Well I no longer have my white 02 Limited Excursion. Just out side of Whitehorse Yukon on July 7th while PCSing to Alaska I was involved in an accident where I was run off the road and rolled her four times with two of my kids in the vehicle with me. The Ex did it's job and kept the kids safe (my daughter made it out with only a scratch on her arm). Luckily my daughter had had a nightmare the night before and had asked me to hold her hand at the beginning of the drive so my seat was all the way back. The roof was crushed and had I been in my normal position I probably would not be typing this right now. As it stands I broke my neck in three places and had to have spinal fusion as well as several rods and screws added. There was no cell reception and I was extremely lucky that there was no shortage of people who were willing to help. One of the first people who stopped also happened to be the manager for the local ER on his way to a CO-OP. I have replaced my Ex with an 06 F350 CrewCab with the 6.0. I wanted another Ex, but this truck literally fell into my lap with a price I couldn't turn down. I just wanted to thank you all. Though I didn't have my Ex long I loved that truck and had planned to drive her until she fell out from under me. Well she did and she gave her all keeping me and my kids alive. This is just a friendly reminder, though these are amazing vehicles they are not invincible. Please be safe.

BTW, I have two pieces of rear trim the dealer had given me to replace my torn up ones when I bought it. They were moved with my household goods to Anchorage and are still in the box. If anyone is in need of them throw me an offer.

 

Very glad you are still with us! Welcome to the spinal fusion club! I have some of that...Spinal fusion will only limit you as much as you let it, brother.

I enjoy the peace of mind riding in my X for the same reasons you experienced. I also love your sig line. I worked with EOD in the Navy quite a bit, and now I work with firefighters daily. So I got a real chuckle out of that....good stuff and get better!

 

An idea of how far off the road the vehicle went.



The EMT Manager convincing me that I shouldn't move until the ambulance arrived...thank goodness he was there. I was in shock and didn't feel in pain and was going to try to get out of the vehicle. Listening to him is probably why I can now go on hikes with my kids and have almost fully recovered already.

 

Thank you! I am treating Physical Therapy and recovery like anything else and attacking it head on. I think my sig is funny too, mainly because I like joking with firefighters that they are crazy for running into a burning building. Iranically I had almost that same conversation with the ones that arrived on scene.

 

WOW,

Glad to hear you made it out alive!!!!

Were you south of town or already north, thru town?

You were run off the road? We are not that bad of drivers up here.

 

very happy to hear that you and the little ones are all safe!!!!

 

I am sure it was just an a**hole driver. I can't even say if he was a local or a passer through like myself. His boat didn't have tags or lights and he was gone before I could focus enough. I have nothing but respect for the locals on my entire trip through Canada (we started in Manitoba). We camped and geocached most of the way and had a blast and meeting a whole bunch of good people. Came to wonder though how people can afford to drive Ex's up there. I almost had a heart attack after my first fill up.

 

I get a chuckle when you guys in the US start complaining about fuel prices and have no idea how much we pay up here. It only gets worse when you are somewhat isolated, forget about the town pump.

I just did the southern portion from here of the alaska hwy a few weeks back and there were pumps sitting at over $1.70 a liter. Good thing the X has a big tank and I can drive past some of those ones.

Yep, $180- $200 is average on near an empty tank. But still cheaper than taking 2 vehicles everywhere!

 

WOW. What a story! Glad you are here to tell the story. That really does put things into perspective. Sounds like you had the right guy looking out for you that night. Give those kids a giant HUG.

That EX deserves a restoration for a heros service.

 

So glad you all survived. Thank you for sharing your story AND including pictures. My wife was very impressed at how your Ex saved you guys (ok I was impressed too).

Good luck to you, and hey, don't be a stranger. You'll always be an Excursion owner in your heart!

Take care,
Karl

 

holy crap! i'm glad you and your family are safe!

i've had my life saved with a excursion before also, i was very glad to be in a big truck..i bought another one.

good luck up here, hope you enjoy it!!

 

Glad to hear you and the family are ok!

People always question me as to why I drive such a huge SUV when I don't have a family to haul, safety is at the very top of the list.

Again, glad to hear you're almost 100% once more!

 

Really glad to hear that you and your family survived the rollover. Sadly this is a great example of when these Excursions are at their worst; big and heavy just doesn't do very well when tipped upside down. It's times like that passenger cars do really well.

Best of luck going forward; I had a fusion of my lower back and it's never been quite right. By the way, which branch are you in?

 

Wow brother, what an awesome story and a testament to the awesome excursion! Too bad they are no longer made. Congrats on your new truck, gotta post pics of it too. I hope you have a swift recovery!

If you want to sell the back passenger side trim panel, shoot me a price. I could use it to fix my damages ex from a parking lot...

 

Sure looks as though the X did her job! Glad you are all ok/recovering. Keep us posted!