I crash our car after hospital visit - we survive

Hello - oh dear!!!

Today has just not been my day, despite a really good start. I was going to write about my local riverside conservation work this morning, and then about visiting Tom in hospital and having a lovely long walk with him in Richmond Park. He is feeling better after 2 days back in hospital (in an acute mental care ward), and is now content to be there and go along with his treatment. But I ended up crashing our VW Polo car (which used to be our late daughter Alice's), and we were lucky to escape unhurt, with the car not too badly damaged.

On the way back from Dave's and my hospital visit to Tom, I thought it would be a good idea to practice my car driving on the familiar way home. Conditions were not as good as when I did the same drive 4-5 days ago. The skies darkened, and the rain got heavy. All throught he park the speed limit is only 20 mph, so I was OK there. Then I turned left out of the park gates, and something went badly wrong.

AS I swung out, I steered badly, and was veering out into the middle of the road - a busy one going downhill. Dave shouted watch your steering, and then I over steered to correct. At once we were veering off up the kerb onto a fairly steep verge, covered with low vegetation and hidden rocks. I somehow managed to put the brakes on and we got out. The car was leaning over at an angle - rain was puring down in soair rods, adn I rushed over to the nearby very famous Star and Garter Hospital (a Home for World War - and later wars - disabled service men and old people) and asked them if I could ring the police. As I was ringing, I could hear police sirens - then 2 cars and an ambulance turned up. We were not hurt, so the ambulance left. The car was manouevred down off the road side - we found it had a damaged front panel and bumper, and one tyre was totally flat. Not sure about the brakes! The police got it of the main road and into a sliproad behind the Home. [We now have to sort out its repair.]

Dave and I rang for the AA recovery service, and we then had to wait nearly an hour - not too bad. I was as if on 'autopilot' for most of this time - I told the police "I have nerves of steel". That is because of all else I have been through in recent years - the worst was when we lost our daughter Alice (in a motor crash) in 2000. What else could happen to us? My driving instructor has advised me to practice driving our car. I had a driving lesson only yesterday for 2 hours, and was doing speeds of 40 and 50 miles per hour, managing many difficult things, and doing OK. But this journey is quite tricky, with sharp turns on hills. I though it may be easier going downhill! I do not want to be put off driving (as I was for about 30 years before) by this accident - I need to get back out there and be confident. Someone has told me that every learner or new driver experiences one crash during their probationary period - driving a car seems to me to be like driving a tank! Yet to Dave driving is second nature. I was even beginning to enjoy it before today.

Now it has caused us so much more inconvenience - we will need to use the dodgy, unreliable British public transport system to go over and see Tom, and will only be able to take him to a very nearby park. I will have to get a cab to take me back from my Church weekend (this Bank Holiday) late on Sunday night. Dave is now less mobile than he would like to be. Fortunately, we can do a lot of local journeys on our pedal bicycles, and we have travel passes for the buses and trains (as we are both over 60). But in the end - we are really lucky to be in one piece, as the car could actually have turned over. Somehow I managed to put the brakes on once it went up the slope (and it was only doing about 12 mph then). I still can't believe it, I survived a similar crash, travelling in India in 2002 as a passenger - and our daughter was killed in a car crash in 2000, so cars have been bad news for us in many ways - but they are so unavoidably necessary). Thanks be to God for saving our lives and protecting Dave and me today - also thank God that Tom was not with us. He will be fairly upset when he hears about it, I am sure.

We have not really been the luckiest of families - but then Dave and I today - and also Tom over recent weeks - are indeed fortunate to be alive, after all! This is all I am writing about tonight. When I got home, I had half a low strength valium tablet, and then we had 2 good cups of tea, with a whisky or two to come - and now we will have a quick easy meal (pizza from the freezer). I hope our car will not take too long to be mended - it is a public holiday this weekend, which complicates it. We are fully insured, thank God. If you have been reading this, I hope you will be able to sympathise. May God grant us a better course of life events... and to me, the ability to drive and have the freedom this gives. Thanks for reading all this -

Best wishes and love - as usual,
Tigey