[troutman]

Driving home from University from Ontario to Calgary for the summer with two friends. We were driving straight through from Michigan to Winnipeg. In the middle of the night my friend was driving somewhere in Wisconsin, and he fell asleep at the wheel. We were all asleep at that point. We awoke to the sound of the car hitting gravel on the shoulder, and we luckily stopped the car and took a break.

I had an undetected blood clot in my leg that spread to my lungs causing a pulmonary embolism. The doctors said I dodged a bullet there, and it was treated just in time.

After the Flood in 2013 I was helping my dad clean-up flood damage at the ranch. I was using a pressure-washer to clean out the stable, wearing just shorts and sandals. I set the wand down, and somehow it got triggered and started flailing around - the stream cut a gash across my leg like a sword, blood gushing out every time my heart beat. My dad gave me first aid, and I seemed ok for a day or two. Then, my leg got very sore and swollen, and the emergency doctors were worried I had flesh eating disease. There was talk of amputating my leg, but first they tried antibiotics to see what would happen. Turns out my leg was not infected, but my leg was swollen just from the trauma of the pressure wound. I was able to go home a few days later on crutches.