I've loved cars since I was a kid. MKII Golf GTI, wow - I wasn't even into double digits and I knew that a GTI had darkened rear lights compared to a normal Golf, I was car mad.
I couldn't wait to get my licence, when I finally did I found the next hurdle to overcome - Irish car insurance. For me to be a named driver on a Fiesta back in 2001 I shelled out IR£3,000. It was worth every bit, the freedom it gave, my own wheels. Over the years I've learnt how to clean a car back to showroom condition. From a special sponge for my car, an alloy wheel brush, a chamois, tyre dressing and this was 'just' a Fiesta. But it was MY Fiesta.
Along the way I've had three VW Golf GTIs, two of them the excellent MKV, an Audi S3 MKII in stunning sprint blue and currently a BMW 335i coupe. This isn't me showing off, I don't drink a lot, I rarely go on holidays - my passion is cars and that's where my money goes. I dread to think how much depreciation it's cost me.
I decided over the last while to see if I could step into something that extra bit special and it led me to a lot of guys dream car - a Porsche. I booked a test drive with a Porsche dealer and I decided to see if I could find what I was looking for.
Unfortunately on Saturday during the test drive I learnt an important lesson - no matter what the car is, you've got to appreciate what the conditions are. The build quality of the Porsche is probably a strong reason while I'm here and alive but it doesn't matter what the car is, when you're heading for a tree, your fate flashes across you, it sounds like a cliche but you DO wonder will you see your family again, your loved ones, your friends... how is this going to end..WILL I be killed in the next few moments from impacting with a tree? Thankfully I didn't get to answer those questions and the car came to a halt albeit upside down, with the driver and myself hanging, glued to our seats by the seat belts. The frayed material on my jacket with an imprint from the belt shows how hard the tension of the belt was.
It's also not bullshit when people say everything happened in slow motion - it did.
I crawled out of the mangled car, my hand spewing blood, a car which five minutes previously hadn't got so much as a mark on it and the next sight I saw was the same one I've posted for you below. I can't describe the mixture of shock, disbelief, relief and just luck I felt looking at what was left of the Cayman.
It's safe to say someone was watching over me on Saturday.
I'm so grateful to a student nurse named Ciara who stopped close by a few minutes after the crash and helped me calm the bleeding, you'll make a fine nurse I've no doubt. The doctor in the Beacon hospital who helped make a traumatic shock and a painful procedure go as swiftly as possible.
On the way home a radio report said an Irish man in his 20s had been killed in a road accident in Australia after hitting a tree. It hit home as I looked down at my injured hand and realised once again how lucky I was to escape with the injuries I received.
The next day I learnt that the Irish man killed was barely in his 20s and the son of a fellow radio presenter, Lynsey Dolan from Country FM. I couldn't believe that while the accidents had been so similar I was so lucky, yet somebody's child had been taken from them tens of thousands of kilometers away. My thoughts are still with you.
If I can take one thing from this to give to others it's LADS you won't realise the consequences that road accidents have on people until you've been in one. Don't get yourself into a situation where you need to find out.
Take my word for it.
1 comment:
Jesus Mark, that is an awful experience for you. Your post should be on the front page of the site as a warning to everybody how easy it is for it all to go so wrong. Some of the driving I see daily really makes you wonder how more people are not killed. Really glad you're OK.
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