I'll be honest: when I first heard the news about the accident Chad Dickson was involved in a few months ago, I didn't think that the outcome would end up like this. As many of you may or may not have already known, the skateboard world almost lost one of its up-and-coming skaters to a car accident that took place on the foggy morning of December 1st, 2008. Chad was visiting a friend for his birthday out in Abbotsford, BC, when he left a bit early to head over to another friends house. On the way there he decided to cross the street and then it all happened. "Out of the blue, this huge SUV came speeding around the corner," Chad explains. "I guess he couldn't see me because I was wearing all black. He basically ended up running me over".

Within minutes the police were on the scene and Chad began receiving the medical attention he desperately needed to stay alive. Did you know that Statistics Canada indicates that when an SUV is involved in a collision with a pedestrian at speeds in excess of 50 km, the outcome doubles in percentage in being fatal? Upon hearing that the vehicle hit Chad at speeds around 70 km, the worst of the worst should have happened. When I contacted him to catch up on this whole situation, I wasn't sure if he was going to be into talking about everything. I mean, he almost died right?  Fortunately, Chad was in good spirits and was down to let me in on how it all went down.

Where you with anyone when the accident happened?
Yeah, I was with my homey Chris Welch. He was here in Vancouver for a week visiting me all the way from Ontario.

What was the first thing that came to your mind once you realized what happened?
I don't remember anything from the day before the accident or two days after... I just kind of remembered little things once I came to... Actually, I do remember tripping out, wondering why I was in so much pain, not knowing where I was, and not being able to move. The first thing I probably thought of was, I'm not going to be able to skate for a really long time.

What did the doctors have to say about your accident?
Well, they couldn't believe that I survived after being hit buy such a big vehicle.  Oh yeah, they also told me that I ended up totaling the Dodge Durango from the bumper to the roof up.

Did your sponsors help you out once they found out about the accident?
Oh, yeah... of course. When they found out that I was in the hospital they all called me to see if I was all right. Trevn Sharp and everyone else at DC went out and got me a care package stocked full of goodies; it was pretty tight. It's dope knowing my sponsors are down like that and have my back 100%.

What type of injuries did you receive?
I broke my arm in between my shoulder and my elbow, separated my shoulder, received stitches on the back of my head, contusion to my spleen, internal bleeding to my liver, whiplash and oh yeah, I almost forgot: I bruised all of my ribs.

When will you be back to normal health and be able to skate again?
If I don't have to get surgery it should about a month and a half to two months, give or take a few days.

How do you feel now?
I'm feeling a lot better now. I stopped drinking and now I'm eating healthy, jogging and working out every day. Just about three weeks ago I started moving my arm around, and I'm now able to stretch it out a little bit and pick things up.

After it's all said and done, what did this accident make you think of?
It made me think of how short life really is. It also made me look at things in a whole different way.

What's next for you?
First things first, I have to work on getting my arm better, getting my passport and then I'll probably travel and skate for a long time!

What's the best thing about being in this accident?
Well nothing, really. Actually, maybe the settlement that I get out of it... [laughs] That's a tough one! I don't really have an answer for that question.

Send Chad your best wishes on Facebook.

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Related:
Hello, My Name Is: Chad Dickson
Motion Capture: Damn Am at Metro Skatepark (video)