle they are attempting to view things in a positive light. I would prefer that they did this through some other means, and its possible that some feel that this is confession of faith. I don't think so, and I don't think its appropriate. It is positive however, and having survived such odds you'd do well to think of your future as a gift. I wouldn't call it a certain gift, and just like anyone your tomorrow is not guaranteed. You could survive this accident only to be killed by a falling meteor. Things happen.

I think that a lot of people have things we say to encourage each other to take advantage of each day. Its like that. When you have an orderly life, you can start to let your efficiency slide and to think that you can put things off. In reality there is no guarantee about when you can finish things or even if, so it makes sense if you can to think of each day as a gift. Sometimes you will hear people say 'Carpe diem'. Its not easy to maintain focus and maximize each day, because you will want to relax.

Thank you for your input.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

I have had many incidents in my life, which have put me in mortal danger, most occurred because I did something crazy. If there is a god it is putting off the day when it will have the 'pleasure' of my company.

I don’t doubt that

 

[Terrible Johnny]

Likewise, another will be killed by some little thing you'd never
think could kill anyone.

True. And thanks.

 

[Milton Platt]

On July 8th, 2019, I was in a bad motorcycle accident and was run over by an 18 wheeler. I wasn’t wearing a helmet, and broke 26 bones. Obviously, I’m alive. But is that considered to be “divine intervention”? Or was I lucky?

To this day, I don’t remember anything from the accident, or even anything from that whole morning prior to. Well, actually, i do remember a very brief moment where I’m holding my arms out in front of me just before hitting the ground, and seeing how fast the concrete was “moving” underneath me, and then grunting just before blacking out. Next thing you know, I’m barely opening my eyes and seeing/hearing my mom crying. Next to her was the CFO of the law firm I work at, my supervisor from the IT department, and a couple of nurses working around me. At that point, I just knew I was having a WEIRD dream, plus my eyes felt so heavy, that I decided to go back to sleep. I wake up again with heavy eyes, and what felt like was only 5 seconds later to a doctor and a team of nurses asking me if I know my name, and if I knew where I was. I remember feeling so tired and out of it, but I told them my name, and said “I’m at a hospital?” The doc said “uh-huh, and do you know why you’re at the hospital?” I said no. She then told me I was in a motorcycle accident. It honestly did not feel right hearing that, so I told her there’s no way. She said “yes, you were, and you were also run over by an 18 wheeler”. I remember giving a very small and painful chuckle, and decided to just go back to sleep so that I could wake up from this “dream”.

I broke several ribs, my pelvis, both hands, my left arm had a chunk of meat and bone missing, both legs and feet, my right leg had bone sticking out, a fractured skull, a bruise at the front of my brain, both lungs punctured, and a ruptured bladder. Both arms and both legs were wrapped with like a partial cast, and I never really felt like I was in pain (possibly from pain meds) but even to this day I have no pain even from my remaining injuries. I surprised everybody later on the next day after my accident by still showing my sense of humor and still being “me”. My family and friends all visited for the next few days, and they all said that I was a miracle, and mentioned divine intervention, and that God is not done with me and that I have a testimony. And I can’t help but think “why me?” Why did all of this happen? Am I alive because I’m lucky? Because I’m one tough hombre? Or did God really keep me alive for a reason?

I am still unable to walk, but I can stand and take small baby steps, my left arm is still healing, and I can use some of my fingers now on my right hand, but I’m making progress and will start physical therapy soon.

Sorry for the “book” but I haven’t really talked about this with anybody, and I figured I’d get opinions from strangers. I definitely was no saint before the accident, but I do have an appreciation for life and all the small things in it now.

Thank you for reading this, and I hope you all have a good day/night.

I see it as being incredibly lucky. but people all over the world are incredibly lucky every day. It would be some really sadistic kind of god that would toss you under an 18 wheeler and have you spend time in a hospital gong through operations, pain, therapy, etc. just to show off.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

Cool story, btw. As I posted in your other post, divine intervention would have been a higher power turning that truck into a bag of marshmallows just before it hit you. However, good to have you on board with such introspective honesty; I believe you'll be able to provide a fresh perspective on many subjects.

Thank you, and I enjoy hearing different opinions and perspectives on anything. I’d be an ******* to think my way of thinking is the “right way”.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

About the same time there were seven motorcyclists killed by a tractor trailer truck in New Hampshire, one survived by laying her bike down, receiving injuries but not fatal. She might be asking herself the same question. But I don't believe that either were the result of divine intervention, that would infer that the others were not within God' grace.
In this case as in yours the helmet may not have made any difference. But my advice is to always use a helmet even though you may be riding in a state that does not require it. When my son was about 19 yrs old he rode to visit a friend in North Carolina, we live in Massachusetts, The ride down was fine but on the way back he was tired, it was late, he took a wrong turn and lost control in Connecticut. 3AM we got that dreaded phone call. The doctor told us that if not for his helmet he would not have survived! Riding 'free' is not worth your life. Three years ago a cousin was killed in NH, a combination of speed and not wearing a helmet. Whether you believe you were saved by diving intervention or by the luck of the draw, you were given a second chance, don't throw it away.

I get what you’re saying, and I appreciate you telling me that. Thank you. And I’m sorry for your loss.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

You may be here because the gods know that you still have plenty of material to output. Your story seems to be one of those things. So there is no need to be sorry for the book, as the universe is interested in you continuing to share your perspective. As of yet, it still sees you as interesting and reflective of meaning

Thank you, for that perspective.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

Welcome to the Forum @Terrible Johnny . Most people don’t have such a dramatic tale to tell upon entry, but I can certainly understand that you now have both more spare time to sit and type, and more questions about what everything is all about.

As is custom here for newbies....
Have some yummy food!

These are Nanaimo Bars. They are all that and then some. Unfortunately, unless you live in the northwestern US or western Canada, you are unlikely to encounter them.

Now. Back to your OP.
Looks like the orthopedic surgeons (medical carpenters) had fun with you. I’m glad your spine stayed intact, and you only had a minor contusion to the brain. “Lucky”.
Especially ‘lucky’ since you say you were NOT wearing a helmet

When you get better, remind your mom to smack you around for that one.
As an agnostic, I recognize that even if there is a Supreme Being, our ability to discern whether you ‘got lucky’ or ‘were saved’ (at least physically) would not be something a mere mortal could tell.
More important is .... what are you going to do now? Your name along with your avatar (presumably a selfie, with your face x-ed out), along with helmet-less motorcycle riding, and your statement that you “definitely was no saint”, all suggest that you perhaps had issues to work through even before the crash.

Either way, I’m glad you survived.
I hope that you recover well and quickly.
And again, welcome to the forum! I hope we see more of your posts in the future.

PS - Do ALL of your physical therapy exercises. Bolting together bones is one thing. Regrowing tissues is entirely a different matter.

I’m still laying in a bed until the doc clears me to do physical therapy, but I can’t wait to “be free”. I’m excited about it, as well. The old selfie of me with my face x-ed out felt appropriate to use, given how I feel now versus how I felt before the accident.

Those treats do look tasty. I will have to check and if those are something Texas carries.

Thank you, very much for the welcoming.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

Consistent with impacts, there is usually massive tissue trauma

If I could made up what I was run over by, I would have said a Tank, but an 18 wheeler will do.

 

[Terrible Johnny]

I like what Einstein said about this sort of thing:

There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.

Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) Physicist & Nobel Laureate


Me, personally, I think God is in charge of everything.


Here's to a speedy and complete recovery.

Thank you for that. I appreciate it. ✌

 

[Terrible Johnny]

I see it as being incredibly lucky. but people all over the world are incredibly lucky every day. It would be some really sadistic kind of god that would toss you under an 18 wheeler and have you spend time in a hospital gong through operations, pain, therapy, etc. just to show off.

I know what you mean, and I appreciate your input.

 

[Deeje]

So @Terrible Johnny what are your thoughts? How do you see the situation where you were spared but others who were nowhere near as impacted as you were in various accidents, succumbed to death? Believer or not.

Where is God in that scenario, do you think?