Can't say I'm sad to see 2006 go...

[jhall1468]

Well 2006 ended on what could be the lowest note in my life. During the holidays I went to stay with family up north, and had a friend keep an eye on my herps. On my return I called the friend, and his mother answered informing me that he had been in a car accident and was in the hospital. Of course, I immediately went to the hospital to see him, and it was a pretty aweful site. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt and was tossed from the car... his whole body was mangled but he was in stable condition. After seeing he was okay I was mostly pissed off that no one called me and told me about the accident.

Then I left the hospital, went home, opened the door to the most aweful smell ever. That's when things got worse. I immediately went for the basement, or what used to be my basement... it was now a disgusting pool of 4 feet of water. Of course, I already knew what I'd discover at this point, and sure enough, went to the herp room to find it utterly destroyed. All my herps were dead, every aspect of my basement destroyed.

Fortunately my most recent purchase is still residing at Vaughns, which is the one thing I can be thankful for. The good news in all of this is that my friend is doing very well, and by all appearances will recover fully (there's a Christmas miracle for you). It's hard to be too upset about anything given that.

All in all it was tough, but I'm thankful Jeff is doing well, and looking forward to starting all over again.

[ZEKESMOM]

Oh how horrible! I am sorry about your friend and the loss of all of your animals Thankfully your friend is recovering and with time your room can be repaired and new animals bought. Wishing you a happy and prosperous New Year

[Laooda]

Wow.... SO sorry for your friend, and your collection. Like you said, your friend recovering is something to be very greatful for... Best wishes. L

[wolfy-hound]

That's aweful! So sorry to hear about the loss, but glad to hear your friend will recover. You tell him that he will wear his seatbelt from now on too.
Hugs, wish there was something I could do.
Wolfy

[Alice]

Justin, I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your snakes but glad that your friend Jeff is doing well.


This was sure a lesson to me. I never thought about what would happen if the person taking care of my animals when we're away got injured. Now I'm going to make sure that at least another person knows where we are and checks in with our animal caregiver on a periodic basis. Thanks for posting about your situation so others can learn.

Alice

[frankykeno]

Lordy Justin what a gawd awful thing to have happened both to your friend and to your collection! You have my deepest sympathies hon. What caused that sort of flooding in your basement? Hopefully your friend will use a seatbelt now as well, they may be a hassle sometimes but the lives they save are worth it in my mind. I'm glad that he will be fine, being ejected during an accident is a horrible thing to happen to anyone.

If all goes well with our three breeding females this year we should have some eggs in 07 and if there's anything we can do to help you replace some of the snakes please feel free to let me know. We've recently lost one snake and that's heartbreaking enough. I cannot begin to imagine the horror of coming home to find an entire collection lost.

[recycling goddess]

justin,

what all was in your collection?

i'm so sorry to hear about all of this. your friend, your collection... you must be just sick about this. ya... we know you are thankful your friend is okay... but your entire collection dead... makes me cry.

sending healing to you and your friend.

[jhall1468]

Thank you everyone for your comments.

Lordy Justin what a gawd awful thing to have happened both to your friend and to your collection! You have my deepest sympathies hon. What caused that sort of flooding in your basement?

Nothing short of catastrophy. Basically we did have quite a bit of rain (for around here), however, prior to that the drain in the basement got clogged with debri from a windy several days. At some point during this, a big water pipe burst (we have no idea if this happened first or in the aftermath of the rest).

Pretty much, it started as a snowball and rolled down the hill from there.

Hopefully your friend will use a seatbelt now as well, they may be a hassle sometimes but the lives they save are worth it in my mind. I'm glad that he will be fine, being ejected during an accident is a horrible thing to happen to anyone.

I have no doubt he will (and if he ever gets into a car without one on I will personally beat the crap out of him).

If all goes well with our three breeding females this year we should have some eggs in 07 and if there's anything we can do to help you replace some of the snakes please feel free to let me know. We've recently lost one snake and that's heartbreaking enough. I cannot begin to imagine the horror of coming home to find an entire collection lost.

Thank you very much... it is a horrible feeling.

what all was in your collection?

I had 5 adult female norm balls, and a pair of het albinos, het piebalds and het clowns. My youngest daughter had Red-Eyed Tree Frogs and my oldest had Leopard Gecko's.

Probably the most difficult loss of all was our 10 year old Green Iguana Ned. I have had him since I was 17, and he has been in the family since. About 5 years ago I brought a dog home (a mixed sheppard) and ever since then, I'm absolutely certain that Ned thought he was a dog as well. And in 8 years of having him, he never bit a single person.

The financial aspect isn't really that big of a deal. It's just hard losing a long-time family friend.

[JLC]

I wish I knew what to say, Justin. I'm glad your friend will recover, but I know the loss of so much life all at once, even if they're "just animals" can be so devistating. You and your family are in my prayers.

[frankykeno]

Justin there are just no words to express my horror at what you must have walked in to. I know the whole of the BPNet community here sends you much love, prayers and support as you work through this. These may be cold blooded animals but the love and bonding we feel for them is as warm as it can be. How are the kids handling it? This stuff is hard enough for adults but for children it's that much harder. Our thoughts are with you and your family.