Roll-over crash survivor - seat belts work!

By Brenda Granger

On the afternoon of April 28, 2015, I was driving on U.S. Highway 160 in Elk County, a route that I drove frequently.

It was a beautiful spring day. Due to a neurological disorder that causes weak muscles, I use the cruise control as much as possible. Having driven that route countless times (in other cars), I set my cruise control for 60 mph (the speed limit being 55 mph).

In the other vehicles, I could take that curve at 60 mph, and stay in my lane.  I’d only owned this car a few months and hadn’t learned that it didn’t handle curves quite as well.  As I was going around a curve that I later learned was called “Dead Man’s Curve” by the locals, I began to realize that the car wasn’t going where I wanted it.  If I had been able to cut the curve short – by driving a straight line that would have taken me into the opposite lane, I probably could have made it.  But there was a small pickup coming towards me, and if I did that, I would have a head-on collision with it. 

As soon as it passed, I slammed on my brakes. I found that my driving techniques learned on rear-wheel drive cars don’t work the same on a front-wheel drive car - the front wheels immediately slowed down, but the rear wheels didn’t. I was driving east, and suddenly, the car was facing west and sliding across the road. Once a couple of wheels dropped in the shallow ditch, then the centrifugal force began to roll the car.  We went for several rotations before landing in a bean field.

I later found out that the first responders guessed three to four times, both side-to-side and end-to-end, from counting the impacts in the field I landed in and the condition of the car. I had my seat belt on, and was awake the whole time, holding onto the steering wheel for dear life. Although, you know, it really doesn’t do much good when the wheels aren’t touching the ground, to continue holding the steering wheel. 

While I like roller coaster rides, this was more like riding inside the dryer.  I saw the world turning through the front windshield, while objects in my vehicle flew all around (and into) me. 

Thankfully, I landed wheels down, and the weather was very pleasant even without the missing windows, while I pondered what to do next.  The other driver had noticed in their rearview mirror that I had trouble and turned around.  I saw them driving slowly on the side road, so I stuck my hand out the missing driver’s window and waved.  Figured that would let them know that I was alive and conscious.  They called 911, and the first responders started appearing quickly.

The Elk County first responders were very helpful – they even collected all the objects that flew out of my car, including my cell phone!  One of the guys called my home, to let my family know what happened.  He had to leave a message on the answering machine, but within seconds of getting my cell phone back in my hand, my son was calling me to find out the details.

A woman talked with me, prayed with me and helped me find something to catch the blood that was dripping out of my hand. We had to wait a while for the Jaws of Life to arrive - they had to cut the door off to get me out.

The ambulance transported me to the nearest emergency room, which was in Independence. Because the initial CT showed an air bubble between my lung and air sac, it was determined I needed to be transported to a hospital with a trauma department. I convinced them to transport me to Wichita, where most of my doctors are located.

In addition to fractured ribs, I cut my right-hand tendon partially, which required stitches to close the skin. I got whiplash, a few bumps, bruises and hair ripped out on my head, but on Thursday, I was released from the hospital.  The next morning, I gathered up my courage, got behind the wheel of one of the other cars, and drove myself to the hand specialist. I went back to work on Monday.

Considering the way everything I was transporting flew out of the vehicle, if I hadn’t had my seat belt on, the outcome would have been much worse.  I have no idea why the air bags didn’t deploy, but it was only God and the seat belt protecting me.  No brain injury, no major surgery and the only physical therapy I had to have was due to the hand injury and whiplash. 

While I’ve had the only rollover car accident in our family, my husband and sons have had accidents at highway speed.  Each time, we had our seat belts on, and they’ve never had more than scratches and bruises.  We are thankful that we wear our seat belts in this family!

Brenda Granger is a Butler County resident who survived a rollover crash in 2015.