Spin out in Manitowoc - A Valentine's Day to Remember

On call tonight and I received a surprise call from my 17 year-old daughter, Emily, that while driving home she spun out and was in the ditch west of Manitowoc and needed help. Being a single parent creates many challenges and this one certainly added to the stress of the evening. I was getting calls left and right from the hospital and clinic to review studies and wasn’t quite sure how I was going to get away from my work station at home to help her. I sucked it up, told the other kids I was leaving, grabbed my tow strap and assured Emily that I was on my way and dealt with calls from the hospital and clinic while in my truck eastbound on a very slippery Highway 151. I even got one call from a Walk-In doctor asking me if I thought her patient had a patella fracture…. I was in Valders, WI by this time, with one hand on the wheel and explained my dilemma… Yep, I think it sounds like a patella fracture…

While en-route, I spoke with the Manitowoc police officer on the scene and evidently someone else with a 4-wheel drive pick up thought they could maneuver behind Emily and push the car out of the ditch. For the record, they were two 20-something year-old guys with mullets and a measly Chevy V6 80’s-era pick up. Nice tires though…. So they got behind her to push her (never-mind the body damage that would and did ensue) and gave it their best to push her out…. This worked for all of about 5 seconds after which time they ended up stuck in the ditch immediately behind Emily’s car. The officer told me the situation over the phone and I told him I would be on scene in about 5 minutes, that I had a hefty F-250 Ford Diesel pick-up that made a cool engine sound when I started it up and I thought I could tow her and her new friends out of the ditch….

I felt like a NUMBER ONE SUPERHERO as I managed to haul not one, but TWO stranded vehicles out of the ditch tonight! PIECE OF CAKE! After shaking the police officer’s and the other good samaritans hands, Emily and I headed home at a slightly reduced speed and walked into the house at 9:00. What a day! Happy Valentine’s Day!