First, Naldo's dad decided to go to our land 8 hours away to harvest some crops. He didn't say exactly how long he'd be gone, but from the looks of what he took for supplies, it seemed he would be gone for 1 month. One month passed, and he didn't come home...month and a half passed...still no word...Two months passed...still no word. Finally, I told Naldo that maybe we should send a boat out to look for him since it has been a very rainy season and the water levels are extremely high. Time passed and he still didn't come home, so we sent the rescue team out searching for him. They found him alive, busily working although he was all out of food (spices, sugar, salt, coffee, etc.) He was living completely off the land and would eat whatever he was able to kill. The water levels were too high to catch fish. It was a huge relief to know he was ok and coming home in a week.
Naldo called to tell me the news that they found him. Although he lead me on for over 5 minutes saying he was dead, that he got really sick and didn't make it to the hospital, that they brought his body and to bury him that night, etc. I was crying, very upset, almost ready to throw up when Naldo told me he was just kidding. If I could, I would have reached right through the phone and punched Naldo!!
Fast forward to last Thursday evening. I get and email from my brother in law saying, "As soon as you read this email call Raimundo (my father in law). I had a gut feeling it was very bad news so I had Naldo call to find out what was going on. A few minutes later, Naldo calls me back and says that there was a terrible accident involving Joncil, Veronica, and their son Jon-jon (his sister, brother in law and my nephew). I instantly felt a sick feeling in my stomach and he went on to say it was a very ugly accident, that Joncil and Jon-jon were ok, but that Veronica was in critical condition in Manaus. That was all the news he had.
He made a few more phone calls and found out that she had a broken arm and was cut severly from the glass, but that she wasn't able to get into a hospital because they were all full in Manaus. She had a miserable night in complete pain as my father in law and aunt pulled glass from her body. The next day she was able to get into a hospital where they casted her arm. Tomorrow, she goes in for surgery to see what they can do to fix her arm. It was completely crushed in the accident and has many small bone segments throughout her arm that need to be removed.
So you ask, how did the accident happen?? Here's the story from Veronica who amazingly stayed awake for most of the time and remembers exactly what happened. Joncil was heading out of Itacoatiara to return a car to Manaus for a man. Not far from Itacoatiara, he decided to change a CD and glanced away for a short second to load the CD and get it started. He was going 100 KM (about 60 mph). There was a curve in the road and as he looked up, it was too late to try the curve. He went off the road and the car began rolling. On the first roll, Veronica was thrown from the car (not wearing her seat beat.) She came flying out the back window of the car and rolled a few times on the ground before her body stopped. She broke the back window with her back/butt. On the second roll, Joncil was thrown from the car out of his driver side window. The car rolled a third time before it came to rest. The 2 year old child was still inside of the car. People in the area heard the crash and came running for help. Joncil was screaming and trying to get to the car to see if his son was alive. He was covered in blood and dirty, however, the blood was not his - it was Veronica's. He was able to get out of the car with no injury what so ever. Joncil was in extreme pain and was begging people to take care of his wife and to not let her die. They were taken to the hospital in Itacoatiara and the doctor wouldn't even help Veronica. He sent her on to Manaus although she didn't get in a hospital the day of the accident. Joncil and Jon-jon stayed in Itacoatiara while Raimundo went with Veronica to Manaus. He went today to be with her as she has surgery tomorrow.
We love Veronica and her family so much and we are so grateful to Heavenly Father for watching over them in this tragic accident. It is a complete miracle she is alive. My faith has been increased greatly from these 2 experiences. It still makes me sick to see these pictures. If you didn't know the story and you saw these pictures, you would for sure think whoever was in the car passed away. Heavenly Father is almighty!
In this picture, you can see Veronica's shoe left on the seat she was sitting on. How she went out the back window and not the front is a complete mystery. We are grateful she is alive and trying to stay strong though the pain and suffering she is enduring.
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