HOUSTON – It’s the kind of horror we are seeing far too often on Houston freeways lately, drivers racing the wrong way down the road.
On April 9, David Smith of Spring was driving to work at 5:30 in the morning when a drunk driver driving the wrong way smashed into David’s Toyota Prius head-on.
David was pinned inside his car, unable to even move, and trapped as he watched the Chevy Trailblazer that had hit him erupt into flames.
The driver of that vehicle was killed.
“I just saw his vehicle fully engulfed in flames and hearing his tires blowing up. There was just nothing anybody could do until the fire department arrived to put the fire out,” Smith said.
Nearly eight months later, Smith still reels from the same nightmare.
“I wake up in a cold sweat, crying, sometimes screaming,” he said.
A man who builds scaffolds for a living, Smith suffered two broken disks in his back, a broken hip, shattered pelvis and severe nerve damage all down his left side and leg.
He also had to have his spleen removed.
Since the accident, Smith has been unable to work and has been trapped at home without a car while his lawyers fight to get him some kind of settlement in court.
With his wife, Laura, and 1-year-old son, Elijah, to support, David’s biggest concern has been transportation.
Without a car, he has had trouble getting to doctor’s appointments and physical therapy sessions and just going to the supermarket.
You see, Laura takes the family’s only car to work every day, leaving David at home stranded.
With no way to afford a new car, David called Spencer Solves It.
Right away, we called our friends at Gulfgate Dodge Chrysler Jeep.
Immediately, the president of Gulfgate Dodge, James Davis, agreed to give David a car absolutely free.
But coming up with a safe, reliable, used car right after Hurricane Harvey proved to be difficult.
Still, Davis and his right-hand man, Allen Johnson, went to work to find one that would fit this family man.
In the end, they agreed to provide a beautiful 2007 Mazda 6 and to fix it up like new.
A Bill’s Brigade member, Randy Hartley, also stepped up and agreed to provide $1,000 in cash to aid in paying for needed repairs to the vehicle.
This week, we presented David with his new car and watched his reaction as Davis handed him the keys.
“I just want to thank everybody that has contributed to me and my family. Words cannot express what I am feeling right now. Thank you,” he said with a huge smile breaking across his face.
If you would like to contact Spencer Solves It, you can call 713-223-TIPS or write us at solvesit@click2houston.com.
You can also pay it forward by joining Bill’s Brigade and contacting us at the same email address.