Good afternoon everyone. Tried several times to post, but life got in the way.
Crazy day at work. A long day at a huge school with 52% of the kids being referred. Too much state paperwork / data entry involved for each child.
Got a call at 6:30 this morning from friend Cindy (Jim's widow) that she, her son, and his girlfriend were in a car accident Tuesday afternoon, and she was just being released from the hospital. A van pulled out of a parking lot directly into her path on a busy freeway here. The van driver had welded a 2 X 4 steel beam behind his bumper (illegal in Pennsylvania), and bragged about it to the police. No damage to his van except for a crack in his bumper. Cindy's car is totaled.
She has broken ribs, multiple cuts & bruises. Kinsey, has a broken arm with cuts and bruises. Shawn got the worst of it because he's so tall, and his knees were against the dashboard on the passenger side with the seat all of the way back. He has a fractured skull, cranial bleeding, fractured back, and a fractured hip. He was life-flighted from our local UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) to the main hospital in Pittsburgh. When I talked to Cindy this afternoon, he has already had 2 surgeries to relieve pressure from brain swelling and to stop the brain bleed. The other surgeries will be done once his brain is stabilized.
Witnesses, including 2 nurses, a doctor, and a policeman, said the van pulled out directly in front of her then hit his breaks. This is on a 5 lane road with a 55 mph speed limit. Cindy doesn't know what the charges will be against the guy yet.