Desert Survival

Less than two weeks after being left for dead on the side of the road, I took the same road back to the desert southwest, not to start a business or to make kayak fishing videos, but as a person with no place to live, no money and no means of legally making any. Thankfully, I had been here fishing the previous year so I knew what I needed to survive. A lot of the things I needed were destroyed in the accident and I had no means to replace them. All I had left was the truck, my Hobie kayak that was damaged, but not destroyed in the accident, a solar panel and my clothes.

The battery for the solar power system was damaged in the accident and needed to be replaced. Since my laptop computer was crushed in the accident and my cell phone was lost, solar power wasn't life and death, but it makes a big difference when you are living outdoors. The battery in the new to me truck was going dead as well. All my meager Social Security check went to paying the bills, with little money left for food and gas. Not being a resident of the state, I wasn't eligible for public assistance.

All of that didn't matter much to me because I could barely move as a result of the impact of a 40 ton truck. For the couple weeks following the accident, all the things I had to do I did out of desperation. I had a tough time moving stuff and only slept a couple hours a night because of the pain, but I had no choice, it was literally life and death. Now it was sinking in, everything that happened and the desperate shape I was in.

Not being able to move around, living in the middle of nowhere and not being able to hear placed me in extreme isolation. The only human contact I had was with the delightful folks at the insurance companies on my new $15 cell phone. A death row prisoner in solitary confinement has more human contact than I did. It gives you a lot of time to think. Not having any physical possessions, personal or professional interactions and no access to electronic media of any kind frees up a lot of brain space.

The first thing I had to do was control the anger and resentment about what had happened to me. This was not the first time I'd lost everything to corrupt police and government for being a law abiding citizen. To be assaulted with my hands tied behind my back is not something I take kindly to. Especially when it is done by the persons entrusted to protect us. While I do not believe in revenge, that is something will never forget. Once the accident injuries healed to the point that I could move around, all my focus shifted to try and heal myself.

When the truck hit me, I had seen him speeding towards me in the rear view mirror, put the truck in gear and tried to get to the side of the road. The construction flagman realized the same thing and moved in the same direction. Instead of passing on the left in the other lane of the highway, the trucker tried to pass on the right and slammed into my truck. The last thing I saw before being knocked unconscious was the flash of the flagman's reflective vest in the headlights of my truck. I was wearing my seat belt but the impact slammed me against the door of the truck. I suffered a concussion and injuries that I still have today. My hips, especially my left hip, my left arm, shoulder and leg were all damaged. The extent of the injuries I will never know because I couldn't afford any medical care.

Four months following the accident, living in the Arizona desert, I made the video below reflecting on what had happened and the situation I was in. My camera was one of the only things I had left.

No medical care, no medication except generic ibuprofen and nobody to count on except me, I set about trying to heal myself. I've been an athlete all my life, injury and rehab are part of the program. I started with a few steps at a time, adding a few feet every day until I was able to walk somewhat normally. It was all painful, but I walked further and further every day.

I felt I had to do whatever it took to get back to some kind of normal life. I'm not happy about it, but what's done is done and I work with what I have. I didn't care about living in my truck that much. Living in the Cascade Mountains, I did a lot of truck camping. I wanted to get back to the point where I could ride my bicycle and paddle my kayak again before I died of old age, which for me, could come at any time. The desire to do those things again was powerful motivation keep working.

After a couple months of working out every day with what I had on hand, I was able to unload the fishing kayak from the roof of my truck and into the Colorado River. I'd done this hundreds of times before, but this time was important because it was an indication I might recover enough to enjoy the few things I had left from my former life before the accident.

As the weeks went by, I scraped up enough money to afford a mobile phone with internet coverage and began to find out about the people that put me on the street. I saw President Donald Trump doing his best to divide the country and saw the police, the same police that put me on the street twice, killing more and more innocent American citizens every day. Without the brainwashing effect of American television, it was clear to me that I did not need to expend any effort to try and return to society, only to have it all taken away again. I could sit on the side of the road and watch America collapse. As the number of refugees from America's failed economic system, also known as homeless people, explodes across the country and corruption and greed cripple the nation, it's only a matter of time.

All material on this website is the property of the owner and may not be used without permission.