2024 is the Year of Dragon according to the Chinese, or the Lunar calendar.
It's supposed to be bringing you good fortune, good luck and prosperity.
But after the accident that happened at the very beginning of the year, 1/1/2024, I wasn't so sure.
It's a public holiday, and there was a BBQ function organised by my friend, Zhang. He invited me over and asked if I could give a short speech.
No problem, for I have been a public figure, kind of Community leader for a long time, and making a speech is a piece of cake for me.
Everything went well. I finished my short talk (all appraisals for my friend of course for his efforts etc) I declined his invitation to stay for some food and left, as I had a few other things to do.
Driving along happily after all the things were done, I headed for home.
All of a sudden I heard a big bang, and my car shook violently.
'Oh shit!' I was brought up not to swear, and that's probably one of the few bad words I would ever utter. I was hit!
Not knowing what exactly happened I tried to stop the car, but the brake didn't seem to work.
'Damm it!' A few more swearing words came out of my mouth.
I was clearly in a panic mode by then, but somehow I knew I must stop the car, otherwise God knows where I would end up to.
I tried to veer the car so that it could stop smoothly, kind of 'safe landing' I guess.
But the road was a downhill slope, leading to a T-junction. 'I have to aim at something to force the car to stop!' I said to myself.
There was a tree at the end of the road, so I aimed at it, hoping to stop the car.
Another huge bang. I was almost sure I would pass out with that impact. However I didn't. Some witnesses later told me I actually hit a stone letter box just next to the tree, which probably saved my life. The poor letterbox however ended up in the garage behind it.
The airbags from both my seat and the front passenger's seat all came out. I noticed some steam (which burnt my hands, as I discovered later). My head was spinning, ears ringing. I tried to reach out to the door. It opened!
I staggered out of the car, which at this stage was almost a rack, with parts scattered everywhere.
People nearby came to my rescue. One person gave me a stool so I could sit down; another person fetched some water for me to drink. As the accident happened near my house some of my neighbours quickly went to inform my wife and son, who came straight away. Obviously in shock I could see the facial expressions on their faces.
Quick actions always yield good results: an ambulance came, the police came, even two tow trucks came. Someone must have rung them immediately.
The guy (whose car hit me) also came over, apparently shaken too. With the help of witnesses, the police took details of the accident as it started to unfold: what happened was that the other guy was trying to leave after visiting his friend, but failed to notice that I was driving along the road. His car then hit my car, causing it to slide further and hit the letter box. Some witnesses said my car appeared to have accelerated rather than stopping, and speculated that maybe I touched the accelerator instead of the brake. Maybe. Honestly I couldn't recall. Panic makes you do silly things.
The paramedics did a thorough examination on me. Luckily there seemed to be no major damages. They asked if I wanted to go to hospital, but then suggested that I could go home and do a bit of self-observation after realising I am a doctor myself. The waiting time at any emergency is always notoriously long.
The next few weeks were actually quite bad: I was sore all over. Noticed a bit haematuria (blood in the urine) and had to go to the Emergency for some investigations one night. Everything was OK at the end, but the mental trauma remains, which probably is going to stay with me for a long time.
The Year of Dragon is probably not a good year for me. But hang on: my Chinese friends told me as the accident occurred before the Chinese New Year, which fell onto the 10th of February it means all the bad luck would be gone after the car crash.
I am not superstitious, but I hope it's true.