The Day Daddy Got Hit By A Truck!

One of those things you NEVER expect to say in your lifetime. Yes, I'll just come out and say it, hubby was riding his bike on his way to work and got hit by a Dodge Ram extended cab, long bed, truck on Tuesday morning!

Here's my side of the story.

We've gotten into the routine of Daddy biking to work 2-4 times a week, and it's been great for him to be able to get the exercise, as well as freeing me up from taking him and picking him up every day the girls and I need the car. (we only have one car) We're so proud of our little effort to save $ and be a little green. ;o)

Like any other morning we gave hugs and kisses, said our goodbyes, and sent Daddy on his way expecting a phone call when he got to work to let us know he got there safely. Well, that's where the normalcy of the day ended. Instead of a phone call, there was a knock on the door at 7:45a.m. I wasn't worried, but a little confused as to who might be coming over so early in the morning unannounced. As I peeked out the peep whole, there stood hubby!!! A whole slew of things started to race through my mind, but mostly I was confused as to why he might be standing there. As I quickly opened the door I could see that he was very dirty and pretty banged up looking. I think I asked him if he crashed his bike and if I remember correctly he sort of stood there for a second w/ a slightly stunned and miffed look. I kept talking and said, "you didn't get hit did you." He said yes, and I can't exactly remember the order of things after that. We hugged (gingerly), we cried a little bit, at some point I asked him how he got home, and probably flooded him w/ questions about what had happened.
He said he was fine and just needed to clean up so he could get to work! I was like, "are you kidding me? you just got hit by a car!" He goes, "actually it was a truck." Oh good, that makes it even better. Before he got in the shower and washed all the blood, etc. off, I said we should at least take pics of his injuries in case we needed some type of documentation for any reason.
After some praying and pacing (and LOTS of questioning from the kids), I suggested we go to the urgent care clinic, so they could at least check him over. He said his knee was starting to hurt, so I was glad he didn't fight me on it. ;o)
After he cleaned up we headed out the door, and my mom was able to meet us and pick up the girls. (thanks mom! and all the others of you who have offered to pray and to help in any way you can! y'all are awesome and we feel so blessed by all of you!)

To back track a little, here's a basic summary of how the accident went down.

Hubby was taking his normal route to work. He rides for a little over a mile on a somewhat busy street, w/ almost no pedestrians, so he often bikes on the sidewalk. As he was approaching an intersection he slowed down when he noticed a vehicle stopped there. The driver didn't have a signal on, and wasn't going, so hubby proceeded slowly through the intersection. Just as he did, the driver decided to turn right and hit right into him. It was totally a God thing that there was no oncoming traffic at that time, because it knocked him into the busy street, and things could have been much worse. The guy immediately stopped and jumped out of his car saying things like, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you, are you okay." Hubby, being in a state of shock, and not wanting to make the guy (or his middle-school-aged daughter in the car) feel any worse, said he was just scraped up and he was okay. The guy was nice enough to drive him home, and offered to pay to get his bike fixed, but the only info hubby got from him was his name and #.

At the Urgent Care clinic (I hope they don't get to know us personally there), we thankfully beat the rush. Several people came in as we were filling out paper work, so we were glad we got there when we did. I think each one of the staff mentioned that they see lots of bike accidents, especially in the summer, since they're located right off a road that cyclists frequent. It was nice to know we were in good hands. Who knew this sort of thing was so common?
The Dr. was fairly thorough in checking hubby out, and decided that the biggest gash on the back of his leg was too awkward for stitches and just needed a good bandage. The road rashes, and myriad of scrapes and bruises everywhere should heal with time, the rocks in his knee should work their way out on their own, but his knee definitely warranted an x-ray. Thankfully everything came out looking good and the Dr feels like it's just a bad sprain. We left w/ some prescriptions for strong pain meds, and a muscle relaxer. So far he's done good w/ just the "super + Ibuprofen," and the muscle relaxer.

Last night I had him soak in a giant bath of Epsom Salt (we might need to get some stock in that), and I think at least one of the rocks already worked it's way out!
Today he was really sore of course, but not even quite as bad as he thought he might be.
Since he initially got checked out we've discovered some more bruises and places that are sore (like his stomach and jaw), but he doesn't feel like it's anything more than surface level bruising and soreness!

Now we're dealing w/ the legal and financial side of things! Oh joy of joys. (insert sarcasm)
Having never dealt w/ something like this, hind sight is always 20/2o. Ryan was in such a state of shock he didn't even think to call the police right when it happened. By the time he was at our front door, the other guy was gone, so there's nothing I could do at that point either. He's planning to file a police report, but not press charges.
Now here's the kicker. The driver called his insurance agent and got him in touch w/ hubby. He scheduled an appointment and showed up at our doorstep the SAME NIGHT, just a little while after hubby was home from work to take pics of the bike. The agent told hubby something along the lines of "it's not legal in the state of Texas to ride your bike on the sidewalk, so technically it was his fault, and the best he could do for us was cut us a check for $--- right then!" Again, in the moment we didn't really know what to do, so we took the check (haven't signed or cashed it yet, and feel a little dumb about having just taken it), but now we're trying to figure out what we should do.
In hind sight, the insurance guy was obviously trying to cover the driver's behind and wash himself of this as soon as possible. We don't want to be mean about it, but even though hubby doesn't feel that bad right now, what if something creeps up later?!?
We've called our health insurance company, and have a call into our auto insurance agent, but is the only rout for us to take through an attorney? Any advice or ideas are welcome, and thanks again for all of those who have been praying for us!
We do praise God that this wasn't worse, and pray that His name will be glorified through this whole situation. We don't always understand why He allows things to happen, but we hope that anyone who comes in contact w/ us through this situation would see the love of Christ in us in how we handle things.

I opted not to post any of the gross pics on here! :o) Tiny One's toe is one thing, but a banged up hairy leg is another. ;o)

Love you hon! I'm so thankful you're still here with us and functioning as well as possible!

P.S. Several people have already asked us if we're planning to get another car now, we're not sure yet, but definitely weighing all of our options. I'll definitely be driving him to and from work for the next several weeks!
Anyone know of any really great deals on mini vans (preferably a Honda Odyssey)? We're hoping to up-size our next vehicle assuming that some day we'll have another family member that will need to fit!