Book Series: SENIOR MOMENTS ARE FOREVER

2nd Moment – Superman Met Car Accident

Aside from the death of my wife I also met another earthly tragedy. On July 14, 2017, after one and a half year of rest, travelling, and leisurely driving around Bicol Region with some friends, I met a car accident. I was driving to Manila and traversing the national highway along Del Gallego in Camarines Sur’s Andaya Highway. While was driving out from an environmental check point barricade with two motor bikes behind me an over speeding delivery van came straight into my direction. It hit the front side of my car from the wheel to the driver side door, and, if I was not quick to steer my wheel to the right, I would have been on a head-on collision and heaven knows what would had happened to me.

A friend of mine and his wife who were with me suffered minor injuries. I was lucky to survive with little bruises and a black eye thanks to the safety bag on the steering wheel. Perhaps a miracle of something related to my birthright. But my car was later declared as totally damaged by the insurance company.

Meanwhile I almost lost my mind when I saw what happened to the motor bikes behind me. The culprit speeding van swirled around after hitting me and rammed two bikes trailing behind. The bikes were totally crashed, one of the drivers suffered broken legs, a woman back rider was thrown high on the road - later it was reported that she lost her unborn child. But worst of all, the guy driving one of the bikes was declared dead on arrival in the hospital.

The accident gave me at least three weeks of sleepless nights. God gave me a second life, and I thought that He was sending me a message. So, I decided that I must get out of retirement, go back to work and continue a mission on the best way and capacity that He had given me.

While I was recovering from the trauma, I searched for notes in my laptop and decided that I should continue writing and sharing my life with the hope that it can help others not only those who are involved in community development work, but most of all, to help people fight depression and enjoy their God-given life on earth.

I hope friends who followed me on my first book series on community development in this Newspaper (Working with People in the South Pacific) will have the patience and enjoy reading short notes of fun memories and stories because I found out that in order to address depression and trauma caused by vehicle accidents one must face the fear. In my case I drove back to Bicol from Manila with another car, bought a medium motorbike and resumed roaring on the road again.

Then I feel the joy of telling mine and copied stories to others, share happy and amusing memories and anecdotes. It’s amusing to be a meme superman. * * * Watch for the 3rd Moments: How to deal with trauma and depression