Crash, bang, wallop…down but not out

For those of you that don’t already know, Sharon and I were involved in a very serious road traffic accident in England during November 2016. We were actually on our way to detect at a ‘Coil to the Soil’ dig near Doncaster and were greatly looking forward to some serious detecting and meeting a lot of our friends south of the border.

I was driving our Mercedes ML 4x4 across England, with Sharon as passenger and we had stopped at the end of a line of traffic on a two lane ‘local’ highway. It was at that moment our lives were to change significantly. A large heavy tanker truck (Heavy Goods Vehicle) ploughed into the back of us without stopping, at approximately 60mph. The impact crushed the back of the 4x4 and propelled us into oncoming traffic, unfortunately we had no chance and a Toyota sedan (saloon car) travelling at approximately the same speed hit us side on and bent the Mercedes like a banana.

The scene was total carnage and after regaining consciousness, I checked Sharon and could see she was completely trapped by the passenger door crushed into her safety space, caused by the side impact of the sedan. I managed to remove my seat belt, which was around my neck and then struggled to remove Sharon’s belt, which was also crushing her around her waist. First responders were there within a few minutes and helped me out the jeep. I stayed either in the driver’s seat or at the passenger side window until the emergency services arrived and cut the Toyota driver out of his vehicle, then Sharon out of ours. Sharon was then flown to hospital by helicopter air ambulance.

Weeks passed with Sharon in intensive care and the high dependency unit of the hospital in Newcastle and she had a few set-backs along the way. After several weeks she was eventually transferred back to a Scottish hospital, which is local to where we have our home. Weeks passed into months and eventually Sharon was discharged, able to weight bear on one leg.

We are both still in recovery, as I also have injuries and every day is a challenge. We have not been metal detecting since the accident and are both eager to get back to the fields, but are also aware that things may never be quite what they were before the accident – only time will tell.

So, the narrative above is just to let you know that we are fighting back like the proverbial Scottish warriors and although our adventures may be paused at the moment, we shall bring you some tales of our past experiences and discoveries.

We would like to thank all the emergency services involved in our rescue; first responders, police, fire crews, air ambulance and EMT’s at the scene, along with the countless thousands of Facebook friends and detectorists who have supported us over the last few months, all members of the Minelab family, the doctors and medical staff who cared for Sharon and of course the surgeon and surgical team who saved her life. You have our heartfelt thanks and when we manage to get our lives back on track, it will be all of you who are in our thoughts. Without your help, support and caring we would never have even reached the stage we are at currently and at least have the chance at ‘normal’ life once again.

We shall hopefully catch you all at some point this year to bring you some fresh new tales from our continued detecting adventures in the wild highlands of Scotland and the lowlands of England.

Slàinte mhòr agus a h-uile beannachd duibh