Crash Victim Life Survivor Athanasia Houvarda

This is the last episode of season one and a very special episode.
I start the discussion with Ernie Boxal, my guest, and he is sharing his experience of having 3 close calls of being involved in traffic accidents.
What we have been saying all along these 15 episodes is that it is better to learn before getting injured and this is exactly the story with Ernie. He was never injured in a road accident although he did come very close on 3 different ocassions.
Ernie is a storyteller and you can learn more about him by following the link bellow
https://inphone.co/ernie

What makes this episode special is that we are closing the first season with a reminder of some of the messages shared by previous guests. So, please listen to this episode all the way to the end where you will be listening to the highlight of each episode. Guests messages on road safety.

And if you feel that someone you know needs to listen to these messages, please share the episode with them.

If you have any thoughts that you would like to share with us, don't hesitate to reach out, we would love to hear from you.

Season 2 will follow soon with more real stories from rreal people, so stay tuned.

Thank you everyone for listening and for helping me raise road safety awareness in memory of my dear friends Sotiri and Effie.

My 20th road accident anniversary is only 2 days away, an emotional day for me with memories that bring tears to my eyes. The feelings are strong and sometimes is hard to think that it has been 20 years since my life changed for ever..

I will continue to raise road safety awareness because I don't want anyone to go through what  my family and I went through.

Leave us a review and a rating if you liked the episode then share it with your friends if you think they should listen to our road crash stories.
Real stories shared by real people with the hope to motivate our listeners to adapt a safety culture that will keep them and their loved ones, safe.

And, if you have a powerful story about road safety that you would like to share, get in touch with me and maybe you will be my guest on next season coming up in October. We are one episode away from completing season 1. Stay tuned for future episodes.

Follow my podcast
on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lifesurvivor_podcast/
on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AthanasiaHouvarda
Visit my webpage
https://www.athanasiahouvarda.com/about
Find me on all directories.
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/gr/podcast/crash-victim-life-survivor/id1567072906
Google Podcast
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNjIwMjU5LnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibmMyE6JjxAhVagHIEHZyHAH4Q9sEGegQIARAC
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/26etxqeyOSJkidwErh7JTb?si=1M_UcLyaQ7OYBYqbQML6RQ&dl_branch=1

On a main road at night, Niall Finn, my guest on this episode,  was travelling too fast, possibly over the speeding limit when a car came through a stop sign onto the road in front of him. Last minute he managed to swerve around it but his car tipped over and rolled several times. He was thrown out onto the road from the driver's window and was very lucky to have only minor injuries. Scratches and ripped clothes but not any fractures.

A few words about Niall. He was born in Africa, grew up in New Zealand. Worked in France, Germany, Netherlands and Luxembourg as, respectively, tourist guide, English teacher, marketing employee and translator. Today he is living in retirement in Greece, on the beautiful island of Crete. The reason he wants to raise road awareness in because he lives in an area with very bad driving standards like dangerous overtaking, poor use of signals, excessive speed and distacted driving..

Listen to Niall experience, he is sharing some very interesting facts and thoughts. If you want to get in touch with him send him an email on niallafinn@yahoo.co.uk

Leave us a review and a rating if you liked the episode then share it with your friends if you think they should listen to our road crash stories.
Real stories shared by real people with the hope to motivate our listeners to adapt a safety culture that will keep them and their loved ones, safe.

And, if you have a powerful story about road safety that you would like to share, get in touch with me and maybe you will be my guest on next season coming up in October. We are one episode away from completing season 1. Stay tuned for future episodes. 

Follow my podcast
on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lifesurvivor_podcast/
on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AthanasiaHouvarda
Visit my webpage
https://www.athanasiahouvarda.com/about
Find me on all directories.
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/gr/podcast/crash-victim-life-survivor/id1567072906
Google Podcast
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNjIwMjU5LnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibmMyE6JjxAhVagHIEHZyHAH4Q9sEGegQIARAC
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/26etxqeyOSJkidwErh7JTb?si=1M_UcLyaQ7OYBYqbQML6RQ&dl_branch=1


 

James January  was burned September 1991. He was Branched but not Commissioned, Regular Army, Military Intelligence...a fancy way of saying that he got burned his senior year of college. 
At age 21, everything he worked for went up in smoke when the vehicle he was driving had some issues, to put it mildly. At one point the braking did not work properly, swerving out of its lane & rather than hit the oncoming car, taking out the family inside, he steered the truck right when it wanted to go left. 
He remembers reaching through flames to undo the seatbelt as the truck was skidding on its side. The other guy got out quick, it exploded on him before he was able to climb out the passenger side window. 
He was burned 85-90% most of it full thickness burns every where except where he was wearing shorts and shoes. After a period of struggle, due to both his injuries and a search for something that would challenge him, in the mid 1990’s he became involved with the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center, specifically its education, prevention and post burn programs. 
He has immersed himself in anything that deals with burn survivors and their family and friends, anyone who works with burn survivors, and the prevention of burn injury ever since. He believes any program designed to work beyond the hospital doors...anything dealing with the prevention of burn injury, life beyond a burn injury, or getting the patient from living to thriving in spite of a burn injury...functions best with a well trained, highly motivated burn survivor as part of the team.
From such foundation, has sprung BurnSurvivor.org
"A sot of burn trauma think tank if you will. We work with burn survivors, their family and friends. We work with those who work with burn survivors. We work to prevent burns. We seek to become a resource and networking center for burn survivors, burn care professionals, firefighters, family and friends. Encourage the development of programs that go beyond the operating room. Recruit and train burn survivors to be part of the burn team. Become a resource of support and education."
Leave us a review and a rating if you liked the episode then share it with your friends if you think they should listen to our road crash stories.
Real stories shared by real people with the hope to motivate our listeners to adapt a safety culture that will keep them and their loved ones, safe.

And, if you have a powerful story about road safety that you would like to share, get in touch with me and maybe you will be my next guest.

Follow my podcast
on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lifesurvivor_podcast/
on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AthanasiaHouvarda
Visit my webpage
https://www.athanasiahouvarda.com/about
Find me on all directories.
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/gr/podcast/crash-victim-life-survivor/id1567072906
Google Podcast
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNjIwMjU5LnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibmMyE6JjxAhVagHIEHZyHAH4Q9sEGegQIARAC
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/26etxqeyOSJkidwErh7JTb?si=1M_UcLyaQ7OYBYqbQML6RQ&dl_branch=1

Join me and my guest Serita Valmond on the 12th episode of season 1 where she will be sharing her experience of being involved in a road accident, 5 years ago, on July 4th.

Serita’s active and thriving lifestyle was taken away from her when her car was struck from behind by a drunk driver. 

After a year of working with many doctors, undergoing traditional therapies, and taking 15 different medications, she was diagnosed with chronic pain and multiple invisible illnesses. Serita was physically and emotionally at her wit’s end.

Exhausted by having no viable treatments to help her with her suffering, she decided to pave her own path to recovery. Educating herself in healthy lifestyle habits, in just 4 short months, Serita was able to dramatically reduce her pain, drop 50 lbs, and eliminate all of her prescriptions.

An impressive healing journey proving once again how resilient we can be.

Listen to your body, keep an open mind, be patient and help it to heal.
Serita watched her life and body transform after a road accident. She was fighting an invisible enemy, chronic pain. After long waitings to be treated, a surgery and many unsuccessful visits to the Doctor 's office, she decided to take matters in her own hands. She successfully changed her habbits that soon changed her quality of life. An inspiring story about the importance to listen to our body, do our own research and finding what works for us.  

Find out more about Serita, or contact her through the links that follow.
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/iamchronicallyresilient/
Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/serita-valmond-1a75641a8/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/cassie.val80
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPQoaoY1ndmXy4iBb0DYJQw
Social media links
https://solo.to/goalchasers2020llc
Email
goalchasers@gmail.com

Also, leave us a review and a rating if you liked the episode then share it with your friends if you think they should listen to our road crash stories.
Real stories shared by real people with the hope to motivate our listeners to adapt a safety culture that will keep them and their loved ones, safe.

And, if you have a powerful story about road safety that you would like to share, get in touch with me and maybe you will be my next guest.

Follow my podcast
on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lifesurvivor_podcast/
on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AthanasiaHouvarda
Visit my webpage
https://www.athanasiahouvarda.com/about
Find me on all directories.
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/gr/podcast/crash-victim-life-survivor/id1567072906
Google Podcast
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNjIwMjU5LnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibmMyE6JjxAhVagHIEHZyHAH4Q9sEGegQIARAC
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/26etxqeyOSJkidwErh7JTb?si=1M_UcLyaQ7OYBYqbQML6RQ&dl_branch=1

Dr. Dawn Menge is joining me on this episode to share her personal experiense of being involved in a drunk driver accident, 40 years ago.
One of the questions I asked, was what she would do differently if she could, to avoid the accident that left her in traction and in a half body cast for months, and lifelong injuries, on her knees that stole her chance of being a voleeyball player.

 Her response?

She would listen to her instict and not go on that date when she was 16 years of age.

Dr. Dawn Menge has won forty-one International awards as the author of the Queen Vernita educational series. She holds a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction, a Master's Degree and a Clear Credential in moderate/severe disabilities, and a Bachelor's Degree in human development. Dr. Menge has been teaching severely handicapped students for nineteen years. She has three children and five beautiful grandchildren and lives in Southern California.

She has an interesting story to share of how her road accident occur, how she moved past it and how she beat the odds when she was told that she will not be able to have children.

A very cheerful person that will leave you with good feelings about life but also with important takeways like follow your instict if you don't feel safe, keep in mind that it only takes one split moment for something to happen. and that we recover, but the bitter feeling or trigger is still there.

She also shares interesting information about her children's book and how you can get in touch with her to get a signed copy of her books.
Follow the links bellow to check out her book's character "Queen Vernita"

Webpage
http://www.drdawnmenge.com
Instagram
http://www.Instagram.com/dawnmenge
Twitter
http://www.Twitter.com/queenvernita
Facebook
http://www.Facebook.com/Dawn.menge1

Also, leave us a review and a rating if you liked the episode then share it with your friends if you think they should listen to our road crash stories.
Real stories shared by real people with the hope to motivate our listeners to adapt a safety culture that will keep them and their loved ones, safe.

And, if you have a powerful story about road safety that you would like to share, get in touch with me and maybe you will be my next guest.

Follow my podcast
on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lifesurvivor_podcast/
on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/AthanasiaHouvarda
Visit my webpage
https://www.athanasiahouvarda.com/about
Find me on all directories.
Apple Podcasts
https://podcasts.apple.com/gr/podcast/crash-victim-life-survivor/id1567072906
Google Podcast
https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNjIwMjU5LnJzcw?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibmMyE6JjxAhVagHIEHZyHAH4Q9sEGegQIARAC
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/show/26etxqeyOSJkidwErh7JTb?si=1M_UcLyaQ7OYBYqbQML6RQ&dl_branch=1

Every year around the world, between 250.000 and 500.000 people suffer a spinal cord injury. 
Spinal injuries can be caused by
falls, acts of violence,car accidents, medical conditions surgical procedures sports.Here is a fact. The majority of spinal cord injuries are caused by preventable accidents.  
Number one on this list of causes are car accidents, touching 39.6% of all the spinal cord injuries.

Joining me on this episode , is Marjorie Aunos, Ph.D. is a psychologist, inspirational speaker, author and researcher from Montreal, Canada.
Her expertise is working with parents who have intellectual disabilities.
In 2012, she sustained a Spinal Cord Injury in a car accident. Listen to our discussion while Marjorie is describing  her first moments and thoughts,  when the accident took place and what gave her the strength to persevere and win back her life.
A very inspiring and powerful story that will leave you feeling gratitude for the abilities we have and take for granted.   
Mother to a 16 months old at the time, the accident and subsequent injury gave her an interesting perspective on parenting and disability.
Marjorie believes that focusing on our strengths of character can lead to living a fulfilling life. With her family she learned to be a solution-finder to make her world more accessible.

We would love to hear from you if you wish to connect with us, so please feel free to send me an email on lifesurvivor_podcast@yahoo.com

Get in touch with my guest,
Marjorie Aunos, Ph.D.
www.rollfwd.com
Author of Mom on Wheels
Co-producer, Amplifying Voices of Parents with Disabilities
Psychologist, Legacy Coach
Associate Professor UQTR, Brock University
and follow her on her social media accounts.

Links bellow. 

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/marjorie.aunos
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/marjorieaunos/
Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marjorie-aunos-a19a34159/
Twitter
https://twitter.com/MarjorieAunos
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWSNPawpxFqWctKUJ5KR2qg
Preorder Mom on Wheels so that it can be noticed and shared around the world: https://ingeniumbooks.com/as3o
Learn more about Marjorie here: https://ingeniumbooks.com/marjorie-aunos/
Learn more about Mom on Wheels here: https://ingeniumbooks.com/mom-on-wheels-by-marjorie-aunos/
Learn more about Amplifying Voices of Parents with Disabilities here: https://www.speakerslam.org/events

Also, leave us a review and a rating if you liked the episode then share it with your friends if you think they should listen to our road crash stories.
Real stories shared by real people with the hope to motivate our listeners to adapt a safety culture that will keep them and their loved ones, safe.

And, if you have a powerful story about road safety that you would like to share, get in touch with me and maybe you will be my next guest.

Follow my podcast
on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/lifesurvivor_podcast/
on Facebook