Upon impact with the 40 ton semi truck, I saw the flagman's reflective clothes inches from the front bumper. I looked to the right, heard a crash, saw the semi truck front wheel rip the passenger side of the truck away and was then knocked unconscious. Judging by the distance the semi dragged my truck, the amount of fluids leaking out of the semi truck and other things I noticed at the scene, I believe I was unconscious for about two minutes. I've had concussions before, not something you want to make a habit of, I knew I had one. Concussions are weird, you can function mostly normally but everything seems a little "distant". I knew everything that was going on, adrenaline from nearly being killed was pumping. When the adrenaline wore off, the pain set in.
In the weeks following the accident, I could barely walk and could only stand for a few minutes. I could not sleep more than two hours at a time. I had headaches from the concussion suffered during the accident. My left knee and arm had damage that took years to partially go away. My hips felt like they were "dislocated" and felt like they would "pop out" at times. I can still feel this years later, as well as pain in my left arm. My shoulder is damaged and I have pain in my elbow and wrist. Since I had no money, I never got any medical treatment. It appears I was smashed against the drivers side door when the semi truck hit me. My left arm, shoulder and hip were crushed by 40 tons traveling fifty miles per hour. I have not had a single complete night's sleep since the accident. I can only sleep for a couple hours before the pain in my left side makes me wake up and wait until the pain subsides before I can lay back down and try to sleep. I have never been able to afford any medical treatment for injuries suffered as a result of the accident. A pair of prescription glasses and my hearing aids, that I can't hear without, were also lost.
Both my insurance company,
Progressive, and the truck driver's insurance company,
Starr Insurance, refused to pay for the hearing aids lost when the semi truck ripped open the side of the truck and scattered my hearing aids along the dark highway. I could not work, because without hearing aids, I can't hear.
I asked
Progressive for email correspondence regarding the accident because I could not hear telephone conversations, they refused. During several phone calls with
Progressive representatives, when I told them I was hearing impaired, I could hear them turn the volume down to make it more difficult to hear.
Losing my hearing aids was very tough. Unexpectedly becoming homeless and deaf in a split second was a shock. Along with the physical injuries, the isolation from not being able to communicate at a time when it was critical to be able to do so, was crushing. To be punished so severely just for stopping for a stop sign was, and is, very hard for me to come to terms with. Without the hearing aids, there was no chance to get a job to try and regain a "normal" life. I was unable to have a conversation with another person.
The
Veterans Administration provides my hearing aids, but I only get one pair every five years. Before I could plead my case for a new pair of expensive hearing aids, the
VA, along with most of the rest of America, was effectively shut down by the Coronavirus Pandemic. As I gradually became hard of hearing, I began to learn how to read people's lips to augment my failing hearing. During the COVID 19 pandemic, people wore face masks, no more lip reading and even more pronounced isolation.
I was unable to get a replacement pair of hearing aids for more than two years following the accident.