Accident In Montana...

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Late here, I'm glad to hear everything worked out in the end. :cool:
 
I am happy that she is well. Sorry for the loss of her van. I would have liked to have met her in person, but am sort of glad I didn't have to drive to canada lol.
 
If she had needed, you would have gone as would I. That's all that counts. Michael
 
Hi All;

Your support and wishes have really helped. I am headed back to Canada in a few hours. I will post when I am safely home which should be by tomorrow. My roomie is here, has slept and is ready to drive home.

Later all...

Hugs,

Joni
 
Joni,
What a shock, I took a few days away from the computer and look what happened.

I'm so glad you are ok and on your way home.

I just can't figure out what you were doing way up north when the weather is so bad up there, thought you were on your way to Q.

When you get a chance we all would love to hear the story....again so glad you are ok.

((((HUGS))))

Papa
 
Hello All,

Joni has made it home, the trip was fairly hard on her in her present condition, she is resting today.

One thing I would like to share with y'all is how important it is to have your load tied down, secured real sturdy. Joni had her bed strapped down with a ratchet strap, to factory attatchment points built into the van for this purpose, as were all the cabinetts and anything loose was put under the bed or in very secure places. THIS IS WHAT SAVED HER LIFE !!

Screwing cabinetts to the floor like you would in a house IS NOT ENOUGH, your house does not travel down the road at a mile a minit, nor does it hit guardrails and stop suddenly. PLEASE FRIENDS, PLAN FOR ACCIDENTS WHILE YOU BUILD YOUR DREAM HOME !! IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE !!

Thank you everyone for your support and help, We have the most wonderful people here that will take care of each other when the need comes. God Bless you everyone, Duane & Joni
 
Hi everyone...I figured I should let you all know how its going. The doctor didn't find anything new. For the most part I am a giant bruise outside and in. I will be starting physiotherapy asap, seeing the Chiropractor this week...get to enjoy some massages and a tiny band-aid surgery to flick out a bone chip. Its going to be work and keep my spring full but I wasn't planning to put in a garden this year anyway.

Love and hugs,

Joni
 
Good to hear you are doing OK. Thanks for the update. :)
 
I'm positive I am going to marry Hippiechk !!! Circle the vans, it's going to be a PARTY !!!


I meant to put this in "something positive" Duane
 
Joni, it's good to hear from you.
Hope you have a fast recovery and look forward to seeing you back out and about.
 
hippiechk said:
This place is tiny, all of these people are volunteers and my heroes! It took from 6:45 until about 9 to dismantle the van and get me out. Also first on the scene were a young couple...maybe 25 max. They ripped the dashboard off in one grab to loosen my pinned left leg...made enough room to probably save my leg as it swelled to fill the space again before I was freed. Thank you Colton and Heather...to modest to give their last names. And To Steve who's 3 year old I could hear yelling..."Go Daddy you can save them!" Little guy must have gotten cold waiting! Superior, Montana is an awesome town!!!

Tonight I feel truly blessed! And very grateful!

I've always considered Montana as one of our more friendly states. :)

Sorry I'm just now catching up with this, and so very glad to hear you're OK/as OK as one can be after that experience!
 
signman said:
One thing I would like to share with y'all is how important it is to have your load tied down, secured real sturdy. Joni had her bed strapped down with a ratchet strap, to factory attatchment points built into the van for this purpose, as were all the cabinetts and anything loose was put under the bed or in very secure places. THIS IS WHAT SAVED HER LIFE !!

I'm so sorry someone you love had to do the research on this, but an excellent point, one I hadn't thought of. Thanks for pointing this out! It may save someone else down the road.

signman said:
I'm positive I am going to marry Hippiechk !!! Circle the vans, it's going to be a PARTY !!!


I meant to put this in "something positive" Duane



Well, now, aren't YOU full of surprises! lol And...does Joni know about this? :) Congrats, seriously. I wish you both a long and happy life together!
 
Hi All, I'd like to explain how the loose things were put under the bed. Joni made a 1/2 inch thick sheet of mdf, (medium density fiberboard) that fit floor to top of bed, and side wall of the van to the other side wall of the van. this sheet was ratchet strapped from the factory tie down loop, up over the safety sheet, back over the top of the bed, down the back of the bed to another factory tie down loop. Next time I think 1/2 inch plywood would be stronger, as the mdf snapped durring the accident sometime, since there were multiple impacts no one knows when.

I just hope this makes y'all think about safety when you build your dream van or vehicle. I wouldn't want any of y'all to get hurt. Build safe, Duane
 
Wow. Sorry to hear about your mishap. I haven't been around for awhile. I decided not to become houseless and just quit checking in. Glad to hear alls well.
 
Just read the thread and..BUMMER! It's good to see that you made it out relatively OK, but talk about an unfortunate turn of events. Hope to see ya back on the road again and, next time I'm up your ways I'll drop by and you can rub the magic healing puppy. ..Willy.
 
You have all been so wonderful!

@ice_maiden, my dear sweet sister! Yes, I outed us, oops...next time you see me you can kick my butt...well if you can get yer foot that high! (She is shorter, hmm, and younger...yikes, I think she can even run faster...) I love you! Thanks for being there, as always...for playing catch...for laughter...

@Scar...Wow, what a man! I am truly blessed to call you my friend. I will see you in the early spring.

@Owl...Thank You! Truth in advertising...You were willing to use your strength to protect me in my weakness.

@Everyone, my tears are making it hard to write this...Thank You all so very much!!

Wade, Adrian, Faith, Biscuit...I'm leaving out names...my friends, you know who you are...Much Love!

I am recovering a bit slow, getting old for this, but it's 2 steps forward and one back ... I am going to make a complete recovery. Surgical consult on Monday so even the pesky little bone chip will be out right away. Tomorrow I am even starting back to driving...put extra mirrors on my roomies mini-van and it has a rear camera so even with the neck brace I won't endanger anyone else...or me. The high tech shoulder check!

This is going to be my last public post on this site. In light of the new rules I am one of the people who chooses to disassociate from the site for personal reasons. Please, don't anyone follow on my account...I am turning towards something I see as better, I am not running away, just moving on.

Anyone who would like to keep in touch my email is [email protected]

Like a treasure of a friend of mine says... "I love you is just a way of saying I love you!"

I love you!

Bye...hugs,

Joni AKA hippiechk
 
I didnt believe the black magic would actually work, and retroactively no less! (J/K :p ) Hope ya get well soon... and cant we sue somebody for this? like the weather man or the local minister or something? Theres always somebody you can sue!
 
@ PastTense, Her last post was #37, two posts above yours.
 
Top