The importance of seat belts and safely securing your dogs!!!

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

We had an accident on the way home from working a border collie rescue event in upstate NY.

We are all fine!

An f@#$%& cut us off - more really just started coming into our lane at 65mph - and when

trying to avoid obliterating him from the planet (because truck and camper

together are almost 50 feet long!), we swerved; the camper fishtailed; and we all

went for a hell of a ride including being spun around by the camper, flipping

over and landing on the passengers side.

Thank heavens for 2 things - Brian and I were wearing seat belts and the dogs

were crated!!

OK 3 things - the sunroof was open because that's how we got out.

We both got ourselves out, checked in with each other, and then Brian ran to the back to get Bz & Brady and I

worked on getting Lyn out. Her crate was behind Brian's seat - the side we

landed on - and while she was fine in it, getting her out was a trick.

Eventually I just bent the back wall of her crate forward so she could jump out.

Ok 4 things - we have tons of leashes in our car and the dogs all had collars

on.

The worst possible thing would have been that after all that, the dogs had somehow gotten out of

the car and been running loose along the interstate in the middle of the chaos. (

We went to the ER because Brian had bumped his head and felt like there was

something in his eyes. The bump wasn't serious and they flushed his eyes to get

the dirt out (thankfully no glass) and that was ok too.

We both have serious abrasions on our "outside" arms - near as I can figure that

was the window/road as we rolled over. Nothing stitch worthy though, just feels

like the worst rug burn ever.

The emergency people were there almost instantly - before I even managed to get

my seatbelt unhooked and climb out. They were awesome about the dogs and the

EMT even recommended we go to U Mass Medical because they were the closest (we

were just outside of Worcester) and are usually ok about dogs in the ER.

So we all loaded up into the ambulance. Brady immediately tried to wedge

himself under the gurney and hide. Lyn smushed herself up against me and panted

like crazy. Bz curled up on the platform under the gurney and went to sleep!

(seriously - NOTHING phases this dog!)

Now the ER was a sight! We come traipsing in with 3 border collies through a

unit full of people (beds in the hall everywhere) with bloody shirts and Brian

on a gurney. Can you say hubbub?? Lots of oooohhhhing and aaaahhhhing and

people asking what kind of dogs they were and putting out their hands to touch

them.

And can I just say my dogs are THE BEST! They handled being tossed around in

their crates, sitting on the side of the road with strange people, lights,

sirens... riding in an ambulance and walking into an ER like it was just another

part of their day!

They gave us the once over, cleaned us up and got the dogs water (not kidding!)

We called Brian's brother who lives fairly close by - because miraculously, while our stuff was strewn

across the highway, both our phones were found and working - and they came and

got us and took us home (LOVE THEM)

Somehow the rescue people also managed to find my purse - road rashed but with

contents intact - Brian's wallet, and my folder full of work stuff (ugh-that

they could have lost) Oh - gotta mention it was a WDW purse. More on that later...

We went to the salvage yard today and pardon my french but HOLY SHIT!

It looks 100x worse in the daylight. Truck somehow rolled completely and was

damaged on all sides while the camper was only on its side. No idea how that

could have happened as they were still connected when we landed. One guess is

the truck actually flipped to drivers side and hit (roof on my corner was really

bashed in) then the camper whipped it back around the other way as it flipped over.

Tough to recall the actual events, but it definitely seemed like we "rolled"

The truck is demolished - nothing there to save. Still amazed that the pups

were unscathed. Bz's crate roof was bent - that was the side that we landed on.

Windshield, all windows on the passengers side and the back gate window were

blown out.

Not even a tiny bit of doubt in my mind what the outcome would have been had

they not been crated.

I think the fact they were all lying down sleeping was a blessing too as they

probably just got bounced around a bit and weren't in positions to break

anything.

Camper is very likely 100% loss. Didn't look too bad from the outside at first

- the one side sustained the bulk of the damage - the other side looked almost

perfect. But further inspection and opening it up tells another tale. The

inside was trashed - stuff flew everywhere and almost anything breakable broke.

Weirdly enough - not a single window on the camper itself broke! Even on the

side it landed on where there are 2 full glass doors and 2 windows in the slide

portion. Even inside - the glass french doors to the bedroom were intact as was

the giant glass window in the front of the camper.

Brian's bar miraculously survived (hah!), although ripped off the wall. All 3

crates anchored in the camper seem to be intact and we'll try and retrieve them

tomorrow. Although one had the added bonus of the toilet on it!

Yep, it not only snapped off it's footing, but shot out of the (closed) bathroom

door and landed on top of one of the crates. Surprisingly not as messy as you'd

think as the valve remained closed. (yuk)

Wanna hear the funny/weird part? Of all the mugs we had - every single one broke EXCEPT our Disney ones! (are you sensing a theme? read on...)

Oh and Jen - the Snarky sign survived intact!! :)

We had it perched in the front window and it just flew across behind a chair.

Rescue workers managed to retrieve 99% of our stuff! I think the only thing we

care even a little about that's missing is Brian's glasses, and he already has a

new pair coming on Thursday.

No idea how they pulled this off, as the trail in the road looked like a HOUSE

full of stuff blew up. Mind you, all of that stuff was just from the car (have I mentioned we spend a lot of time in our car??).

We even recovered phone chargers, Brian's missing sneaker, a hat and even a tote bag full of fleece supplies for leashes I've been making!

The tote bag itself looks like it was dragged a mile down the road, but as far

as I can tell every bit and bag of fleece was retrieved - even my thread spool! (um... it was a WDW tote... just sayin)

Best part of all - every single dog toy in the car/camper was retrieved and

unharmed... including the freakin' squeaky rubber chicken.

Oh and speaking of chicken... we had a freezer full of 40 lbs of it for the dogs was

still full - and still frozen!

We need to go back and get the rest of the stuff tomorrow - we packed the car as

full as we could but there was a LOT of stuff in there!

We've already started the insurance claim and are crossing our fingers that it

all goes smoothly.

No idea if they caught the f@#$%^ yet. Still waiting to hear back from the

police. They asked us at the scene if he'd stopped and we had no idea. I'm

seriously doubting it. But there were a LOT of witnesses, so hopefully someone

caught a license plate.

There was a cop behind us when it happened - in fact we both saw the blue lights

just before we rolled. He came up first and said he'd seen the guy cut us off.

Right now we don't know if he was on his way elsewhere and the idiot was moving

to get out of his way, or if maybe that was the guy he was after in the first

place. :-/

At this point neither of us cares, except that of course s/he should be held

accountable for his/her actions. The biggest advantage is that if they catch

the person, it greatly reduces our insurance deductible.

We're still sore, just rewrapped all our busted up elbows (one a piece) and

picking bits of glass out of our hair, but other than that, we'll be just fine.

And my amazing dogs are perfect... in more ways than one! If you didn't know

what happened, you could never tell by seeing them today.

Well... Bz did snuggle especially close in bed last night. :heart:

One thing that made me smile in all this chaos was that every person in the

salvage yard came by as we picked through things and asked if the dogs were ok.

:)

So to repeat again - we are all ok! Brian and I are sore, and probably will be

for a few days, but the dogs are bouncing around today like it's just

another day. Truly a miracle!!

I know it goes without saying, but please - WEAR YOUR SEAT BELTS, and please,

PLEASE properly restrain your dogs in your vehicles!!

So many people at the scene last night (some who'd stopped after watching it all

unfold) said they were amazed we all walked away from this.

I have NO doubt in my mind that without seatbelts/crates, I would not be writing

this to you now sitting next to Brian on the couch, watching Brady, Bz and Lyn

whine at me because they haven't had dinner yet.

hug your pups... and each other

~Monique

[Lou... 3,118]

Wow, that's the most I can come up with.

So, so, so, glad that everyone is OK.

[SCTigerCock 171]

I am SO happy yall are alright. :heart: humans and pups. :heart:

Thanks for the lesson about restraints. On the last trip with Savannah, she got too wild and we crated her on the way home. We did have to hit the breaks hard once, and it was good she was crated. I love having her up front with me, BUT she and we are safer with her crated.

And I hope they find the piece of @#$% and throw his gently caressing ass in jail! :popo: :siren:

[stefa70 205]

Wow Monique! I'm happy to hear everyone made it out safely. Scary!!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

Omigosh, that is so scary and horrible. I am so glad that y'all are all ok.

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Thanks so much, everyone!

Gotta say this is the single, scariest thing I've experienced.

First thing I did when the dust settled was ask Brian if he was ok. He said yes and I yelled "get out and get the dogs!"

I was still basically hanging from my seatbelt at the time. I managed to get a leg up to loosen the tension so I could unhook, then I followed Brian out the sunroof.

Rescue people kept coming over to ask me if I was ok - I just kept flashing my bloody elbow at them and telling them I had one more dog to get out.

When I finally got Lyn out and we made it to the grass with Brian, Brady and Bz, all Brady kept doing was jumping on me and licking my face.

Brian actually hesitated when they asked him about going to the hospital... because he was worried about the dogs. :heart:

Pics of the wreckage HERE.

[SCTigerCock 171]

Holy @#$%!

:achmed:

[BradyBzLyn...Mo 2,023]

Holy @#$%!

:achmed:

Pretty sure I said that 37 times last night... and another 112 times today.

Weird coincidence...

Friend of mine works at a hospital here in NH. Today she asked one of the docs how his weekend was. He said fine, except they were driving back from Syracuse to Nashua and came upon a ton of traffic outside of Worcester. There was a horrible wreck with a truck and camper on their side - looked REALLY bad!

Um... yeah... it was.

He was amazed we walked away too.

[bigdisneydaddy 9]

Glad to hear all of you are okay.

I think the truck will buff out with a little work

[OrangeBlossomMama 4]

Holy moly! What an experience (but not necessarily a good one) and glad to know you lived to tell about it! You have inspired me to crate my dog when we travel (usually she sits on my shoulders--yes, she's 10 lbs and can do that). Glad y'all are ok as well as the dogs!

[PureTcrazy...rita 380]

It's even worse after seeing the pictures. I felt like an over-protective mother when I bought Lola's car seat that I can secure with the seatbelt, now I am definitely glad that I made the investment...just in case.

[Sensei 18]

Wow!!! That's an "E" ticket ride for sure. Glad all of you are OK. Trailer and vehicle can be replaced but you sure can't. Hope they catch the offender and you make out alright with the insurance. Get a couple of big shots of JD and rest.

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

[johnnyb aka John 15]

Ok I will say it to, HOLY #@$^!!! I am so glad you guys are ok! We are taking our German Shepherds next month, and they are going in their crates!

I will tell you, with the A-pillars damaged, the truck should be a goner, I am not sure of the camper, but I bet they fix it.

I hope you have an easy time with everything, but the important thing is all are OK!!!

[We4mickey 6]

So glad to hear everyone is okay. What a horrible thing to happen. Someone was definately watching over you.

[wak648...Bill 94]

Holy @&);!!!, that is anyone's worse nightmare! Very glad you guys were able to walk away from it.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

WOW!!!!! Glad ya'll are OK. One question, why no airbags?? Did any of them go off??

[Retired and Happy (Ken) 101]

So happy to hear you all ok after so horrendous wreck. There is a reason for safety features in vehicles. The animals and their owners now know about each one.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

Monique I am so glad you all made it out of that mess ok. Holy moley, I will be getting crates for mine this week :heart:

[SCTigerCock 171]

Monique I am so glad you all made it out of that mess ok. Holy moley, I will be getting crates for mine this week :heart:

yours will fit in a shoe box. probably all of them together.......

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

yours will fit in a shoe box. probably all of them together.......

I'm thinking I might have to use 2 :rofl2:

[thecplusplusguy 7]

Wow. Glad to here everyone is ok.

Dan

[mgsmom 9]

How very scary! I'm so glad you guys are okay and the fur-babies are good too!

[Total Joker ... TJ 203]

It is awesome everyone walked away with no serious injuries! Been upside down on the side of the interstate once myself, no fun!

[MandMandMandMandM 31]

I'll say it too, Holy S87t!!! So glad you all made it out okay. Looks horrible. I see all your Fort things survived including the magnets above the stove.