I have a relative who is in the ICU right now. He was found unresponsive in his driveway on Wednesday morning, while on his way to work. He wasn’t breathing, and his heart had stopped when the paramedics arrived.
A heart attack has been ruled out, and there’s no evidence of a brain event, like a stroke or aneurism. His car was found with the driver’s door bent back, so the best theory anyone can come up with is that he climbed out of the car for some unknown reason, the car rolled back, knocked him down, and his body was put in a position where he was suffocated until his heart stopped.
He’s 46 years old, with a wife, and 12-year old twins. He’s under heavy sedation, but is already starting to respond to his name…however, he’s nowhere near out of the woods yet.
Sorry to be a downer on a Friday afternoon, but it’s a sobering reminder for all of us before we head out to the garage this weekend. You can’t be too careful around a 2,000+ lb object on wheels.
My wife’s cousin passed away on Wednesday. While he showed early signs of progress, the damage to his brain was too severe, and he never regained full consciousness. By the one-week mark, it was clear that his brain was giving up the fight.
I was wrong about his age…he had his 48th birthday while in the hospital. His twins are also 10, not 12…they are doing well, considering the circumstances, but I can’t imagine the what they are going through.
All indications are still that this was a vehicular accident. I learned in recent days that it took the paramedics several minutes to dislodge him from between the cars before they could begin work on him. Those minutes without circulation were critical.
Be careful out there, particularly when working around your cars.
I’m 62 and find myself working more slowly, and being more deliberate, when working on cars… or ladders, or just about anything else. Though 62 isn’t really ‘old’ I do find myself suffering minor mental lapses if I try to rush. And my reflexes, agility, and vision are not quite what they used to be.
Plus, I very often work alone. If I became pinned under a car or suffered some calamity it might be many hours before I was discovered.
I recently experienced an engine fire situation that really knocked me down a few pegs. No personal harm done and not too much damage to the car but, still, quite scary. A fuel pump that simply runs constantly with the key ‘on’ can indeed be dangerous, as has often been remarked here and elsewhere.
Quite some time ago, 15 years I reckon, an XJS owner was killed when his Jag fell on him. He apparently didn’t have his jackstands set properly. I can’t remember his name but he was especially congenial and amusing. I recall him being a regular on one of the other Jag boards; less so on J-L. Anyhow, it was a very sad and shocking reminder.
Sometimes it’s a lesson that takes time to learn, but haste makes waste. I do my best to think through a job before starting to be prepared for the “unexpected,” a bit of an oxymoron.
And I don’t remove the wheels until the “won’t fall” test has been passed. That way, if it falls, it falls on its feet rather than the body. Removed wheels, at least a couple of them, are then stowed under the car. This way, if the car does fall for some reason, it won’t fall right to the floor.
Even when using a hoist I get the car a couple inches off the ground and then try my darndest to make it fall. Some cars are especially nose or tail heavy and are not stable on the arms of a side-lift hoist, depending on where the arms are positioned under the car.
Although it was in regards to woodworking, the principal still applies to auto repairs or any other potentially dangerous task. Fine Woodworking magazine ran a poll of readers’ experiences with injuries in the woodworking shop. One frequent reply from the readers was that when they were about to do a task, right before the injury occurred, they had a premonition that things “just didn’t feel right.” The lesson is that if things don’t feel right, stop, investigate the reason and eliminate the danger. Woodworking injuries can permanently disable you; auto shop accidents can kill you.
yeah, Sawstops are pretty amazing; they’ll rip right through 8/4 oak but they only go thorough the skin of a 1’’ hot dog. When it’s needed, it ruins a $200 blade but I guess that’s better than cutting off three or four fingers!
In '72 just a few months after I joined the Model A club in NJ one of our members was found under his car. The car crabbed sideways and the bottle jack kicked out.
No jack stands. I happens when you don’t thing anything can.
After I dropped a transmission on my head–thank GAWD it was a Datsun 1200, and not a Muncie, back in ~1977, I came to the realization ANYTHING can happen.
