Here's one of the pics: {see below}

Email me back when you get a chance and let me know if you're interested.

By the way, I just bought a 1995 VR-4 a few weeks ago, so there is a happy ending to the story.

On June 25th, 1994 I bought my dream car, a red 1991 VR-4 (named Mitsi). I had just graduated from Duke and started an engineering job with Duke Power -- life was good. Here are a few before pictures, from the 'good old days.' Here I am with a friend, Roxanna, and 'Mitsi' at the Charlotte Motor Speedway:

(See attached file: Wreck1.jpg) {JeffVR4-01.jpg}

Here we are on the Charlotte Motor Speedway:

(See attached file: Wreck2.jpg) {JeffVR4-01.jpg}

A year and a half later, everything changed. On the night of Friday, February 2nd, 1996 I was driving back from Wilmington, NC to Charlotte, NC. Roxanna and I had been visiting my brother, Jeff, at UNC-W. Roxanna had a gymnastics class to teach on Saturday morning, so we left Wilmington around 10:00PM after watching Jeff cheer at a Seahawks basketball game.

We were driving east on Highway 74 in Rockingham, NC, at about half past midnight. The weather had been fine so far; we hadn't had any problems. As we entered a sharp curve we hit a patch of black ice on the road. All-wheel drive and four wheel steering weren't much help on ice, and I lost control and began sliding across the road into the oncoming lanes. We were hit by a tractor trailer coming the opposite direction carrying an MRI machine. Although I had over two tons in Mitsi, we were no match for the 40,000 pound truck. The police report estimated my speed at 30mph, and the truck's speed at 10mph (that's right, the impact velocity was only about 40mph). Luckily, we both had our seatbelts on and my driver-side airbag deployed. I have no memory of the wreck, before or after, so a lot of this is based on Roxanna's memory and the police report. Fortunately, the truck driver was uninjured and was able to use his radio to get help. Both Roxanna and I were unconscious. The EMTs arrived at the site about five minutes later and reported us DOA after seeing the condition of the car. As they started to extricate my body they saw an eyelash flutter and realized that I was still alive. They then called in a nurse to hook up an IV. I was losing a lot of blood from lacerations to my head; one of the arteries on the top of my head was cut. I regained consciousness (still no memory of this) and began to ask about Roxanna. They told me that I was the only one in the car. They were unable to see Roxanna (she's tiny) because the dashboard had pushed in and the roof had crushed down. I persisted to question them about her and they finally saw some of her blonde hair and realized that she was indeed in the passenger seat.

Here are some pictures of the car. My dad took these at the salvage yard a few days after the wreck:

(See attached file: Wreck6.jpg)(See attached file: Wreck7.jpg)(See attached file: Wreck3.jpg)(See attached file: Wreck4.jpg)(See attached file: Wreck5.jpg)(See attached file: Wreck8.jpg) {JeffVR4-03...08.jpg}

Here is the truck. It was actually damaged enough underneath that it had to be towed (even though it looks like we only bent the fender):

(See attached file: Wreck9.jpg)(See attached file: Wreck10.jpg) {JeffVR4-09 & 10.jpg}

It took about two hours to extract the two of us from the car. Roxanna also regained consciousness, although we could not see or talk to each other. They used two Jaws-of-Life to pry the car apart and a tow truck to peel back the roof in order to get both of us out. After warning Roxanna that they may have to break both of her legs to get her out, they luckily were able to get us out without resorting to that. We were both rushed to nearby Richland Memorial Hospital.

Roxanna had numerous cuts/lacerations to her head that required stitches. Her right wrist was originally diagnosed as broken; later it was determined to be a severe sprain with a chipped bone. Her right collarbone was broken, and she had a deep rub/burn from the lap belt. She also had many bruises, some from the Jaws-of-Life as it pried the car apart. She was treated and released from the hospital.

I was in worse shape, and they did not have the facilities to treat my injuries. I was transferred to Intensive Care at Moore Regional Hospital, about 30 miles away. Due to the hazardous road conditions (the ice storm had intensified during our rescue), I was transferred with a heart patient whose parents consented to let me go in the ambulance with her. The weather was so bad at this point that the drive took about 1 1/2 hours, and the EMTs were trying to keep me out of shock the whole way.

I had numerous cuts/lacerations to my head requiring staples (yes, staples!) to close them. I also had bad lacerations on my left shoulder and elbow. My right wrist was broken severely. My worst injuries, however, were to my face. I received a blow in the collision (apparently the force of the airbag) that shattered my facial bones. Both my upper and lower jaw were broken, both eyesockets were shattered, my sinus cavities were crushed, along with other assorted skull fractures (don't worry, I won't show you any of the hospital pictures). I had been given a tracheotomy to facilitate breathing. My parents drove up Saturday, they had been trying all night/morning but couldn't get their 4WD Cherokee out of their Charlotte neighborhood because the ice had gotten so bad. It took until Tuesday, February 6th for my condition to stabilize and for the roads to clear up enough to transport me to Charlotte to the Carolinas Medical Center. There they performed a 7 1/2 hour surgery to reconstruct my face. I won't go into all the gory details, but they took a bone graft from my skull to rebuild my eyesockets and used eleven titanium plates to hold the broken bones together (the doctor likened my broken bones to a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces still fit together). They made the incisions frp, ear to ear along the top of my head, along my lower eyelids, and inside my mouth. My wrist was re-set, and two external pins were put in my wrist holding the break together. Four rods were also screwed into my hand and arm and connected together to hold the bones in position (called an external fixeter). After recuperating from the surgery in the hospital, I was released and stayed with my parents while I recuperated. I lost about 35 pounds after the accident, but I had a lot of fun gaining it back!

After seeing the pictures, we believe that it was truly a miracle that we survived. God spared our lives that night. Both Roxanna and I have fully recovered and really don't have any lingering problems. I feel like we were given a second chance in life. Here is a picture of us about 1 1/2 years later, as good as new:

(See attached file: Wreck11.jpg) {JeffVR4-11.jpg}

Well, to wrap this up on a brighter note, I just bought another 3000GT. This one is a black 1995 VR-4, named "Mitsi II." So, there is a happy ending after all. Here are pictures of my new VR-4:

(See attached file: Wreck12.jpg)(See attached file: Wreck13.jpg) {JeffVR4-12 & 13.jpg}

If you don't mind, can you put my home email address on the page of my wreck? It is: [email protected]