After 16 years of serious 4-wheeling plus 8 years of sand duning I saw way too many morons that had no business in a whatever they were driving.
I was one of those morons.
In one of my first trips to the Glamis sand dunes, I drove my sandrail off the top of a huge bowl.
I flipped end over end 4 times. I was loosely strapped in with no crotch strap.
I stayed conscious. but saw nothing but white for about a minute. During that time, I was mentally trying to quickly assess the damage and injuries.
My immediate concern was fire since I had full tank of gas.
It totaled the buggy.
The impact compression fractured 5 vertebrae. Luckily only a small laceration on my head.
My T-6 (between my should blades) was compressed about 2 inches into an anterior (front) 28 degree wedge.
The other minor factures to 4 other vertebras were not detected by the X-ray back then, 1980, about 8 years before MRI technology was widely used in hospitals.
It would have taken only few ounces of energy to my spine to have the wedge sever my spinal cord... I would have been a quadriplegic.
It was very early in the morning and hardly anyone was out. Two guys came over to me within a few minutes and asked if I wanted a ride to my camp.
I said "No, I think I can walk to my camp.... I was in shock. I walked up the bowl and about 500 yards to my truck.. really stupid idea.
My wife drove me to Brawley Hospital. From there 4 hours by ambulance to Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach CA.
At Hoag one of the best orthopedic surgeons happened to be in the Emergency Trauma Unit.
He said I was extremely lucky, and if I were to choose a vertebra to fracture, the T-6 is an excellent choice.
My recovery was not bad, 2 years of pain with no drugs. I went back to running and working out in the gym. No military presses and limited bench for about 4 years.
After that I was a big advocate for a 5-point harness, By 1982 I had built my 3rd sandrail and was back out on the sand!
Oh crap...sorry I digressed.
Gnarls.
