The Happy Anniversary Crash

My story all happened back on Saturday, October 1, 2005. It was a normal day for the most part except it happened to be my parents wedding anniversary. My dad was taking me to work this day. See, back then, before I got my motorcycle license, my dad use to take me to work on the back of his motorcycle. We had cars but the bike was always faster and better on gas than the car. I had been around bikes ever since I can remember so riding on them never bothered me. On this day my dad had to take me to work about an hour sooner than he normally would because he was going to help out a friend of ours with his race car at Ventura Raceway, which is where I was working. So we, my dad and I, got our stuff like our jackets and helmets together and headed out the door. We put our gear on, climbed onto the motorcycle, and headed off on a nice, fun ride to Ventura…or so we thought.
It was a beautiful sunny Southern California day. You couldn’t ask for a better day for riding. As we rode up the coast on Harbor Boulevard, we leaned one way on the bike and then the other way to follow the twist and turns of the long two-way road. As we got into the city of Ventura, the sunny sky started to become cloudier and cloudier. You would think that would give you a clue that the once nice day wasn’t going to be so nice but it didn’t. We had a red light at Harbor and Seaward. So we waited there for about forty five seconds before taking off when it turned green. We ended up the first car through the next intersection which was Harbor and Monmouth coming up on In-N-Out Burger. I saw a line of cars in the number 2 lane waiting to go through the drive though but that didn’t bother me because it was always like that on Saturday afternoons. So because of that, I turned my head to the left to see what was going on that side of the road. That might have been ultimately the best thing I could have done for what was about to happen.
As we were going around the curvy road in front of In-N-Out Burger, I felt the motorcycle JUMP straight up almost as if there was an unexpected turn I did not know about! I quickly turned my head back to the right to see why there was a sudden change in direction when out of the corner of my eye I saw in slow motion a black object drive straight in front of my dad and me. All I could do was hang on for dear life. My dad tried to avoid it by steering the motorcycle in the opposite direction we were going. He clinched down on the clutch with his left hand as hard as he could while pulling the front brake lever back with his right hand until it couldn’t move anymore! But it was too little too late.
We struck the driver’s side of the black 2003 Ford Thunderbird doing between 35 and 45 miles per hour. That doesn’t seem like we were going fast but believe me, it is a lot when you hit a solid object. The motorcycle’s tire crumbled into the front fender of the Thunderbird. I was forced into the back of my dad, crushing his pelvis into the gas tank and splitting his femoral artery. I then was thrown into the air flying twenty-five feet up Harbor Boulevard before landing on my head and shoulder, cracking my helmet. My right clavicle snapped like a twig and came piercing out through the skin. I then bounced onto my right side cracking my pelvis and sliding on my back. The rough surface of the hot asphalt ground up my back as if it was a piece of meat going through a meat grinder. I luckily didn’t feel any of the pain because I was knocked unconscious when my head hit the ground. My injuries were paper cuts compared to what happened to my dad.
While I was flying through the air doing my thing, my dad was stuck on the bike and was forced into the windshield of the T-bird. The impact was so violent that it sent a chain reaction of destruction through his body causing damage to any and every thing inside him. Almost immediately his brain swelled up causing parts of it to die. Along with the brain, his spine began to swell in which paralyzed the entire right side of his body. His kidneys were sliced and diced from the sharp edges of the spine. After my dad fell off the car onto the ground, the car continued across the road smashing into a SUV and then came to rest on the sidewalk across the street. My dad’s suffering didn’t stop there. As he was lying there yelling my name, “CODY!! CODY!!” his femoral artery squirted blood everywhere like a water gun. What was so amazing about this whole thing was there just happened to be some fire fighters eating lunch across the way. They heard the crash and came running out to help everyone. The fire fighters got to my dad first and managed to stop the bleeding. It he would have gone another minute without it getting the bleeding stopped; he would have bled to death right there in the middle of the street.
The fire fighters called for multiple ambulances for my dad and me. I ended up going to CMH where I woke up an hour and a half after the crash. When I opened my eyes, my mom was standing over me. I asked, “What Happened?” She replied with, “You and dad were in a motorcycle accident” as tears started to fill her eyes. “Is he okay?” I asked. “Yes” she answered. “He is getting ready for surgery.” The pain started to get to me. Al I could say was, “It hurts!” The nurse asked me what hurt. I couldn’t really tell her where exactly because my whole body hurt. The main problem was my hip. I told her that I thought it was broken. They couldn’t do many tests except for trying to make me walk. They got me up but I couldn’t move more than about two inches. The nurse said that it would be best if I just stay over night just in case.
My dad, on the other hand, was taken to VCMC where he was rushed into surgery. The doctors were able to stabilize him for the time being but they had to put him in a drug-induced coma. Doctors let my family know that with all the injuries my father had suffered, there was a 50/50 chance he wouldn’t make it over night. He ended up not only surviving the first night but was in a coma for eight days and spent a total of three months in the hospital where he had multiple surgeries. Towards the end of his stay, he gained about 70% of movement in his right side and was able to walk the day after his last surgery.
I had surgery three weeks later to have a plate and five screws put into my shoulder to hold my clavicle together. Eight months later I had it removed so I could have full motion in my shoulder again. The only evidence left that I can show of the accident is occasional popping of bones and a few scars.
Every day that passes my dad if getting better and stronger in the areas he had once lost. This accident may have been bad in a lot of ways but something really important came out of all this and that was it brought my family a lot closer together. It’s true what they say, “You don’t know what you really have until you lose it”. Or almost lose it in my case.

The Sylvia Gaona "Martinez" Interview Blog =D

So for this blog I was supposed to interview a fellow student at random. I was fortunate to get the chance to partner up with Sylvia Gaona and ask her some questions. She also goes by Sylvia Martinez. I’m not sure why. Maybe she gets bored with one name and changes it from time to time (Joke). Anyways, I asked her several questions and this is what she had to say. Sylvia was born and raised right here in Oxnard. Her family moved a lot in the area so she went to several elementary schools. When I say several I mean seven. Actually it was five different schools but two of them she attended twice. What motivates her to attend college is her kids. They mean the world to her. She wants to set a good example to them. Her husband keeps her going. Every time she thinks about quitting, her husband is there to steer her back into the right direction. As of right now Sylvia goes to school Tuesdays and Thursdays while working Tuesdays through Saturdays. Sundays and Mondays are left to spend time with her two kids. Her husband is her mentor. He is her “rock” as she likes to say. Whenever she has a problem he allows her to vent to him. She sees herself as a role model for her children. She wants them to see and understand how hard she is working for them. I asked her to describe herself in three words and she said, strong, honest, and loyal. I would have to agree from the short time I’ve known her. In five to ten years she sees herself as a third grade teacher and her husband a cop. She told me a great motto she lives by and that is “Regardless of the situation, never give up”. I couldn’t agree more with that motto. What she likes most about Oxnard College is the person sitting in her English class. To be more specific it’s the guy sitting in the third row, right side, fourth seat. Still don’t know? Well it’s me, Cody. Sylvia also said she likes the other people here at OC but I was number one. What Oxnard College needs to improve in her eyes as well as many other students’ eyes is the parking, the cost of food and books, and needs more student benefits. She is still going to attend Oxnard College if they don’t change not because of her culture but because she herself wants too. The two things that have surprised her most about Oxnard College is the cost of text books and me, Cody. She said that I’m awesome and that she didn’t expect. I think this is a good way to end this blog about Sylvia so thanks for taking the time to read this. Bye!

Text Me and I Text You Back

Texting is a big part of my life as it is with many people around the world. I can’t remember the last day I didn’t text someone or someone didn’t text me. I actually have the unlimited texting plan because I would go through the limited texting in a day of two. What texting allows me to do is talk to people that I can’t talk to face-to-face or on the phone. It makes it easy to get answers from people that can’t talk on the phone at the moment. Something that I use it quite often for is getting friends’ addresses. I am able to keep them on my phone, which I have with me all the time, until I am able to look up the directions. I am able to send friends pictures or even videos of whatever I may want to send. Sending what are called “forwards” isn’t something I do much but if it happens to be a funny joke then I might send it to a few friends. I’ve even been known to text while on the motorcycle. Yes, that sounds bad but I would be stopped at a light so I had time to text. I got a lot slack from several friends about it so I stopped doing that. I’ve actually text while writing this blog. Well, got to go. I have some more texting to do.

Reality Shows

Do I watch reality shows? No, I do not watch reality show much anymore. I use to watch reality shows when they seemed to be more real. Back in jr. high and high school I would watch shows like Survivor, the Real World, and Road Rules. Looking back on Survivor I don’t think it was as real as what I once thought it was. The other two shows were real or at least seemed to be. The so called “reality” shows just don’t seem real to me. They are way too scripted in my opinion. I’m not saying they are completely thought out before hand but some things just seem too planed. Back when reality shows first started they would pick your “average” people. By doing that it would seem more real because you can relate to them easier. Now the shows go for the crazy/outrages people or the better looking people. The producers do it for the ratings which I understand but don’t call it reality then. A lot of the people on these shows act one way for TV and then act completely different on the street. I don’t know if the shows are harming to our society but they definitely give a false impression of the cities and or the type of people these “characters” are portraying. Let’s look at the very popular MTV show called Jersey Shore. I know everyone is going to talk about this one. The people selected for this reality show are supposed to represent the Jersey Shore in New Jersey. Now I know there are people there that look and talk like them but it’s hard to believe there are enough “guidos” to make a TV series about them. If I go to the actual Jersey Shore, am I really going to see a bunch of slimy haired dudes “fist pumping like champs”? I doubt it. Another popular show that I hear friends talk about all the time is The Hills. I truly can’t see the point of watching this show. It is just about a bunch of people having dating problems. The worst reality show ever to be aired on TV is any of the Real House Wives of whatever city. Those ladies are so annoying. That show isn’t good for the public because it gives the message that all rich white people are crazy and just like to argue about nothing. I try my hardest to avoid all of these modern reality shows because to me it’s not real. But I can’t seem to get away from them because once one of those shows are over, Facebook just turns into a bunch of friends blogging about what just happened to whomever on whatever show. It’s bad that I don’t even have to watch a single episode and still find out what happened that night. I say get some shows that more people can relate too and stop with all these dump people complaining about how terrible their rich lives are.