This was an unforgettable experience that we went through. Last January 18, 2020 me, my girlfriend and my other colleagues were going down from Baguio to Manila to attend a Dry Needling seminar. We were 14 including the driver of the van that we used. Me and my girlfriend sat at the back most of the van and she was by the window. On our way down I was already getting my sleep. Unfortunately, about an hour and 40 minutes into the drive we were bumped by a tricycle. As I recall, I thought a boulder from above hit us. I remember all the glass shattered all over the floor, into our laps. And we were shocked on what happened. I looked at my girlfriend because I was really worried about her, I thought that the glass went into her eyes but then we noticed she was bleeding at her head. She quickly compressed it with tissue and then towel. When we were flashing the lights on her, I saw part of her skull from the lacerated wound on her head. I felt very emotional on what happened to her because I thought that her head was hit bad. So I helped her compress her wound.
We then went out of the van, some of my colleagues called a EMS and I called my mom saying "Ma, Ma we got into an accident" I remember almost fainting at that moment, with all the ringing in the ears and seeing my girlfriend and her injuries. When I asked my girlfriend about it she thought I was having a seizure. She told me that she got my phone and let my other colleague talk to my mom. While the others were trying to help me and let me sit in the van. One of my other colleagues had a bottle of white flower oil which had a strong aroma and it put me back into my senses.
Instead of waiting for the EMS we told the driver to drive us to the nearest hospital. We were 4 that rushed her not including the driver, Sir Dale one of my closest friends, Ma'am Roden who was busy compressing my girlfriends wound, my girlfriend and myself. I remember that part of windshield fell during our drive going to the hospital. It was very cold from the wind. It was a very emotional ride because we really didn't know the extent of the injury of my girlfriend. While driving to the hospital she called her sister saying that if anything happens she loves her. She also told me if anything happens to me, No regrets. She also told me to tell her loved one's that she loved them. My heart was so crushed that time. I was just holding her hand the whole time and we even prayed together. We went down Agoo Family Hospital in the ER. We all thought that it was okay already so the driver decided to pick up the others. When the nurse of the ER saw my girlfriend, she said we have to bring her to the other hospital because they couldn't handle that case there. We went out and hailed a Tricycle. Thank God there was a tricycle. So we rushed her to La Union Medical Center.
This was part of the Emergency room where they were cleaning her wounds. I had to sign a waiver so that they could suture her. We were so lucky that there was a Doctor there. They had to shave part of her hair. I remember that he was reassuring me that everything will be fine. I was just there waiting outside of the room just watching them do their work. While waiting I was removing some of the shards from my body, I even had some inside my mouth. There was one time when the Doctor called me to show that she had a linear fracture in the skull. He said that we can't do anything about it just wait for it to heal. I also remember that the tricycle driver was brought to the ER and there were some police men who also entered the ER to ask what happened
During the procedure, they were sending me to buy medicine at their pharmacy. I actually didn't like the person in the pharmacy she was kinda cranky. Anyway, my girlfriend said after 27 years of never using an ivy, she finally experienced it.
After the procedure we were just staying inside the ER. After a while my mom and sister came and they were asking what happened? And we were just explaining. My girlfriend also had an Xray. We also had to confine my girlfriend so I had to walk the papers in the information. The guy was really kind he accommodated me. We opted for a semi private room. Before going to the room my other colleagues came expressing their sympathy. They also told us that the Tricycle driver didn't have his head lights on, he came from a feast so he was also drunk and he was just only 16 years old. After that we went to the semi private room but then, the nurses said that there can only be one watcher so we upgraded it to a private room so that my mom and sister could stay in the room.
Here's a photo of some of the shards that were inside of my shoes after the accident.
One thing that sucked in this hospital was the signal. It was very weak and there was even no wifi. It was really hard contacting the others about what was happening. Thankfully my sister was there, she really sacrificed a lot to contact the others because she had to stay outside the room to get signal and lost a lot of sleep from it. Because of her I was able to rest a little.
She told me to take a photo of this, this was when they were testing if she had any allergic reaction from the antibiotic.
We had a dilemma in the morning because we wanted to have a CT scan but the nearest CT scan place was like a 40 min drive. We opted to go to Baguio instead. The Doctor at first said it should be in an ambulance and then it shifted to, we can use our car as long as there will be a nurse that will come with us and finally he gave us the clearance to travel using the car where they would just just put a hep lock without having a nurse come with us. We were also cleared because she was conscious the whole time it happened and she didn't vomit. In my mind he was a really kind surgeon. My girlfriend was also able to eat a little while waiting for the discharge.
Before we left, a nurse showed me the xray of the skull and I just took photos because they don't have the hard copy yet.
I'll never forget that experience in this hospital. It was truly an eye opener that we should make the most out of it in our lives.
We drove up from there via Naguilian Road going to Baguio City. It took us around an hour and 40 minutes before we reached Saint Louis University Hospital of the Sacred Heart. When we reached the hospital we went straight to the ER. A junior intern went to interview my girlfriend and checked on her wound. After that a resident doctor came and checked her wound again. I didn't know that this was the process of the ER, it seemed so repetitive and inconvenient for her. Her sisters and father came to see her at the ER. When they were there my girlfriend told me to leave already so we get to rest.
I brought her jeans to wash it, before washing it I took a photo of her bloodied jeans from the accident.
This was my girlfriends scar with the stitches, whenever I saw this personally I just felt really bad for her.
After 5 days from the accident, we visited a doctor at SLU and he removed the stitches. Here's how her scar is healing. It's actually looks a lot better right now. If you're reading this babe I LOVE YOU!
After experiencing something like this, it made me really thankful that my girlfriend is still alive and that your family will always be there no matter what. It also made me think that we should live our lives to the fullest. Always check on your loved ones because you'll never know what will happen.
Thanks for reading!
Wow! That's a very scary story! Thanks for sharing!