Have you ever been in an automobile accident?

I was in a car accident in 1978 or early 1979. A friend and I had been volunteering cleaning carriages for the railway historical society and we were on our way home. It was late afternoon and it was a very hot day. Typical Adelaide summer. We were travelling on King William Road into the city and a car ran a red light at an intersection and hit us. I don’t recall the accident itself . I think I saw the car coming but I might have blacked out for a minute or two. Now, after so many years I don’t really remember many details.

Fortunately we were not badly hurt. My friend, the driver was just shaken up but I was thrown forward and hit the dashboard. An ambulance was called and I was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, just a few minutes drive away.

I spent several hours at the hospital while they removed five teeth and stitched up my face. Other than that I was just bruised and sore. I insisted on going home that night. I didn’t want to stay overnight in hospital.

Let’s see, what else do I remember. My friend’s car, an old XP Falcon was a write off. I had a hub cap from it as a souvenir for years. The car looked something like the one below. I remember it had that same colour scheme but it was old and unrestored.

I only took a week or so to recover from the bruising but had to wait some months before I was fitted with a dental plate. While I was recovering David had his first experience of doing the grocery shopping. I made him a list of things he needed to buy. He did quite well except that where I had written “cold meat” meaning sliced ham or beef for sandwiches he had bought a frozen chicken. Well it was cold!