1400 W. Mars Hill Rd.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
The accident involved Charlie's car and a semi truck pulling a tank of CO2. Charlie was lucky that help arrived quickly. He was air lifted to Flagstaff Medical Hospital where four surgeons worked on him for four hours to piece him back together.
He suffered a laceration to the back of the head, major facial trauma to the region around his left eye, 7 broken ribs, a punctured lung, damage to the liver spleen and appendix, a broken femur, and a compression fracture in his back. His left arm will need a skin graft. He did not suffer any brain or spinal injuries and is coherent and understands when spoken to.
The surgeons reconstructed his face with several titanium plates and pin his leg with a rod. His left eye make need a bit more work after he recovers a bit more. At this point he can see but it is blurry. The eye is a bit swollen yet and rests slightly lower than the right eye. This is what the doctor will correct.
Many friends have stopped by to see Charlie and although it takes a lot of energy he carefully shakes hands with visitors. He has been able to write a few notes and as of the Thursday the 28 th has been able to mumble a few words. The following are a few of the notes he has written:
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This is a picture of Charlie's car on the back of a tow truck. Charlie just bought this '86 Subaru a couple of months ago. He spent a lot of time fixing it up and making it run as smooth as silk. He installed a new radiator, a stereo, a CB radio, auxiliary headlights, various car parts, and a variety of other items. | |
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Here is a side view of the car. The front door was folded in half like a sandwich. | |
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At this point we can only speculate at what happened.
Dad and I salvaged a few valuable items from the car that we think Charlie will like to have including his camping gear, the gear shift knob and various other items. |
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A couple more pictures of "Humdinger". |
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The white stuff on the hood is battery acid. There was a pair of swim trunks I found in the back seat which are now dotted with holes from the battery acid. |
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These are two pictures of the site of the accident. |
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This is a picture of Charlie on the first day home. The other is one taken a bit later. |
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We went to a little airshow. Charlie told me this is the plane he flew "Back in Nam". |
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These pictures didn't turn out that well. They are of his skin graft. You can see some of the injuries to his chest. The external injuries don't look too bad here but the insides where really messed up. |
andyw@lowell.edu
