Pistol-Pete a seriously talented pinstriper formerly of Sydney has been seriously injured in a head on.
He is a regular goodguy in the Voksrodder scene and all round nice-guy.
He was hit head on by a Fed-Ex truck.
Pete is in critical condition. Pete has a bad head injury and broken bones. He is in a coma and they are going to keep him that way to help reduce brain swelling. Pete has a young wife who was also in the car. And today is his 29th birthday!
I'm sure most people here don't know him but please keep him in mind and if you are the praying kind say one for a fellow veedubber.
Sadly,
matt
Story here:
http://katu.com//stories/78116.html
For those that know him we have organised a fund:
paypal -
volksrodder@comcast.net
reference Pete
US medical costs often mean people lose their homes after a serious accident.
nn[ Edited on 10-7-2005 by HotRodMatt ]
Nasty, may he recover to enjoy his passion
Andy
They laugh because You are different, You laugh because They are all the same.
check out
www.lowlight.com.au for low lights only..
that is a nasty crash.
hope he makes a full recovery asap.
dubless. 🥲
🥷 And who the helled parked the Mitsubishi "Prancer" under my house??? 🥷
Pete doing his thing on the Rat Patrol
Pete last month
thats not good at all, ive seen his ride on volks rods and indeed he was very talented, i hope he gets better and makes a full recovery
Founding member of the C'town Rat-Pack
Lets hope he comes through this all right.
The world needs more people like this.
Lee.
some people are like slinky's
they have no useful purpose
but they are fun to watch
when you push them down the stairs
Bloody hell, my heart goes out to his family.
Mel is fine, she wasn't in the car with Pete.
She's with him now at the hospital.
Pete's still in a coma as of right now. He's presently got a shunt in his head right now to control the swelling... He suffered a shattered eye socket and LOTS of lacerations.
With all this... the doctors are saying right now that his prognosis is GOOD so far!
Let's keep the good thought heading toward Portland tonight, folks. Pete and Melanie are gonna need it.
It is going to be a long road for our fallen brother. He has a dark place to come out of and we have to be thankfull that he is alive and there for him on this long journey that he is set out on. Head injuries are a very tough thing to understand, he might come back 100%, or he might come back 50%. We won't know for a very long while what it will be. We have to be realistic about it. I hope and pray that we get the same honery, super-talented, Pete we all know and love, but we have to understand that we may have seen the last stripe come from that gifted hand.
Pete left our shores in 2000 to live and work in Oregon with Mel.nn[ Edited on 1-7-2005 by HotRodMatt ]
Some more info on Pete.
The swelling in his brain is reducing due to the shunt and keeping him sustained in a coma.
There is a blood clot in his brain which is the biggest concern but the prognosis at the moment is good.
HotRodMatt wrote:... if you are the praying kind say one for a fellow veedubber.
Consider it done dude. :thumb
terrible news.
it's always sad to see someone injured, be it veedubber or otherwise.
he will be in our thoughts, and best wishes for a safe recovery.
zac
MOB: 0423890217
hope all is well soon
show us your gates
Nasty...
Get well Pistol Pete:thumb
I hate to admit it, but man, I think you're right....
that crash is terrible..
i wish him a speedy recovery and that his family stays strong in this sad uncertain time
get well pete..
fractal geometry; the inner most limits of mind altering abuse
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Barrels
www.barrelman.com.au
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allcooled.com.au
Some more news...
I haven't been near a computer for a few hours now and I haven't read the 100 or so posts from that time so forgive me if I am repeating anything that has already been posted.
Steve called me from the hospital a couple of hours ago with Bill and Lora, Eric and Shawna, He also said that Pete's friend Derrick was there and Melanie's mom and uncle are there for her.
Here is what Steve told me about Pete's condition: The doctors are still keeping Pete in an induced coma because when he starts to come to he starts jerking on tubes and stuff. His blood pressure also starts to elevate which causes more swelling of the Brain so they need to keep him down. He has two blood clots in his brain but they are starting to recede which of coarse is a good thing. He has no broken arms or legs but his collar bone, cheek and eye socket are broken . There are also numerous cuts to his face and both knees are badly bruised.
Melanie has been in to see him for very brief visits. I think Steve said that the doctor saw Pete at around 5:00 PM after which he gave Melanie a big thumbs-up.
Pete has made it through the first 24 hours with a slight improvement so that is a very encouraging thing. For the first time since this thing happened, I finally feel a little bit better. But please keep your thoughts and prayers coming. Steve was able to give Mel a check for $3000. I am so proud of all of you. I know that is just a start for us and we need to keep spreading the word.
It's my understanding that Steve is going to set up Melanie with a user name (Melanie) and password so she can access the forum. If she hasn't had a good cry yet she will after reading what all of you wonderful people have said about Pete. And let me be the first one to say Welcome Melanie. We all care about Pete very much and you are a lucky lady to be with such a great guy. He is going to be fine. Just give it time. With this many people pulling for you guys it can't fail.
Well like I said if any of this is old news, I apologize. Now I am going to get caught up on what everybody has been talking about.
Walt
...sounds like he is in good hands and the best is being done right now....our thoughts will be with him and his family n friends...it's never a good time....
Must have given the head a very nasty knock by the sounds of it...Thew induced coma is good for the recovery as said in the information ... fingers cross he's reponses are good when he comes out...I'm sure they will be
From pete's wife, Melanie:
I just wanted to say again how thankful I am and I know Pete is, along with my and his family. I'm having my mom call the news station, I want this story aired! I've never experienced anything like the heartfelt sympathy from you all. It's so amazing. I've never met any of you, yet when Steve and Bill and everyone showed up, I felt so at ease. You all are such a great group of people.
As for Pete's current condition, it wasn't too good when I had to leave tonight. His pressures were up a bit, which really got to me. I've been fairly calm, until tonight, so I want to thank you all again for this forum. Reading all these posts and seeing all of my husbands photos/work had calmed me down. Although painful to see him, it's also helpful.
I had Pete's dad call the hospital just now and he assured me that the pressures rising is not a huge concern, and pretty much to be expected as things start to settle down in that big beautiful sweet head of his! I would like all of you to give your loved one a big hug tonight. You really don't realize how much you need someone until something like this happens and you don't realize who your true friends are until you need them the most.
I know in my heart that my husband will get better, he just has to and when he does, I can't wait to meet all of you. I still have his birthday presents wrapped on the table waiting for him, so I would like to have a big party for him as soon as he's ready, and everyone is invited.
Thanks again to you Eric, you are amazing! You are ALL so amazing. The kindness and generosity astounds me. It will truely be a huge blessing, as I know he'll be out of work for a long time. Thank you thank you thank you.
....yes it's always such a good thing to kiss the one you love each day and tell them that you love them....I'm sure Melanie has told him so many times in so many different ways since the accident and he has heard every word....it's a painful time with so many emotions and friends are so important...I hope Pete turns the corner soon in his recovery
Community support for a family that has been hit like that is a very powerful comfort. that crash look terrible and it's one of my worst nightmares (I have had a few dreams of head-on collisions, but luckily never experienced one). I hope everything goes well for him and his family.
thanks for sharing this with us Matt, a story like this jolts me out of the trance caused by day-to-day routines and reminds me of the important things in life.
'We teach best what we most need to learn'
VW no more... sigh.... well, at least it's a cousin
Its truely amazing how the VW community has gotten behind Pete and helped out Melanie....good work guys.
Graham
65 Meyers Manx
68 Country Buggy (KO 367)
68 Country Buggy (KO 669)
68 Country Buggy (KO 789)
68 Country Buggy (KO 815)
68 Baja Bug
76 Baja Kombi Twincab
Yeh its fucked up whats happened to this awsome guy who is always willing to help newbies out.Check out his artwork and support him and mel as best as possible.Matt much love for this post dude.
More news from Melanie...
Pete is doing the same today. I'm upset because he needed more blood, but what can you do? It's just such a scary thing.
He's going to be getting a trachiotomy, so they can put the tube directly into this throat, apparently its fairly standard, and will allow them to remove/add back the oxygen a lot easier. This is going to happen tomorrow.
He's still on the sedative, but they take him off of it at the shift changes, which would be twice a day, I believe and see if he responds. If not, they put him back on it, I think they're thinking is if he's not able to open his eyes yet, might as well keep him REAL calm.
It's really sad and hard to go through, all the waiting. Obviously I'm VERY happy he's still here, fighting, it's just getting discouraging. Reading all your posts does help me, so thank you for that. You guys are all so great. I noticed that get well card and all your happy birthday wishes. How cool is that?! He'll be so excited when he can read all of them.
I will write again tomorrow.
Pete's accident has been followed up by the news media.
Please keep this Aussie in mind!
The article says the car was swerving and riving erratically. A few locals from the area have said that the road is quite potholed. Let's hope that it was a pothole that cased his car to swerve and not failure of some sort.
Article here:
http://www.katu.com/stories/78231.html
Video story here...
http://easylink.playstream.com/katu/050706car_ax_victim_11am.wvx
nn[ Edited on 6-7-2005 by HotRodMatt ]
We keep thinking abot him and hoping all works out well.
Marc & Kathy
If you can't laugh at yourself you can't laugh at anyone else! Because life is to short not to LAUGH
Hope he gets better soon!
Witnesses say that speed was involved in the mishap
There's a lesson for all of us.
1959 red & white Beetle
1975 Kombi camper
.... my fingers are crossed that he comes out of this..... stay focused and take in all the support around you...get some rest if you can and look after yourself so you can be as strong as you can be at this time...he knows your there
I'm not the praying kind, but I think I'll start in this case.
purple...they also say there were potholes....so once u hit one..begin to swerve...u lose control and car gains speed....
i've seen ppl travellin limit who never ever speed...gain it when they hit a pot hole...or swerve for nething...
when i teach my kids driving...i tell them..unless its a person...hit the damn thing....u swerve u speed...u tend to hit bigger things... (i also pay for themt o do defensive driving)
i know it means theres a chance they will be hurt....but my mum works in smash erpairs and showed me one to many times...how ppl swerving to miss a hole/cat/dog/ball....hit a big pole/tree/pedestrian instead...
i just think...until pete comes out of it...no one will know what happened first....
in meantime...pray....
and im now off the soap box...
dubless. 🥲
🥷 And who the helled parked the Mitsubishi "Prancer" under my house??? 🥷
