Victims Unite!

Industrial / Professional Accidents

On 10 January, 1973 a colleague from CERN had given a talk at CALTECH and we were driving towards Berkeley where I was supposed to spend two months in an exchange programme.

But he fell asleep and the car crossed the freeway in the opposite direction and I had the sensation of falling, thinking “this must be the end, this must be the ocean.” We were on Freeway 101.

38 years later I am still looking after the varying and various kinds and degrees of pain that I’m suffering ever since my hip was dislocated and my head hit the dashboard – with the typical whiplash injury.

Doctors said my pain was psychological. Hence I studied psychology and got so much out of it that I wanted to pass it on to the world.

When I decided to leave CERN I was 35, not realising what it meant that the medical service had claimed I would NOT suffer from the accident in old age…

If only I knew then what I know now – at 66!… When I was 60, I started “Bikram Yoga” and began to blog about my experiences.

But my victimisation is nothing compared to Stanley Embling who was betrayed not only by his employer but also his union, and Dave Walker who even lost his leg.

Instead of getting compensation, we all learned to ‘fight the system’…

Is it worth it? Presumably not. But at least we’ll die knowing that we’ve tried! Maybe that’s all it’s about: to strengthen our spirit and soul.

If living was just plain sailing, we wouldn’t learn to be courageous and daring and dream impossible dreams!

Related articles

• Pain – the invisible disability – physical, emotional, mental or “psychological”… (bikramyogastory.wordpress.com)