Fell Asleep, Big Crash

Hi so I got in the wreck at about 2:30 Saturday morning and I felt completely fine up until after this morning. I actually went to get things checked out this morning at just a local clinic but all they did was take vitals and see if it hurt to touch or stretch it. at that time it didn’t, so I went back to sleep.

when I woke up I went out to smoke a cigarette and i ended up throwing up twice, just water though. I have also had diarrhea all day as well. Now my back hurts more then it has ever. I’d really appreciate your help in this situation.

Oh yeah I forgot more details on the wreck. I was asleep in the back seat of my friends car, he fell asleep at the wheel doing probably 50mph and we ran off the road and hit a wall pretty much head on, the whole front of the car is smashed.
I was sitting up in my chair sleeping, with my head on top of the passengers headrest.

thanks, jarred.

Hi there, Michelle here...

Yikes. This was actually quite a serious accident. I am so glad to hear that you were both able to walk away from this one. I think its likely you have a mild concussion, and severe whiplash. Sounds like the local clinic missed this as a possible diagnosis.

Its actually fairly common for clinics to miss concussion as a diagnosis as traditionally a concussion comes when you hit your head – so if you were playing football, smashed your helmet into the guy across the line, the clinic would assume you had a concussion.

Car accidents are strange events as you can receive a concussion without hitting your head on anything. During big impacts your brain can hit the inside of your skull hard enough to give you a concussion, and cause other sorts of injury.

And you can hit your head in an accident and have no memory of it as the event is so traumatic many people have no memory of the actual impact and often have no memory of parts of the day prior to the accident.

So, all that to say sounds like a mild concussion. What to do? Open a claim with your friends insurance so you can receive medical treatment. Likely he will have some kind of coverage for passenger injuries. Then off to see a chiropractor straight away.

Tell the chiropractor all your symptoms and that you think the clinic may have missed the concussion. The chiropractor will be able to guide you as to what the next best step is, and will know a good medical doctor who can help if you have a concussion.

Get treatment. And haul your friend with you.

My guess is he is pretty injured too. This was a big impact you both are probably suffering whiplash, and will both feel a lot better faster with some chiropractic treatment.

A note to everyone reading this: driving while tired is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated. It’s an extremely common thing for us to do, keep driving as we are so close to wherever our destination is. It’s a myth that rolling down the window or keeping the music on loud will help.

If you are behind the wheel and you are sleepy, you won’t know when your eyes shut and you fall asleep. You will just be asleep and you will then be in a crash.

Please if you are driving and feel tired, pull over at the next exit, roll into a public area, lock your doors and take a snooze. When you wake back up, you will feel clear headed and able to drive again. Get yourself off the road immediately.

Accidents that happen when someone falls asleep usually end up being extremely bad.

Best Regards, M.

Click here to post comments
