GENTLEMEN! START YOUR WHEELCHAIRS!
JEFF GORDON WOULD BE PROUD OF MAMA!!
Last month, I managed to find 2 incredible tickets to the big NASCAR race in our area (Infineon Raceway) which were great grandstand seats at face value. I found them as late as Sat. morning, the day before the race, via Craigslist. What I didn't expect is that these tickets INCLUDED being able to go up to Jeff Gordon's (my favorite driver!) Dupont Hospitality Tent, get free breakfast, free lunch, free drinkies, door prizes, and best of all, get to meet and talk with Jeff Gordon himself!! I decided to ask my mom to go with me. Don't laugh. She is 89 yrs old and loves Nascar and Jeff Gordon!!! What a hoot! Plus, it was sort of a post-birthday treat for her.
I should have know how crazy the day was going to get after what happened the first thing on race day morning. My mom and I awoke to find all the power out! Managed to get ready in the dark, but as we were just about ready to depart, it dawned on us that we couldn't get the garage door opened as the power was out!! The manual pulley for it was disengaged, and we could not for the life of us, push up the heavy garage door! So what did we do? Called the fire department down the street!! Sure enough, they whisked over two hunky guys who did the job for us! Rescued!!
Anyway, we got there really early at 8:00 am just in time for the great breakfast in the Hospitality Tent. Right after breakfast, Jeff Gordon made his appearance and we got to meet him!! He announced his engagement to his girlfriend and also announced that he would win this race!! Great cheers rose from the crowd of about 200, of course, and it was fantastic. After his appearance and his autographing the door prizes, everybody present all got goodie 'backpacks' bags with all sorts of neat items in them! Later, they announced the winners of the autographed door prizes and then fed us all a hunky-licious lunch of bar-b-qued ribs, chicken and all the fixin's!! Also included were all the drinks you could drink! While pigging out on the messy ribs and chicken and going through at least a hundred napkins wiping our chins, we were treated to a spectacular air show. Found out while sititng and having lunch and chatting with a Dupont sponsor at our table, that these tix that we bought for $90 normally go for $500! So the guy who sold them to me obviously didn't realize that, luckily for us!
Floating on air and happy as clams, my mom and I then headed down the hill to the racetrack. On our way, we had stopped at various exhibits, one being a 3-D exhibit of Disney films. As we were exiting that exhibit, mom let out a little "Ooooh!" I turned around and saw her nearly collapsing, her leg just giving out from under her! At first I thought she just tripped. But she didn't hit it or trip over anything. I figured she had twisted her foot and maybe sustained a sprain. She could not put any weight on the leg at all. Immediately, the exhibit workers dashed over and brought in a chair for her and a cold towel which they put on her leg. At that point, however, we were down by the front of the exhibit's screen, and wouldn't you know it, another show had already begin to start which was REALLY noisy and loud. The conversations between me and my mom and the workers were really difficult and confusing with all the noise and commotion going on behind us. Because she couldn't stand up on that leg, the workers then decided to call the paramedics, but no one could quickly find their phone number! (Meanwhile, the exhibit workers felt so sorry for us, that they gave us free T-shirts and caps, which were so ugly, by the way, that I was thinking in the back of my mind through all the confusion, and being the opportunist that I am, that I probably couldn't even sell them on Ebay!!) It took the paramedics at least 10 minutes to arrive, and all I could think of was what if this were a life and death situation!!
I'm standing there thinking, Oh geez.. we're going to miss the start of the race. I suggested to the people there that if we could just transport my mom from where we were to the first row of the grandstand where we had seat reservations, she could stay put during the race, and we'd tend to her foot after the race was over. Mom said her leg really didn't hurt, but she just couldn't put weight on it. But the paramedics said she really ought to go to the Raceway Medical Center. Well, they picked her up (literally) and plunked her in a golf cart type vehicle. We were whizzed over to the Medical Building and met by one nurse and 2 men who we thought were doctors. The nurse took all her vital signs and then one of the 'doctors' came in. Her blood pressure was normal and she was fine in all other respects. But her leg looked as if it was developing a contusion as it was starting to get a bit red and swollen. So they put a bag of ice on her leg and then bandaged it. Doctor Who then said "she needs an X-ray"', but then quickly added, "we have no X-Ray equipment here". Then things went from difficult to nasty in one fell swoop. This 'doctor' then informed us in no uncertain terms, that we'd have to LEAVE NOW!!
I said "What? Can't my mom stay here for awhile or while I go watch a bit of the race?".
Doctor No: "No, we don't have room here and she has to leave!!"..
I then said, "Well, then can we get a wheelchair to take her back to the Grandstand area so she can be wheeled in to watch the race?"
Nazi doctor: "We don't have wheelchairs here!"
Me: "Well, then, ok, can we call the paramedics back, and they can carry her to the cart and then transport her down to that area, which they promised to do, and then I can get help down there?".
Doctor Kevorkian: "We don't have the paramedics number! You'll have to get your own cart, and you have to leave here now!".
Me: "What?! What part of MY-MOM-CAN'T-WALK don't you understand? She can't WALK to a cart - she has to be carried or assisted, and besides that, where do I find a cart?".
At this point, I was kicking myself for not writing down the paramedics number so I could have called them back myself. I even attempted to call the main Infineon Racetrack phone number on my cell phone and ask for assistance THAT way!
These two 'doctors' would not help in any way, and in fact, were outright snotty. I was literally begging them to PLEASE try to find a cart and to help get her up on it. They then informed me that they 'aren't allowed to carry anyone.' Oh. I see. Liability issues. Geez, what ever happened to plain courtesy and helping people?!!! I then asked for the doctor's name, and all he would give me is 'Ross'!! I said "What is your last name", and he said "I'm not giving that to you!". WELL, C'MON!! What real doctor would refuse to give his name?? This was ridiculous. Not only were they unsympathetic and snotty, I could see that they were not going to help us one bit. Somehow, out of the blue however, a cart did turn up, and some security WOMAN assisted me in holding mom up from under her arms and out to the cart!
The security woman then whizzed us over to the First Aid Building which is situated right smack in the Grandstand area only about 100 feet from the bleachers where we had our seat reservations. Finally, I thought we were getting somewhere! Surely the First Aid people would find a wheelchair or assist mom up into some seats in the grandstands.
Arriving in the First Aid area, we were quickly met by 2 guys who looked as if we interrupted them picking their nose. When I told them what we needed, they looked at me as if I had asked them to clean out a pig sty! They, too, said they weren't allowed to lift anyone! Then I asked these guys if they could locate a wheelchair. Answer: NO WHEELCHAIRS!! Then the security woman who was still loitering nearby suggested we could possibly get a wheelchair over on TURN 9! Now, if you haven't been to Infineon Raceway, you have to understand that Turn 9 is WAY, WAY over on the other side of the track!!!! As all this is being discussed and hammered out, we could hear the famous words "GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!!" and the roar of the race cars, whilst we were stuck there and missing the race! Security Lady offers to take us in the golf cart all the way over to Turn 9, saying she has a shortcut there! Ok, what other option did we have, so off we went! There we were, hanging on for dear life, on this little golf cart, rambling through all the crowds of people, over dirt areas, behind fences, under a tunnel, and god only knows where! We saw parts of the racetrack the public never gets to see! At one point, we were actually parallel to the racetrack but almost under it, and could see the race car wheels whizzing by!!! The noise and the heat of the day were overpowering, and we were rapidly getting dehydrated! It took almost 30 minutes to get to the other side of the racetrack and to Turn 9.
Finally, upon arriving at Turn 9, which was a completely separate hub of commotion and activity from the action over by the grandstand area, we saw the paramedics and their firetruck! It was like seeing an OASIS! We thought for sure that we would be 'saved' when we saw those guys! (Seems it was our day for getting 'saved' by FIREMEN!!). We asked for some water, and one of the paramedics went off to get it. All of a sudden, Security Lady informs us that - guess what - THERE ARE NO WHEELCHAIRS AT TURN 9 EITHER!! So, without hesitation, she takes off with us hanging on again for dear life! We never got our water, and we lost the paramedics again!! AGAIN, I could have kicked myself for the 2nd time for not getting their number, as I knew that they were the only people there who were authorized to actually lift or carry someone!! ACHHHH!
Anyway, off we went, tearing through the sweating, tumultuous crowd, back to the Grandstand area again, and back to the dreaded FIRST AID office again, back where we started literally!! Still no wheelchair. The race had been in progress for about an hour by now, and we so desperately wanted to just SIT DOWN and watch it!!
I could see that the distance from the door of the First Aid Office, (which by the way, had a huge sign outside that said "CUSTOMER CARE - Care?- OFFICE"!), to the sloped ramp to the first row of the Grandstand area was no more than 100 feet in distance. Surely, I thought, we could get SOMEONE to help mom from the door there at the First Aid Office to the handicap seats in the front rows of the Grandstands. Well, seeing how I was starting to lose my patience and getting angry from the lack of help, this one guy did take pity on us and assisted me in getting mom up to the handicap seat. We both took hold of her under her arms and acted as a pair of crutches, and mom hopped on one foot to get to the seat. WE DID IT! In fact, after we finally got seated, we were happy to realize that the handicap seats we were in were right smack in front of the Start/Finish line and pit crew area, and were better seats than the ones we had reserved!! YIPPIE!!
I got mom comfortable and ran down and got her a huge cool lemonade and got myself a tall cool Rum smoothie!! What a sport mom was! Not one teeny complaint from her through this whole ordeal! We sat and watched the rest of the race, thoroughly enjoying every minute of it all, especially seeing our driver, Jeff Gordon win!! At some point during the race, 2 paramedics came up to us and assured us that when the race was over, they would help and assist us back to our car.
Well, when the race ended, we sat there and waited for those nice paramedics. And we waited. And waited some more for at least 40 minutes after the race ended.... No paramedics in sight! We couldn't figure out where they had gone and why they had forgotten about us!! So I had to run down and beg the First Aid Office deadbeats, again, for some help! We got the same nosepicker guy who kept arguing with me that he would get into trouble if he moved/lifted my mom into a cart. I finally put my foot down about my mom not being able to put HER foot down (!), and said, "Well, you are going to be in MORE trouble if you DON'T help pick her up and help us into a cart!!!!" Well, lo and behold, the next thing I know is that he is picking up my mom like a little doll, and carrying her to a waiting cart!!! I just had to get down and aggressive in order to get some action, or who knows, we might still be sitting there to this day! The Security Lady cart driver took us all the way back to our car, and off we headed to the nearest Emergency Room to assess what could be wrong with mom's leg.
All through this, mom hadn't complained one bit, except to say that she just couldn't put any weight on that leg. So after we finally got her checked into the hospital's ER, were totally shocked when we heard the diagnosis: SHE HAD A BROKEN LEG!!! Evidently, the leg had broken, and THEN she fell most likely due to Osteoporosis!! Here we went all day thinking she had just twisted her leg or some such minor thing. The ER put a removable cast on her leg, and then we got another shockk for the day: the hospital informed us that she could not stay at the hospital and they were sending her home! They said her injury was (get this!!) - 'NOT SERIOUS ENOUGH' (!!!!) to warrant even an overnight stay in the hospital!! HELLO???? An 89 year old lady with a history of a heart attack and high blood pressure, and they tell us it's not serious enough to keep her at the hospital!!!??? I was totally shocked! The only alternative, according to the psuedo doctor who was in charge there, was to put her in a convalescent home. OH NO!! NO WAY!!
I called my sister to inform her of what was happening, and she concurred that no way were we going to send mom to a convalescant home! I had to act fast, so I called my uncle, mom's brother, and thought maybe he could come down and meet us to assist in getting her back up to her house, which is only accessible by stairs and rather impossible for someone in a leg cast. But my uncle was kind enough to offer to take her home to his home where he and his wife could take care of her. Thank goodness for his hospitality, as we could not and would not have left mom alone in her house with a broken leg! Mom is now in a full leg cast that weighs a ton and getting the best care and love up at her brother's home.
It seems that although Infineon Raceway is very organized and thorough as to how they handle handicapped guests, having wheelchair access and assisted services all throughout the raceway, they evidently haven't quite figured out what to do when someone doesn't COME to the racetrack in a wheelchair, or when someone gets injured there and NEEDS a wheelchair! They were totally unprepared, both by not having the proper devices needed, and by not having their various staff know how to communicate with each other when an emergency like this happens. No one knew how or where to communicate with the paramedics, which I find absolutely appalling. In this case, it was not a life or death situation, but what if someone collapses with a heart attack or worse? Having staff not know where or how to locate the paramedics and having it take at least 10 minutes to get them there, could prove fatal to someone! We would have been better off if we had gotten run over by a racecar! Then we probably would have had expert and immediate service like the drivers do!! Well, they haven't heard the last from me! I will be contacting them about what happened that day.
But all in all, in spite of all the commotion, we got to meet Jeff Gordon, have a wonderful time in the Dupont Hospitality Tent, see parts of the racetrack the public never sees, and watch 90% of the race. And mom's injury, albeit an inconveniencing and uncomfortable one, is not a life threatening injury, thank goodness. But what an experience!! Mom sat and watched the whole race right to the sweet end with a BROKEN LEG!! If only Jeff Gordon knew what my mother endured to see him win his race!!
Last month, I managed to find 2 incredible tickets to the big NASCAR race in our area (Infineon Raceway) which were great grandstand seats at face value. I found them as late as Sat. morning, the day before the race, via Craigslist. What I didn't expect is that these tickets INCLUDED being able to go up to Jeff Gordon's (my favorite driver!) Dupont Hospitality Tent, get free breakfast, free lunch, free drinkies, door prizes, and best of all, get to meet and talk with Jeff Gordon himself!! I decided to ask my mom to go with me. Don't laugh. She is 89 yrs old and loves Nascar and Jeff Gordon!!! What a hoot! Plus, it was sort of a post-birthday treat for her.
I should have know how crazy the day was going to get after what happened the first thing on race day morning. My mom and I awoke to find all the power out! Managed to get ready in the dark, but as we were just about ready to depart, it dawned on us that we couldn't get the garage door opened as the power was out!! The manual pulley for it was disengaged, and we could not for the life of us, push up the heavy garage door! So what did we do? Called the fire department down the street!! Sure enough, they whisked over two hunky guys who did the job for us! Rescued!!
Anyway, we got there really early at 8:00 am just in time for the great breakfast in the Hospitality Tent. Right after breakfast, Jeff Gordon made his appearance and we got to meet him!! He announced his engagement to his girlfriend and also announced that he would win this race!! Great cheers rose from the crowd of about 200, of course, and it was fantastic. After his appearance and his autographing the door prizes, everybody present all got goodie 'backpacks' bags with all sorts of neat items in them! Later, they announced the winners of the autographed door prizes and then fed us all a hunky-licious lunch of bar-b-qued ribs, chicken and all the fixin's!! Also included were all the drinks you could drink! While pigging out on the messy ribs and chicken and going through at least a hundred napkins wiping our chins, we were treated to a spectacular air show. Found out while sititng and having lunch and chatting with a Dupont sponsor at our table, that these tix that we bought for $90 normally go for $500! So the guy who sold them to me obviously didn't realize that, luckily for us!
Floating on air and happy as clams, my mom and I then headed down the hill to the racetrack. On our way, we had stopped at various exhibits, one being a 3-D exhibit of Disney films. As we were exiting that exhibit, mom let out a little "Ooooh!" I turned around and saw her nearly collapsing, her leg just giving out from under her! At first I thought she just tripped. But she didn't hit it or trip over anything. I figured she had twisted her foot and maybe sustained a sprain. She could not put any weight on the leg at all. Immediately, the exhibit workers dashed over and brought in a chair for her and a cold towel which they put on her leg. At that point, however, we were down by the front of the exhibit's screen, and wouldn't you know it, another show had already begin to start which was REALLY noisy and loud. The conversations between me and my mom and the workers were really difficult and confusing with all the noise and commotion going on behind us. Because she couldn't stand up on that leg, the workers then decided to call the paramedics, but no one could quickly find their phone number! (Meanwhile, the exhibit workers felt so sorry for us, that they gave us free T-shirts and caps, which were so ugly, by the way, that I was thinking in the back of my mind through all the confusion, and being the opportunist that I am, that I probably couldn't even sell them on Ebay!!) It took the paramedics at least 10 minutes to arrive, and all I could think of was what if this were a life and death situation!!
I'm standing there thinking, Oh geez.. we're going to miss the start of the race. I suggested to the people there that if we could just transport my mom from where we were to the first row of the grandstand where we had seat reservations, she could stay put during the race, and we'd tend to her foot after the race was over. Mom said her leg really didn't hurt, but she just couldn't put weight on it. But the paramedics said she really ought to go to the Raceway Medical Center. Well, they picked her up (literally) and plunked her in a golf cart type vehicle. We were whizzed over to the Medical Building and met by one nurse and 2 men who we thought were doctors. The nurse took all her vital signs and then one of the 'doctors' came in. Her blood pressure was normal and she was fine in all other respects. But her leg looked as if it was developing a contusion as it was starting to get a bit red and swollen. So they put a bag of ice on her leg and then bandaged it. Doctor Who then said "she needs an X-ray"', but then quickly added, "we have no X-Ray equipment here". Then things went from difficult to nasty in one fell swoop. This 'doctor' then informed us in no uncertain terms, that we'd have to LEAVE NOW!!
I said "What? Can't my mom stay here for awhile or while I go watch a bit of the race?".
Doctor No: "No, we don't have room here and she has to leave!!"..
I then said, "Well, then can we get a wheelchair to take her back to the Grandstand area so she can be wheeled in to watch the race?"
Nazi doctor: "We don't have wheelchairs here!"
Me: "Well, then, ok, can we call the paramedics back, and they can carry her to the cart and then transport her down to that area, which they promised to do, and then I can get help down there?".
Doctor Kevorkian: "We don't have the paramedics number! You'll have to get your own cart, and you have to leave here now!".
Me: "What?! What part of MY-MOM-CAN'T-WALK don't you understand? She can't WALK to a cart - she has to be carried or assisted, and besides that, where do I find a cart?".
At this point, I was kicking myself for not writing down the paramedics number so I could have called them back myself. I even attempted to call the main Infineon Racetrack phone number on my cell phone and ask for assistance THAT way!
These two 'doctors' would not help in any way, and in fact, were outright snotty. I was literally begging them to PLEASE try to find a cart and to help get her up on it. They then informed me that they 'aren't allowed to carry anyone.' Oh. I see. Liability issues. Geez, what ever happened to plain courtesy and helping people?!!! I then asked for the doctor's name, and all he would give me is 'Ross'!! I said "What is your last name", and he said "I'm not giving that to you!". WELL, C'MON!! What real doctor would refuse to give his name?? This was ridiculous. Not only were they unsympathetic and snotty, I could see that they were not going to help us one bit. Somehow, out of the blue however, a cart did turn up, and some security WOMAN assisted me in holding mom up from under her arms and out to the cart!
The security woman then whizzed us over to the First Aid Building which is situated right smack in the Grandstand area only about 100 feet from the bleachers where we had our seat reservations. Finally, I thought we were getting somewhere! Surely the First Aid people would find a wheelchair or assist mom up into some seats in the grandstands.
Arriving in the First Aid area, we were quickly met by 2 guys who looked as if we interrupted them picking their nose. When I told them what we needed, they looked at me as if I had asked them to clean out a pig sty! They, too, said they weren't allowed to lift anyone! Then I asked these guys if they could locate a wheelchair. Answer: NO WHEELCHAIRS!! Then the security woman who was still loitering nearby suggested we could possibly get a wheelchair over on TURN 9! Now, if you haven't been to Infineon Raceway, you have to understand that Turn 9 is WAY, WAY over on the other side of the track!!!! As all this is being discussed and hammered out, we could hear the famous words "GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES!!" and the roar of the race cars, whilst we were stuck there and missing the race! Security Lady offers to take us in the golf cart all the way over to Turn 9, saying she has a shortcut there! Ok, what other option did we have, so off we went! There we were, hanging on for dear life, on this little golf cart, rambling through all the crowds of people, over dirt areas, behind fences, under a tunnel, and god only knows where! We saw parts of the racetrack the public never gets to see! At one point, we were actually parallel to the racetrack but almost under it, and could see the race car wheels whizzing by!!! The noise and the heat of the day were overpowering, and we were rapidly getting dehydrated! It took almost 30 minutes to get to the other side of the racetrack and to Turn 9.
Finally, upon arriving at Turn 9, which was a completely separate hub of commotion and activity from the action over by the grandstand area, we saw the paramedics and their firetruck! It was like seeing an OASIS! We thought for sure that we would be 'saved' when we saw those guys! (Seems it was our day for getting 'saved' by FIREMEN!!). We asked for some water, and one of the paramedics went off to get it. All of a sudden, Security Lady informs us that - guess what - THERE ARE NO WHEELCHAIRS AT TURN 9 EITHER!! So, without hesitation, she takes off with us hanging on again for dear life! We never got our water, and we lost the paramedics again!! AGAIN, I could have kicked myself for the 2nd time for not getting their number, as I knew that they were the only people there who were authorized to actually lift or carry someone!! ACHHHH!
Anyway, off we went, tearing through the sweating, tumultuous crowd, back to the Grandstand area again, and back to the dreaded FIRST AID office again, back where we started literally!! Still no wheelchair. The race had been in progress for about an hour by now, and we so desperately wanted to just SIT DOWN and watch it!!
I could see that the distance from the door of the First Aid Office, (which by the way, had a huge sign outside that said "CUSTOMER CARE - Care?- OFFICE"!), to the sloped ramp to the first row of the Grandstand area was no more than 100 feet in distance. Surely, I thought, we could get SOMEONE to help mom from the door there at the First Aid Office to the handicap seats in the front rows of the Grandstands. Well, seeing how I was starting to lose my patience and getting angry from the lack of help, this one guy did take pity on us and assisted me in getting mom up to the handicap seat. We both took hold of her under her arms and acted as a pair of crutches, and mom hopped on one foot to get to the seat. WE DID IT! In fact, after we finally got seated, we were happy to realize that the handicap seats we were in were right smack in front of the Start/Finish line and pit crew area, and were better seats than the ones we had reserved!! YIPPIE!!
I got mom comfortable and ran down and got her a huge cool lemonade and got myself a tall cool Rum smoothie!! What a sport mom was! Not one teeny complaint from her through this whole ordeal! We sat and watched the rest of the race, thoroughly enjoying every minute of it all, especially seeing our driver, Jeff Gordon win!! At some point during the race, 2 paramedics came up to us and assured us that when the race was over, they would help and assist us back to our car.
Well, when the race ended, we sat there and waited for those nice paramedics. And we waited. And waited some more for at least 40 minutes after the race ended.... No paramedics in sight! We couldn't figure out where they had gone and why they had forgotten about us!! So I had to run down and beg the First Aid Office deadbeats, again, for some help! We got the same nosepicker guy who kept arguing with me that he would get into trouble if he moved/lifted my mom into a cart. I finally put my foot down about my mom not being able to put HER foot down (!), and said, "Well, you are going to be in MORE trouble if you DON'T help pick her up and help us into a cart!!!!" Well, lo and behold, the next thing I know is that he is picking up my mom like a little doll, and carrying her to a waiting cart!!! I just had to get down and aggressive in order to get some action, or who knows, we might still be sitting there to this day! The Security Lady cart driver took us all the way back to our car, and off we headed to the nearest Emergency Room to assess what could be wrong with mom's leg.
All through this, mom hadn't complained one bit, except to say that she just couldn't put any weight on that leg. So after we finally got her checked into the hospital's ER, were totally shocked when we heard the diagnosis: SHE HAD A BROKEN LEG!!! Evidently, the leg had broken, and THEN she fell most likely due to Osteoporosis!! Here we went all day thinking she had just twisted her leg or some such minor thing. The ER put a removable cast on her leg, and then we got another shockk for the day: the hospital informed us that she could not stay at the hospital and they were sending her home! They said her injury was (get this!!) - 'NOT SERIOUS ENOUGH' (!!!!) to warrant even an overnight stay in the hospital!! HELLO???? An 89 year old lady with a history of a heart attack and high blood pressure, and they tell us it's not serious enough to keep her at the hospital!!!??? I was totally shocked! The only alternative, according to the psuedo doctor who was in charge there, was to put her in a convalescent home. OH NO!! NO WAY!!
I called my sister to inform her of what was happening, and she concurred that no way were we going to send mom to a convalescant home! I had to act fast, so I called my uncle, mom's brother, and thought maybe he could come down and meet us to assist in getting her back up to her house, which is only accessible by stairs and rather impossible for someone in a leg cast. But my uncle was kind enough to offer to take her home to his home where he and his wife could take care of her. Thank goodness for his hospitality, as we could not and would not have left mom alone in her house with a broken leg! Mom is now in a full leg cast that weighs a ton and getting the best care and love up at her brother's home.
It seems that although Infineon Raceway is very organized and thorough as to how they handle handicapped guests, having wheelchair access and assisted services all throughout the raceway, they evidently haven't quite figured out what to do when someone doesn't COME to the racetrack in a wheelchair, or when someone gets injured there and NEEDS a wheelchair! They were totally unprepared, both by not having the proper devices needed, and by not having their various staff know how to communicate with each other when an emergency like this happens. No one knew how or where to communicate with the paramedics, which I find absolutely appalling. In this case, it was not a life or death situation, but what if someone collapses with a heart attack or worse? Having staff not know where or how to locate the paramedics and having it take at least 10 minutes to get them there, could prove fatal to someone! We would have been better off if we had gotten run over by a racecar! Then we probably would have had expert and immediate service like the drivers do!! Well, they haven't heard the last from me! I will be contacting them about what happened that day.
But all in all, in spite of all the commotion, we got to meet Jeff Gordon, have a wonderful time in the Dupont Hospitality Tent, see parts of the racetrack the public never sees, and watch 90% of the race. And mom's injury, albeit an inconveniencing and uncomfortable one, is not a life threatening injury, thank goodness. But what an experience!! Mom sat and watched the whole race right to the sweet end with a BROKEN LEG!! If only Jeff Gordon knew what my mother endured to see him win his race!!
posted by LADYGOLD at 5:25 PM
