Silver Bullet Band Members Survive Head On Collision
By Kevin Gray
They didn’t know where it came from, but – like the General Lee, the car from the television show the “Dukes of Hazzard” – the last thing members of Osawatomie’s Silver Bullet Band knew before impact was seeing the under carriage and tires of a small pickup truck flying up and airborne out of a ditch . Then, as if in slow motion, they were hit head-on.
No need to worry about the Cook brothers, Andy, Kevin, Chris, and Mike Gorman, but everybody survived, and Andy and Kevin are back working at Cook Chiropractic on Sixth Street in Osawatomie. Three of the four are nursing their injuries.
Within moments of the collision on Kansas Highway 59 south of Lawrence, Kansas, the bandmates crawled out of Andy’s half-ton Silverado pickup to survey themselves and the damage. Gorman, an 18- year veteran with the Miami County Emergency Medical Service, now retired, walked directly to the other vehicle after kicking his passenger-side door open. “I could tell he, the other driver, was hurt and needed assistance,” Gorman said.
As Gorman hurried to the injured driver, another man, Gorman said, had stopped and was running over. Gorman did not find out the gentleman’s name but said he was a battalion chief for the Lawrence Fire Medical Department. Exchanging a few words, Gorman and the chief went to work. “He climbed in next to the man to support his head, while I did an assessment. We realized it was best not to move him and waited for assistance,” Gorman said.
The accident occurred on April 23 at about 5 p.m., while the band en route to their gig, Gorman said. “Everybody thought it must’ve happened at three in the morning on our way back. But there was a lot of traffic,” Gorman said.
Cook had been driving north and had entered a detour in a construction zone. “This section dropped down low and passed under a new overpass. It was marked 45 mph. I noticed a semi up ahead appeared to have hit something. A sign maybe that went flying. Andy saw it, too, and slowed down ever further. When we were hit, Andy was probably only doing 35 or 40,” Gorman said.
This is probably what helped save them, Gorman said. “Well, we think our trailer and Andy’s truck helped. When hit, we stayed put, and he kind of bounced off of us. I’ve been an EMT for 18 years and never saw four guys walk away from anything like this,” Gorman said.
Gorman attributes their luck to airbags and seatbelts. “The airbags and seatbelts helped Andy and me up front. Kevin and Chris had their seatbelts on, but I’m still not sure how they came out as well as they did. Andy’s truck doesn’t have a full-size backseat, just a three-quarter seat,” Gorman said.
The band members would learn later about their own injuries. Andy suffered a concussion, fractured elbow and hairline fracture in his wrist; Kevin a concussion and kidney pain; Gorman a fractured back rib, torn bicep and ligament and a possible concussion; Chris had no injuries.
Other than a couple of guitar cases getting beat up, Gorman said, their trailer and the equipment came out just fine. “The guitars in the busted up cases were still fine. We were so lucky,” Gorman said.
The Silver Bullet Band managed to play the next weekend. “Naturally, we missed the gig on the 23rd, but we didn’t want to let the business owner down the next weekend. It was kind of hard to get through the evening the next weekend, but we did it,” Gorman said.
As for the other driver, Gorman has no idea how he is doing. “All I know is I still see it, the accident, happening all over again. In slow motion. I still see the guy’s face and his eyes. You could see how scared he was. And, then, we hit,” Gorman said.
The other driver, according to the Lawrence Journal World, was 35-year-old Chad Peterson of Eudora. Peterson, with serious injuries, the LJW said, was transported to a Kansas City area hospital by a Life Star helicopter.
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on May 11 2011. Filed under News and Updates.
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