For Dave Bieri, an elementary school principal in the Scranton School District, Feb. 25, 2015, started out just like any other ordinary day, until a casual decision to reach for a dropped cellphone on the floor of his car turned that day into one that would alter his life forever.
After reaching over to retrieve the cell phone, his car smashed into a garbage truck. The impact decimated the car and trapped him inside. It would take emergency responders several hours to get him out.
And, after they did get him out and to the hospital, his extensive injuries would put him in a coma; keep him hospitalized for months; and require numerous surgeries and regular physical therapy before he could begin to enjoy any semblance of a normal life.
Bieri had suffered a broken femur, shattered pelvis, broken tibia, seven broken ribs, a torn ACL and PCL, a torn meniscus in his knee, a serious gash in his head, a concussion, stretched nerves in his lower back and a dropped foot.
He spent 35 days in Geisinger Community Medical Center -- 21 of which he was in the intensive care unit (ICU); 60 days in the Mountain View Care center; and 18 days in Allied Services Rehabilitation hospital.
During his presentation to the students in Nursing Instructor Annette Blasi-Strubeck’s Nursing 464 Class, which included nursing, science and human development and family studies majors, Bieri shared slides with photos of his car; X-rays of his fractures, and statistics about distracted driving.