Make sure you get checked out, your neck, back, etc. as well!  If you feel a soreness in your neck, go to a chiropractor (or whoever you want to see) and have it x-rayed.  I was in an accident almost exactly 7 years ago, because some 17 year old kid (with his mother riding in the passenger seat) blew through a stop sign and totaled my LeBaron convertible.  I ended up with some neck and back pains, and had to go to the chiro for a few months for treatments.  I wasn't even traveling that fast, like 30 mph, and the kid couldn't have been going much faster (if I recall correctly).

The important thing is that you're alive, not mangled, though the poor Carib is   As for the wagon, I'm sure you'll be able to send off lots of parts to some of us here (I've got my eye on that bush bar ).  If it would help, I'm sure some of us could do more than just cover the cost of gas/shipping for parts.  We can call it the Dylan's New Carib Sprinter Fund

Yeah I'm definitely gonna need some physio, chiro, and massage for a month or two! I got see my doctor next week to get that ball rolling.

I found out today the guy who hit me, had his insurance CANCELLED on him 2 days before because he had so many tickets that they no longer wanted to insure him. So, this is starting to sound really teriffic, now instead of the payout being quick and somewhat easy, I'm going to have to sue him in the hopes of getting anything, and that will take months! =\

I can't believe someone would A) Drive without insurance. B) Drive *LIKE THAT* without insurance. You would think he would be going under the speed limit and hoping and praying nothing goes wrong, obviously this guy is a real winner of a human being. =(

The car should be arriving in my alley in the next couple hours, if its light enough I'll take some pics of the mangled beast!

Good grief... he has a bad record and he's allowed to be on the roads?  I hope they throw his a** in jail!  I would definitely sue his a**... I'm someone who doesn't like to see people so sue-happy in the world, but this is entirely justified.  Here's hoping his license is revoked so he doesn't harm anyone else... geez.  There are so many bad drivers out there, in fact today I had to avoid at least 2-3 crazy drivers so I wouldn't get hit.

Most important thing is your health... I hope you have a speedy recovery!  Sounds like you got hit pretty damn hard to have forgotten some things about the moments leading up to getting pulled out of your wagon.

I'm not looking forward to seeing the poor mangled wagon, but there's this morbid curiosity

The symptoms (pain, numbness, disorientation, forgetfulness, lack of focus, vomiting) you describe are typical of shock trauma due to both the impact (causes the brain to wobble in the skull cavity, stresses joints and vertebrae, and strains muscles), and the aftermath as the body adjusts to surging hormonal levels (adrenaline, cortisone, etc.), delayed pain as endorphin levels drop and orientation returns.

I am surprised that the guy was still driving and without insurance.  I wish there was some way to prevent people from driving who are dangers to others.  Like those breath-alyzers that prevent drivers from driving while drunk; only this would prevent drivers from driving while uninsured or while a danger in general -- perhaps by reading their mind.  Living in Southern California -- with its emphasis on car culture -- only makes the crazy drivers stand out more, such as this tragedy that happened day before yesterday near where I live: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-anaheim-couple,0,7229817.story

BTW, I'm not a doctor (yet, but I have a medical background (worked in an ER/Urgent care for the state for 9 years, and I run free clinics for a non-profit in Mexico.)

Rogue: Yeah I'm against the sue-happy nature of people these days too, but I definitely have to sue him. Here in Canada there are caps so likely the most I will be eligible for is $10,000. Which is a lot of money for me at this point in my life, especially since I quit working to go back to school! and in my opinion, probably enough to pay for the physio, massage, and value of my car. I'm assuming that I'll heal within a couple months and not require any long term physio.

I've had a bad record before, and rather than running lights, I made sure I drove with caution because I knew if I saw a police officer I might lose my license. This is when I was younger and had a bunch of speeding tickets to the point that they could have suspended my license. I have NEVER, EVER, driven without insurance. Its a scary thought that someone can consciously do that, never mind get behind the wheel and drive so recklessly without any insurance. =(

I think the days of the car reading our mind are probably within our life span, Datsa! I sure hope so, because its truly senseless the amount of people injured and killed on North American roads due to not just human error, but often human carelessness. I've lost an Uncle to drinking and driving, and I think its one of the most shameful and selfish things a human being can do. Heart breaking to read about that poor young couple you posted a link for.

Yeah its amazing what adrenaline does, I woke up and realized I was in a car crash within about 30 seconds of glancing around, the firemen talking to me. I remember feeling the door pushing on my leg as they cut it off, and I was telling them that, but it certainly didn't hurt. I was in no recognizable pain at that point, although I had just woken up from being unconscious for a matter of maybe 4-5 minutes (I'm assuming a fast response time because the firehall is about 20 blocks away thankfully.) I wish I had a video of the events.

NOW, as morbid as that may sound, I can't look at other people's accidents when I drive by them. I often shield my eyes out of respect/fear of seeing something that I/they wouldn't want me to see... and I know when they pulled me out of my car there was probably 20 people standing there watching me, and they would have thought I was dead for the first 4 min. I find THAT a bit creepy, I wouldn't be able to stare at the poor guy in the car, but since it was me, I'd like to have a look.... If that makes any sense. =P

I slept way too late to take pics today, but tomorrow for sure!

Datsa: My friend just graduated from a school in Irvine (I think) for ER medicine, but he took a position way up in the NE for his residency, he is missing California quite a bit. Its nice to see you run free clinics in Mexico, I had been curious in the past why you were driving there, but I wasn't nosy enough to ask. Admirable, good sir. =)

I don't mind people being nosy.  

Our organization has an urban clinic over the border in Baja; I drive the All-Trac to that one which I help run, and I'll be there next week.  But we usually fly private planes to get to our other rural clinics; it takes too long to drive there (1600 km/1000 miles from where I am).  I help run one of those rural clinics as well; I was there last week and I'll be there in two weeks.  Occasionally we drive to those clinics to carry supplies too heavy for small aircraft but it's a 24-hour drive, some of it on bad roads.  In addition, we have less frequent trips to rural clinics further into Baja desert, into the Sierra Madre, and down in the jungles of Yucatan and Guatemala.

We do everything from general medicine to full surgery, and everything we do is free to patients. We are self-funded with some grants and sponsorships.

Wow, thats amazing! My friend's dad is an Anesthetist and he just got back from a trip to Tibet, where he took all his 30yr old text books to donate on his tour. He said they were still more current than what they were using. =)

I like hearing about these stories of human kindness. I'm sure its amazing experience for you too as you go through school! Nothing can beat hands on experience, and your patients are exposed to things in that country that don't exist when you cross the US border, and especially not as far north as Canada.

That is cool that you help with those clinics, Datsa.  We've seen the Russian police Sprinter 4WD, you could have the American ambulance All-Trac   Maybe you could submit a story to that Toyota campaign about how you use your All-Trac for your job.

http://www.awn.com/news/internet-and-interactive/toyota-teams-aniboom-winner-auto-biography-campaign

I've seen a few of the commercials they made for this on Hulu.com when I was watching some videos.

I feel bad updating with my stereo upgrades that I've been working on with my friend the past few weeks, considering what happened to Dylan's All-Trac    I've got the "death box" 10" sub enclosure in, wired up, etc, and I'm right now working on some kill switches so I can listen to music at work in the parking lot using only the factory speaker locations.  I'll have to get some pics later... been super busy lately...

Don't feel bad, update when you've got time! =)