I Woke Up and It Was 2023

The last thing I remembered: my car was somersaulting in the air, and I thought, "Dear Lord, please let my children survive."

Let me start from the beginning.

Deciding to relocate to a new city

In late November, I decided I was going to relocate to a different city for numerous reasons. After looking at it from every perspective, I decided that driving was going to be our best bet. Luckily, a good friend of mine had agreed to drive a truck that had all our belongings in it while I drove behind him in my car with my children. It was all settled, and on Boxing Day, we set out to our new lives.

I was a bit terrified because my legs truly hate driving, and secondly, it was winter and the roads were very icy and slippery. The drive was about 8 hours, and about 30 minutes in, my legs were not having it. I couldn't get out to stretch, as it was terribly cold, so I would slow down from time to time and made sure I never drove above 80 kilometres per hour.

Was it my legs, or did my car malfunction?

Our trip for the first 5 hours was relatively uneventful. We drove behind my friend and made occasional stops for bladder, legs, and gasoline. Then tragedy struck!

I still had an almost full tank of gas, but my friend needed a refill, as he didn't fill up at the previous stop. I didn't mind this at all, as I needed to stretch my legs while my kids needed to pee and grab some snacks from the attached convenience store.

When we were done, we entered the service road, driving once again behind my friend at about 30 kilometres per hour, when suddenly my car went into a very high speed. To date, I can't quite tell what happened. Did my legs jerk? Did my vehicle malfunction? I still do not know.

When I tried braking, it sped up even more, as the roads were so icy and there was little to no grip. Then restless legs chose that very moment to strike!

Our car hit a snow bank rolled over 3 times

At this point, we were approaching a curve that led directly into the highway. I had 3 options: hit my friend's truck, go into the express lane with a lot of oncoming vehicles, or veer into a heap of snow on the other side with hopes that it would stop my car and just damage my bumper. The last option was the safest, so I veered and hit the snow; but instead of stopping my car, next thing I know, the car went right through the snow and we were somersaulting 3 times!

I passed out! When I came to, my car had landed on a pole and was now upside down. I could smell the leaking gas and felt some wetness running down my hands. I knew it was blood, but nothing was registering; adrenaline had kicked in, and my body was in flight mode. I started yelling my kids' names, making sure they were alive, and as God would have it, they were absolutely fine but were sobbing out of fear.

My friend, who had seen us speed past him and veer into the snow, had parked and was now trying to get us out of the car. I looked around for my phone; it was still intact, so I called 911, all while still upside down. By now, other vehicles were stopping and trying to help us out of the car.

My previous gym accident was just child's play

Finally, they managed to pull us out through the back glass that was broken and had us sit down in my friend's truck while we waited for the ambulance. The pain now set in; my neck hurt like hell, I had glass cuts all over my hands and face, and I was bleeding profusely.

The next few days were touch and go, but I'm just glad we're alive. When I was finally fully awake, it was 2023!

Looking back now, my accident at the gym a little more than a year ago was just child's play, but hey, we keep moving!

RLS doesn't know how to take a hint

It's going to be a great year because, from my perspective, the worst has already happened. I almost died, I'm in a new city where I have no family or friends, I have a neck that barely moves, and I have no car!

I still have restless legs syndrome, because we all know RLS doesn't know how to take a hint!

All this to say, Happy New Year, and may the odds be ever stacked in our favour.