How Snooker saved my life
by Sickpotter » 04 Mar 2011 Read
There's been a couple of articles regarding motivation and love of the game so I though I'd put up a bit about why I love the game.
Aside from the enjoyment of the game and the thrill I get potting I love snooker because it saved my life.
Ok, saved my life might be a bit over the top.....more accurately put, snooker or my love of it saved me from a few years of living hell and permanent disability.
I was barely 18 and lived at my local hall. First in, last out, 7 days a week. Rare was the occasion where I would elect to do something other than play snooker. Women, partying, etc. all took a back seat to my one true love.
One Friday night I was right where I always was, knocking balls around the table at my local hall. My roommate called me up at the hall asking if I wanted to come out to a party in the west end. Everyone was going including a couple of ladies who I really fancied and there was a place to crash for everyone. I was having a good session and didn't want to leave so I thanked him for the invite, told him no and said that I'd see him the next day when he got back to our place.
Throughout the evening I got repeated calls to head on out to the party. "Free booze and drunk women everywhere!", my buddy would slur to me over the phone but again I declined and went right back to practice. I know, I know, who in their right mind walks away from free booze and drunk women?
For the record, I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with it
), I just loved playing snooker.
I went home when the hall closed and was up early the next morning to head on back. I noticed my roommate hadn't returned yet but it was early and I didn't expect him back until noon so thought nothing of it. Around noon my roommate's mom gave me a call at the pool hall asking if I knew where he was. She was kinda a hippy mom who had psychic premonitions now and then and she was certain something was wrong. I normally laugh that kind of stuff off but she'd proven to be pretty astute with some of her intuitions so I started calling around.
The more people I reached the worse I felt
. Apparently my roommate had left the house party early that morning giving 3 others lifts to various locations but none had arrived. I went home so that I could receive/relay any information I got and the call came around 2pm. My roommate had been in a bad accident along with several others 
Apparently what had happened was that on the way to drop a friend at work the car slid on some black ice and got hooked on the median. It slid along the median for about 40 yards until it encountered a street light which it promptly wrapped itself around. Amazing really how little speed is required for a car to collapse if it's hit in the right spot. The estimated speed at impact was only 20 km/hr and the car was destroyed.
Back then the seatbelt laws were a little more lax and it wasn't a requirement for those in the back seat. If they had been mandatory there likely would've been two tragedies that day. Never having been fans of back seat seat belts no one was wearing one so when the passenger side collapsed, the back seat passenger was thrown over onto the lap of the passenger on the driver's side. He suffered a fracture in the leg and a broken nose but nothing else.....absolute miracle
My buddy in the front passenger seat was not so lucky. He was trapped in place by his seatbelt and had his pelvis crushed. He spent 2+ hrs screaming and passing in and out of conciousness while emergency workers struggled to free him. He spent the next 6 months in the hospital with a catheter up his john thomas followed by 2+ years of rehab. To this day he's got chronic back problems and is on permanent disability assistance.
In what way was I spared this injury? Well as my roommate was the driver I would've been in the front seat on the way home had I elected to attend the party
This is a big reason I love and respect snooker so much. If I hadn't wanted to play snooker more than anything else my life would be very different today and not for the better.
Aside from the enjoyment of the game and the thrill I get potting I love snooker because it saved my life.
Ok, saved my life might be a bit over the top.....more accurately put, snooker or my love of it saved me from a few years of living hell and permanent disability.
I was barely 18 and lived at my local hall. First in, last out, 7 days a week. Rare was the occasion where I would elect to do something other than play snooker. Women, partying, etc. all took a back seat to my one true love.
One Friday night I was right where I always was, knocking balls around the table at my local hall. My roommate called me up at the hall asking if I wanted to come out to a party in the west end. Everyone was going including a couple of ladies who I really fancied and there was a place to crash for everyone. I was having a good session and didn't want to leave so I thanked him for the invite, told him no and said that I'd see him the next day when he got back to our place.
Throughout the evening I got repeated calls to head on out to the party. "Free booze and drunk women everywhere!", my buddy would slur to me over the phone but again I declined and went right back to practice. I know, I know, who in their right mind walks away from free booze and drunk women?
For the record, I'm not gay (not that there's anything wrong with it
), I just loved playing snooker.I went home when the hall closed and was up early the next morning to head on back. I noticed my roommate hadn't returned yet but it was early and I didn't expect him back until noon so thought nothing of it. Around noon my roommate's mom gave me a call at the pool hall asking if I knew where he was. She was kinda a hippy mom who had psychic premonitions now and then and she was certain something was wrong. I normally laugh that kind of stuff off but she'd proven to be pretty astute with some of her intuitions so I started calling around.
The more people I reached the worse I felt
. Apparently my roommate had left the house party early that morning giving 3 others lifts to various locations but none had arrived. I went home so that I could receive/relay any information I got and the call came around 2pm. My roommate had been in a bad accident along with several others Apparently what had happened was that on the way to drop a friend at work the car slid on some black ice and got hooked on the median. It slid along the median for about 40 yards until it encountered a street light which it promptly wrapped itself around. Amazing really how little speed is required for a car to collapse if it's hit in the right spot. The estimated speed at impact was only 20 km/hr and the car was destroyed.
Back then the seatbelt laws were a little more lax and it wasn't a requirement for those in the back seat. If they had been mandatory there likely would've been two tragedies that day. Never having been fans of back seat seat belts no one was wearing one so when the passenger side collapsed, the back seat passenger was thrown over onto the lap of the passenger on the driver's side. He suffered a fracture in the leg and a broken nose but nothing else.....absolute miracle
My buddy in the front passenger seat was not so lucky. He was trapped in place by his seatbelt and had his pelvis crushed. He spent 2+ hrs screaming and passing in and out of conciousness while emergency workers struggled to free him. He spent the next 6 months in the hospital with a catheter up his john thomas followed by 2+ years of rehab. To this day he's got chronic back problems and is on permanent disability assistance.
In what way was I spared this injury? Well as my roommate was the driver I would've been in the front seat on the way home had I elected to attend the party
This is a big reason I love and respect snooker so much. If I hadn't wanted to play snooker more than anything else my life would be very different today and not for the better.
- Sickpotter
- Posts: 1528
- Joined: 05 October 2009
- Location: Toronto
- Snooker Idol: White-Hendry-ROS
- Highest Break: 147
