{"id":907,"date":"2018-04-03T21:31:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T01:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=907"},"modified":"2018-04-03T22:06:04","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T02:06:04","slug":"head-on-car-accident-in-new-zealand-andrew-and-keith-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=907","title":{"rendered":"HEAD ON CAR ACCIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND…ANDREW AND KEITH SURVIVE"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

From: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Subject: <\/b><\/span>Fwd: HEAD ON CAR ACCIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND…ANDREW AND KEITH<\/b>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Date: <\/b><\/span>April 3, 2018 at 6:54:08 PM GMT-4
<\/span><\/div>\n
To: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

From: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Subject: <\/b><\/span>Fwd: HEAD ON CAR ACCIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND…ANDREW AND KEITH<\/b>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Date: <\/b><\/span>April 2, 2018 at 6:03:01 PM GMT-4
<\/span><\/div>\n
To: <\/b><\/span>askeoch@bellnet.ca<\/a><\/a>
<\/span><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
HIGHER RESOLUTION?  HOW DO I DO THAT?
<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n
Begin forwarded message:<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

From: <\/b><\/span>Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Subject: <\/b><\/span>HEAD ON CAR ACCIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND…ANDREW AND KEITH<\/b>
<\/span><\/div>\n
Date: <\/b><\/span>April 2, 2018 at 5:28:16 PM GMT-4
<\/span><\/div>\n
To: <\/b><\/span>askeoch@bellnet.ca<\/a><\/a>
<\/span><\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

        NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
(Andrew Skeoch and Keith Merker)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
ghost written by  Alan Skeoch<\/div>\n
from interview with Andrew Skeoch<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
      (North Island,  New Zealand, winter 1991)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
      The  road was empty.  Or, at least it seemed  so.   Keith was driving and I was in the passenger seat reading.<\/div>\n
The two girls were in the back dozing.  We had  been surfing on 90 mile beach, a vast expanse of hard  sand and<\/div>\n
foaming waves.  Wonderful place.  So huge that other cars are few and  far between and the hard  sand allowed <\/div>\n
us to park at the water\u2019s edge.  We had a  great time.   <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
But that was  about to end.  Suddenly.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cCar! Coming at us head on.\u201d  Keith yelled but probably never finished  the sentence.  I looked up just in time to see<\/div>\n
a white car with two boys coming at us on the wrong side of the road.  A blind curve.  No time to think or act.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Kaboom!  Both cars were welded together and  both came to a  dead  stop in showers and gas  and metal  fragments.<\/div>\n
None of  us had seat belts.  The moment after I looked  up from my book\u2026milliseconds\u2026I flew from my seat right through<\/div>\n
the front window. Head first.  Something on my head  was  torn as  Ihit the crumpled hood of our  car. Blood. Lots of it.<\/div>\n
My nose  was severed badly and would not stop bleeding.  It felt like a flap of meat rather than part of  my body.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Initially I was the only person who cold stand, however.  Keith\u2019s chest had  hit and  collapsed the steering wheel while<\/div>\n
a stiletto like piece of metal impaled his knee.  he was pinned.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The girls?   I tried to get the back door open on Jo Anne’s side.  Hard to do.  Blood pouring down my face. Finally <\/div>\n
the door was wrenched  open.  Jo Anne look like she was dead.  A limp body.  I placed her on the ground and<\/div>\n
tired to revive her but feared the worst.  Then her eyes opened but she could not talk.  Her jaw was broken dead  centre.<\/div>\n
But she was alive.  The other girl was mobile by then but badly cut in the lower torso.  She was stretched out on<\/div>\n
the highway beside Jo Anne.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
By  that time Keith had  freed  himself and  took a look at me.  Something had  to be done.  I was losing so  much  blood.<\/div>\n
So he wound my head  and  face with tape\u2026looked like  a mummy.  But the tape stopped  the heavy bleeding.  Keith<\/div>\n
could not walk.  He hobbled.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The boys in the other car were in a state  of shock.  We pulled our camping gear from our car and  laid out <\/div>\n
what we could  right on the road.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
No car came.  We hoped and prayed but no car.  After two hours I decided to try to walk  and get help.  I was<\/div>\n
the least hurt although my bloody clothes  looked  terrible.  And the making tape bandages were sinister looking.  Who would stop<\/div>\n
to help once they saw me at the side of the road?  Just as I started,  a  car full  of  tourists came<\/div>\n
around  the bend.   They had  phones.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
A helicopter arrived in short order with a medic who bandaged us up and loaded both girls aboard for<\/div>\n
the flight back to Auckland.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Keith and I  had to wait for an ambulance and then faced a miserable six hour drive to the same hospital<\/div>\n
in Auckland.   My nose was bad.  I feared the worst.  What would life be like without a nose?  The windshield<\/div>\n
had lived my nose  across he bottom and up the right side.  So it was just hanging by he flesh on the left side.<\/div>\n
What followed was wise than the accident as far as I was  concerned.  It was  night when we arrived but<\/div>\n
there could be no delay so the surgeon began  stitching immediately.. Freezing kept the<\/div>\n
nostril bridge from hurting but the rest was  sheer agony as the doctor had to reach up inside my nostril<\/div>\n
to get the stitches to take hold.  And there was no freezing up there.  This was not a nice experience.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
There was, however, a rosy ending.  Archie Clarke, the investigating police officer came down to<\/div>\n
Auckland with us.  He was  responsible for policing the Northern Territory so that was  some distance<\/div>\n
from his home base.   As far a the accident was concerned we were in the clear.  the other car<\/div>\n
was in our lane.  Their fault.   Some comfort but not much for our car had to be written off and <\/div>\n
we had  very little money left.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then a weird thing happened.  Archie Clarke volunteered to take us all\u2026two boys and two girls\u2026to his home up<\/div>\n
north while we recuperated.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
In the end  we had a two week all expenses  paid vacation with a terrific family who loved and shared<\/div>\n
their outdoor life.  We even went out hunting for wlld pigs in the wilds of the North Island.  I wonder how many police officers in Canada would do that?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Andrew Skeoch (almost verbatim)<\/div>\n
April 2018<\/div>\n
(The accident happened in 1991)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
P>S>  Andrew never told us  how bad this  accident had been.  By pure chance I found<\/div>\n
these pictures  while converting 35 mm slides to digital pictures.<\/div>\n


<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
This  picture  gives  a good  idea  of the impact.  Both cars are welded  together<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

like husband and  wife.  We never really got to know the boys in the white car.  They were<\/p><\/div>\n

in shock.  Guess they knew they were also in big trouble.  Wrong side of the road. Nobody  had  been drinking. I say<\/div>\n
that just in case you think four males and  two girls were violating the liquor laws.  Bad  <\/div>\n
things happen to good people.
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The gas tanks were not ruptured. That is cooling fluid on the ground.  If fire had  started<\/p><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t know if three of our people would have got out in time.  I might have been the<\/div>\n
only survivor.  Cars  explode often in this kind  of collision.  We were lucky.  If you look<\/div>\n
closely on the right side, you can  see the girls  wrapped in sleeping bags awaiting aid.
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Notice that Keith Merker can  barely stand up.  Also this  gives a good  idea  of  what it was  like the fly through the windshield of our car.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

What windshield, you say.  Precisely my point.  Lucky my nose is not attached to that last remaining glass shard.  Notice the bent steering wheel<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

  pushed  up against he dashboard by Keith\u2019s  chest.

<\/div>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


<\/div>\n

Help arrived.  Red car.   We had made the girls as comfortable as possible as we <\/div>\n
awaited the helicopter.<\/div>\n


<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Begin forwarded message: From: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> Subject: Fwd: HEAD ON CAR ACCIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND…ANDREW AND KEITH Date: April 3, 2018 at 6:54:08 PM GMT-4 To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> Begin forwarded message: From: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> Subject: Fwd: HEAD ON CAR ACCIDENT IN NEW ZEALAND…ANDREW AND KEITH Date: April 2, 2018 at 6:03:01 PM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}