It just gets worse

[cjsmith]

I've recently learned that it's not at all clear whether my uncle had a heart attack BEFORE or AFTER his car was hit.

My uncle and one of my cousins had planned to meet for a concert. The accident occurred in the parking lot of their destination. My cousin arrived while emergency personnel were still clearing up the accident. He watched his father being loaded into the ambulance. He says he smelled alcohol on the other driver's breath, but the policeman on the scene did not choose to (? refused to?) demand a breathalyzer test. My cousin surmises that this refusal was because the other driver happened to be a firefighter and there was some level of "professional courtesy" going on there.

At some point it doesn't matter -- I mean, nothing's going to bring my uncle back, and if this guy was drunk he's going to have to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life whether or not someone ruins his career as well -- but my cousin is understandably pissed off.

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It is amazing to hear what may happen with a coma. We just never know. In my uncle's case, I'm not sure that there even WAS head injury, so that may not be a factor. Plus a lot of trauma (enough to get him transferred from one hospital to another 'cause they had a better trauma center), plus a heart attack, plus he's 76 which makes recovery far less likely. Still. You're absolutely right that you just never know. It's a whole area that is a mystery to our best scientists.