"The front fender of the SUV was just five inches from my face"
Date: 1/21/2010
Below is an open letter from DMV examiner Roberto Mascardo describing his near-death experience while performing his job and his first steps on the long road to rehabilitation. It was written to California Organization of Licensing Registration Examiners President Francine Toth and Vice President Bernadette Gonzales.
Hi Francine and Bernadette!
I was finally discharged from St. Mary's Hospital Acute Rehab Wing in San Francisco last Jan. 9. I'm now back home, moving around with a cane, and receiving regular in-home visits from an occupational therapist and a physical therapist. My last in-home therapy will occur this coming Wednesday.
According to my physical therapist, I'm now strong enough to participate in out-patient therapy services at St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco. I actually started out using a walker to move about for several weeks at Marin General Hospital, then I graduated to a cane when I moved to St. Mary's Hospital.
Since my Dec. 2, near-fatal accident in Petaluma, I have been confined in four hospitals, namely:
- Santa Rosa Memorial Center
- Kentfield Rehab Facility
- Marin General Hospital
- and St. Mary's Hospital.
Looking back, I spent more than a month in these medical facilities during the Christmas and New Year holidays. For the record, I sustained the following injuries:
- dislocated elbow
- two broken right upper ribs
- fractured right lower pelvic bone
- liver laceration
- damaged muscles on my right leg and thigh
- lacerations on my right forehead (including a lump) and right cheek that required multiple stitches
- and contusions around both eyes.
I wear prescription eyeglasses and the area around my eyes bore an actual imprint of the frames of my eyeglasses for several days after the accident. I was a relatively healthy 63-year-old individual (Thank you Bernadette for making me 10 years younger in your initial news article!).
Prior to my accident, I have never been confined in a hospital before. So everything that went on was a totally new experience to me.
I was fully conscious during and after the impact, but what was so surprising was I did not feel any pain at all. I was just like a spectator in a movie house watching a movie screen. I just saw the SUV coming from the right, felt some shaking, saw a lot broken glass flying around, heard my driver shout, "Por Dios, por Dios!", bystanders telling me "Don't move, don't move, help is on the way!", and me trying to free my right leg and thigh that were pinned down by the right front passenger door.
When I looked to my right, I saw that the front fender of the SUV was just five inches away from my face. It was so close that I even tried to push it away from my face. Afterwards, my vision suddenly turned reddish, as if a large bottle of red ink was poured on the score sheet that was attached to the clipboard on top of my lap. That was the time when I finally passed out. I reckon the SUV was traveling around 40 mph or even more, because the speed limit at that intersection is 40 mph.
I regained my consciousness inside the ambulance, with the paramedic checking my eyes with a flashlight. I remember very well telling him that I'm a DMV Examiner and that he needs to contact my manager in Petaluma right away. He told me that it's been taken cared of by the responding police officers. I passed out again and woke up inside the emergency unit, saw briefly the figures of what appeared to be my wife, Tess, and my Senior Examiner, Colleen. I passed once again then finally regained consciousness inside the ICU Unit with a wooden splint on my right arm, swollen face, tightness on my chest, and painful right leg and thigh.
The paramedics must have had a hard time in extricating me from the wreckage, because my wife arrived at the Emergency Unit in Santa Rosa way ahead of my ambulance. Tess does not know how to drive and we live in Sausalito, which is about 35 minutes away by car from Petaluma. Santa Rosa, on the other hand, is about an hour away from Sausalito.
According to Colleen, she went out with a customer for a drive test probably within the hour after I left the DMV parking lot. She became alarmed when she was approaching the intersection of Sonoma Mountain Parkway and Rainier Avenue, because of a very busy police activity that was going on there.
There are only three Examiners in Petaluma and Colleen, bless her heart, started making a head count right away by calling our Field Office. When she found out that I had not returned to the office yet, she had a gut feeling that I could be involved in that accident that she just saw.
After this was confirmed from the Petaluma Police Department by our Acting Manager, Vivian, Colleen had that quick presence of my mind to contact my wife, to inform her of the bad news, and to tell her to get ready to be picked up by her from our house so that they could both rush over to Santa Rosa Hospital. Tess told me later on that she almost fainted when she saw me being wheeled into the Emergency Unit. I was not moving at all, I looked practically dead, my face, my grey hair, and my clothes were all covered with blood. I really owe my life to the paramedics and the medical staff who attended to me that fateful morning in Santa Rosa. I also owe my life the second time around to the medical staff who operated and removed my gangrenous gall bladder which was about to explode last Dec. 19 at Marin General Hospital.
I had a steady stream of visitors and phone calls after my accident,
- first to visit was my former colleague, Bert, resident site Hearing Officer from Santa Rosa (I started working for the DMV as an MVFR at the Driver Safety Office in San Francisco in Sept. 2005 until my transfer as an LRE in Petaluma on Dec. 31, 2009);
- followed by my Manager, Kathleen, who rushed over from Redding where she was attending a managers' meeting;
- then DMV Director George Valverde who made a surprise visit last Dec. 5 to wish me speedy recovery, to comfort my wife and daughter, and to award me with a Special Recognition Medal for Service Excellence;
- also Julio Lacayo, Driver Safety Regional Manager (I told Julio that left turn yield on green intersections should be outlawed in California, that left turns should be allowed only when there is a green left turn arrow signal, and he replied that as a seated member, they're now discussing it in a committee where Caltrans is also a member);
- immediate phone calls of ready assistance to my wife from you and Bernadette; my Senior Examiner, Colleen, who never got tired in calling me up or my wife and visiting me countless of times;
- my former colleague from Driver Safety San Francisco, Ray, who provided my former officemates with updates on my medical condition;
- co-employees;
- relatives;
- and friends.
All the words of comfort, encouragement, prayers, support, and assistance that I received and continue to receive from everyone gave me the will to survive and to overcome this agonizing experience. Thank you all very much.
Roberto Mascardo
P.S. I went to my orthopedic specialist in Santa Rosa last Jan. 14 and my latest x-rays show that my pelvic bone and left elbow are both mending well. Personnel in Sacramento also approved my application for enhanced industrial leave with full pay for 365 calendar days, which means that I will be on leave for the whole year 2010. My State Fund claims representative, Lynette Metcalf, who is based in Rohnert Park and who's handling my workers comp insurance has been very quick in attending to and settling my medical bills and prescriptions. Workers comp is also providing me with a taxi cab at no charge whenever I need a ride to and from my doctor's appointments. All I need to do would be to call up an 800 number at least 24 hours in advance to arrange for the ride.
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