Hal Goldblatt  ~  Survivor

Friday night, November 25, 2022, I was walking home from the nearby synagogue. There is one larger street that I cross on my way home, and there is a crosswalk on that street. A crosswalk I was instrumental in getting placed and often crossed with pride in the safety and care of my community As I approached the street, I looked both ways, as I always do and as I have taught my 10 children to do and as they have taught my 29 grandchildren to do. When I saw there were no cars coming, I began to cross the street. I was mere feet from the sidewalk when a car turned onto the street. The driver was allegedly speeding and told police he had looked down to adjust the heat in the car. I don’t remember any of this. I was told later by witnesses and the police report that I flew 79 feet in the air. I was told I shattered the car’s windshield and my diabetes medical bracelet and watch flew off my wrist. I was told, eventually, I landed behind his car, broken and unconscious. Community members who witnessed this stayed with me while others ran to my house to tell my wife and kids what happened. The driver stopped and called an ambulance. My son rode with me to the trauma intensive care unit, where I stayed in critical condition for two weeks, mostly unconscious, and where a team of surgeons performed surgery on my broken spine, leg and arm. In total, I broke 13 bones, including bones in both legs, both arms, my spine, my skull and my ribs. In total, I spent more than a month in the hospital before my wife, working with home health care, therapists and a hospital case worker, managed to bring me home to continue my recovery. In total, I have accrued nearly $1 million in hospital bills and home health care equipment. In total, I have missed months of work, and months of quality time with my family and travels with my wife, who is retired and now is my primary caretaker as I recover.