This cache has been placed in honor of my future father-in-law Andy, and the Northfield Fire and Rescue squad. Family is the most important thing out there, cherish it every chance you can. In a moment, everything could be lost. We were fortunate enough to have a miracle on our side. The following story will be told from the perspective of my other half.
Superman? Super Tree? Super Lucky.
My father’s name is Andy. On December 23rd, 2014, we almost lost him in a terrible accident. My family owns a lawn care and snow removal company, located right here on these very gravel roads the cache is placed on. One day it was snowing pretty heavily, and we needed to go clear the lots for our customers. My father left in the salt truck ahead of everyone else. About five minutes later we heard a noise off in the distance, but didn’t put too much thought into it. My father tried to call my grandfather, but he had no luck. Next he called my brother saying he is trapped in the salt truck. My brother initially thought he meant he just went into the ditch. My brother jumped in one of the trucks without saying anything to my cousin or I. We decided we would head out as well to see what was going on. Before we were able to leave my brother came rushing back in a panic. He had found my father smashed into a tree just down the road from where we were all sitting. My father actually called 911 before reaching anyone else. While my brother had come back to the shop to rally more support, and to grab the shops pay loader for heavy equipment. The sheriff arrived on scene and began scoping out the scene. What he came upon was a giant truck, loaded down with salt, sitting head first into a tree in the ditch. The dump bed had become dislodged and slid forward towards the cab. Watching his footing, he began to circle the scene paying careful attention to his footing to not slip or trip upon the debris. He obviously was expecting this to be a DOA, as the carnage of the vehicle didn’t offer much hope for someone to make it. When he had come upon the driver side of the vehicle, he stopped dead in his tracks. The sheriff turned a ghostly white as he was greeted by my father with a “Little help?” request. Realizing that someone was still alive he began calling out codes over the radio faster than an auctioneer. Running out of breath, and losing his train of thought he started in with plain talk. “Bring rescue! Bring an ambulance! Bring a wrecker! BRING EVERYTHING!” the sheriff shouted as he rushed to the aid of my father. Meanwhile back at the shop I called my mom since she was at work at this time. She needed to know what happened right away instead of someone else telling her. The truck was completely loaded with 10,000lbs of salt, and the truck itself weighs about 20,000lbs. The trucks steering had gone out on the curve causing my father to lose control, especially with the heavy snow present on the ground. At the time he was going about 35 to 40 mph before coming to a dead stop into the tree. That tree is still standing to this day. The tree crushed the front of the truck, causing the dump bed to slide forward into the cab and stop just before completely crushing the cab. A piece of rebar went through the bottom of the cab of the truck and through my father’s leg. The Northfield Fire and Rescue squad worked endlessly for 3 ½ hours to get my dad out of the truck, without amputating his leg to free him. They did manage to get him out successfully, and rushed him up to HCMC for Immediate surgery. Mind you, the entire time he was stuck in the truck, and the ride to HCMC he was conscious. Until arriving at the hospital. For someone that lost 3/4 of his blood, I’m glad we didn’t lose him. My father ended up with two fractures in his lower spine, left knee damaged, his right calf torn up, and a fractured pelvis. He was in the hospital for about two weeks. Recovery was about 3 months. To this day being 5 years later my dad is still is in a lot of pain, but he’s grateful to be alive, and were grateful to have him.
A special thanks to all who run twoards danger.