9. White Bird
At one time, the icon for NBC television was a vivid peacock. Actually it was only a slight representation of the bird. The company should have chosen a scarlet macaw, because of its royal blue, black, red, buttercup yellow and green coloration. These birds mate for life, can crack bones with their powerful beak, travel in packs and live for fifty years. Truly spectacular creatures of the parrot family, they are very intelligent, can talk and probably would do well on Jeopardy. Found in Central and South America, scarlet macaws are the national bird of Honduras. You can see a few if you visit Belize.
Not long ago, I read somewhere that the Central American nation on the east coast was a popular vacation destination. A few things found there are creatures that are much more annoying than mosquitoes – they’re there too, of course. These flying and crawling things can bite and inject toxins into your body that make your return trip home unnecessary. I won’t get into more gross details since people reading this may have already paid for a week there in the coming winter. The Mosquito Coast, a 1986 flick, was filmed in Belize. It was one of my least favorite movies even though Sharon was an animal wrangler in it.
That small nation at one time was a British colony that may not be the most corrupt, but it’s high on the list of criminal governments and corporations. Fugitives go there to live and not be harassed. For $15,000 to $40,000, you can buy a Belize passport. Many nationals – not commoners – have accounts in the Cayman Islands, are involved in drug payoffs and own yachts. Foreigners who go there in order to make a fortune usually don’t succeed, as Belizeans are masters of separating dollars from visitors. When asked what’s the best way to leave the nation with a million bucks, the reply is, Arrive with two. When election time comes around, the politicos pass out cash, washing machines and hams.
Growing up in Baltimore, Sharon Motola loved nature, training a squirrel to beg at her door for peanuts. He was soon sitting on her knee. Squirrels are rodents, and though that word brings to mind, vermin, for her these animals possessed high intelligence. In junior high her pet mouse was Dolly. She won the top prize at a school science fair. Unfortunately, one day Dolly escaped and was devoured by a neighborhood dachshund. After high school, Sharon joined the Air Force and taught male pilots how to survive in the jungle, simulating a plane shot down scenario. She loved camping and the group survived on berries. For the men, it was a struggle. Lizards were the next offering for dinner, which the others avoided. While in the service, she met a dentist, whom she married. He had some good points since he loved nature and camping but wanted children, Sharon had other ideas and after two years she bailed out, hopping on a boxcar and winding up in Florida. She attended a school in Sarasota, studying biology.
Before long, she was working in a circus, taming the tigers. Answering an ad for a Mexican circus, she thought about what that meant: Mexican mushrooms. She was hired but it wasn’t exactly what she had in mind. Rocky, a spider monkey, became her friend. Seeing the way animals were treated in the circus, she spoke out and was out of a job. She swam the Rio Grande, with Rocky on her shoulders, and soon hitchhiked back to Sarasota. A letter from documentary filmmaker, Richard Foster, brought her to Belize City. The film was Selva Verde and finding animals for the effort was never a concern as so many had been abandoned by their owners: curassows, ocelots and jaguars. When filming was done, Foster left but allowed Sharon to stay at his place, mentioning that she could keep the animals or release them into the wild. She soon started the Belize Zoo.
At first, it made no money but she asked for and received contributions, attending many functions to do so. Once she was all muddy and invited to an event. Through a friend Sharon wore a dress made entirely from the woman’s curtains, saying, Scarlett O’Hara, eat your heat out. I didn’t think you could see The Carol Burnett Show in Belize. Her zoo was more than an amusement venue. It was intended to serve the animals and teach the people about nature. She hired people who needed work, including Tony Garel, the first employee. The animals were orphans and cripples. The signs were hand-painted and the staff included dreamers and castaways. Sharon was dedicated to the zoo and the locals. She was scheduled to pick up Bruce Barcott at 6 a.m. but arrived at 5. She handed him a cake to hold. It was for the fifth birthday of a staffer’s son.
Through a fundraising visit to the United States, Motola encountered officials from the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA) who weren’t impressed by her. She invited them to visit her zoo, but even then their minds didn’t change. She had to speak at the AAZPA conference in Columbus and instead of lecturing, presented a slide show. The officials wanted a first-class zoo in Belize, so she displayed what life was like there. The presentation included views of the hospital as well as the prime minister’s home. There were many slides of the poverty of the country. Speaking to the people from AAZPA, she asked, Does the Beize Zoo exist for these people or the people in power. The last slide was of a Creole woman enjoying one of Tony Garel’s snakes on her shoulders. Sharon concluded by removing her AAZPA badge. You can have this, because I’m not a member of your organization anymore.
This wasn’t the last time she would face corporate thieves and banana republics. If something wasn’t right, she stood up against it. Bruce heard that she could captivate, delight but also frustrate and enrage people, just because she deeply cared for her animals and neighbors. Barcott wanted to meet her and before he did, he asked what he could bring. Bug repellent, she replied. The first time they met she told him never to pet a jaguar, even her prize, Angel. She had him go with her for part of the journey, describing the rain forest and all its challenges. Bruce saw her zoo with its 100 animals. It hosted 70,000 visitors a year, being the nation’s most visited attraction. Bruce found out about her through the bearded Ari Hershowitz, an organizer of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Ari helped stop the construction of a salt factory in a lagoon. Now there was new trouble: a dam that would flood the region and wipe out countless animals.
Dams can be found everywhere in the world, supposedly to create energy and provide water to an area. Lately, it has been discovered that these projects aren’t that beneficial to people or animals. In many cases they flood a region and deprive natives of badly needed water, not to mention what it does to their homes, livelihood and wild life. The dam was to be built at Challilo on the Macal River, south of the Mollejon dam. Studies were shown – even by the people wanting to build it – that it wouldn’t provide many kilowatts of power; would have a devastating effect on the area; actually contribute more pollution, speeding up global warming. The People’s United Party (PUP) governed and wanted the dam. The other party, the United Democratic Party (UDP), barely opposed it and only did so because the PUP stood for it. The UDP appeared to be spineless. The project was to be done by a Canadian power company, Fortis, along with Belize Electricity Limited (BEL). One company, Dominion Resources, was also involved, as was Duke Energy.
Motola sought as much support and help as she could find, doing studies, looking at other research on the dam, writing articles and speaking for the people and animals. She led the way. Officials weren’t happy with her. An announcement came out that a sanitary landfill – nice oxymoron – would be built three miles from the zoo. This would mean the end to it. In referring to this project, she called it by its real name: a dump. In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Juan Antonio Briceño, she offered a compromise idea to put the dump near Chan Chich, the extravagant tourist lodge of Barry Bowen. That reply infuriated officials even more. Motola had two thoughts: damn dump and dump the dam. With time, the dump near the zoo was abandoned.
Sharon and Sho, an associate, saw a wounded young macaw and decided to let nature rule. With time the Zoo Lady changed her mind. The parents would call to the young, who would answer. When Sharon took it under her care, the adult macaws knew that the zoo would help the injured bird. Angel, crocodiles and turtles felt the same way about their caretakers. So did the fish, who knew Sharon by her footfall, which was as revealing as a fingerprint. When Sharon played her guitar and sang, the jaguar was soothed, responding to her playing by raising her paws up.
It was a long struggle and Motola had plenty of support, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., Chris Minty, Ari Hershowitz, the NRDC, zookeepers, journalists, conservation groups, geologists and the people of Belize. These agitators had all the facts and they were right. The government and corporate dam advocates stalled, lied, failed to provide requested documents and treated Sharon as an outsider because she was a foreigner. Frustrated, she wondered if it was time to abandon ship. One day a mother and her young son came to the zoo. Motola asked Zeke if he wanted to feed the otter and he was in heaven and said yes. It made his day and somehow affected her as well. Months later the Nesbitts called upon her. Sharon heard the story of the family going to a restaurant in Punta Gorda. Before dinner arrived, their boy went outside to catch some crabs. Two hours later, the lad’s body was found as it washed up on shore. His name was Zeke. Sharon had no thoughts of giving up on the dam.
With the dam process dragging on with construction beginning even before approval of the project, Sharon found a new bird: the harpy eagle. The struggle and deception continued but the eco-terrorists won the battle and the dam was dedicated in November 2005. On that day Sharon released into the wild another harpy eagle. Even had she been invited to the dam opening, she wouldn’t have gone. Eco-terrorism is a union of regulation ignoring corporations and comatose politicians that pollute the environment, killing wildlife and humans in the process because of their greed. The first definition of the term found on Wikipedia is all wrong. Hetch Hetchy was another attempt led by John Muir to halt dam building in Yosemite National Park a century before. It failed but started the environmental movement. Sharon kept it going and was a hero to many, who told her how much they appreciated all her efforts.
Bruce Barcott has many more details about the Zoo Lady and the fight against corruption. His book, The Last Flight Of The Scarlet Macaw: One Woman’s Fight To Save The World’s Most Beautiful Bird is a story of hope, vigilance, politics, conservation, the environment and its connection to people and wildlife. Even when things were bleak, Motola stayed on track, mentioning that there will always be setbacks, but the fight goes on. Even if the conservationists win the battle, there will always be others to go against.
There’s another African Grey that needs mentioning. Graycie lives on the east coast and is a wild parrot that probably should have stayed in the rain forest. A resident of Virginia and the DC area, she has resided in a few homes with the least favorite being when she lived in a dark basement. Three children accompanied her with their parents. There are cats and dogs, including a Labrador retriever named Beau. One day he had Graycie in her jaw. Luckily, one of the adults saved her so that Beau didn’t have to decide if parrots taste like chicken. I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s go back a few years.
Jenny and Scott knew each other from Penn State University for some time before they began dating. They followed their courtship by marrying. Their first child was Kyle who would later be joined by Kendall and Gillian. Scott’s brother Mark gave the couple a present of an African Grey Parrot a few months after their son was born. The new parents soon named the bird Graycie. Mark gave his parents and his sister parrots as well, but Graycie was probably the most rambunctious. Nevertheless, Scott and Jenny were impressed by Barnacle Bill, a parrot they met during a trip to the Caribbean. He could sing at least one song from The Sound of Music and was much more entertaining than turning on the television.
From what I wrote about Alex, you know a great deal about Greys. They’re intelligent, easily bored and demand almost unending attention. Their claws compare with those of cassowaries and their beaks are strong enough to open Brazil nuts. Pet parrots need their claws filed as well as those powerful beaks. In the wild, nature takes care of that. There aren’t more messy eaters and the deposits of parrots are almost impossible to clean up. Jenny was most responsible for this job and figured that except for the green color, parrot poop would make a great grout. Another possibility was using it as glue.
Greys also like to pick on their feathers, creating a bloody scene requiring trips to the vet. They love chewing wood, anything in sight, including people and paper. Anyone who has a Grey doesn’t need a shredder. Not only can they talk, they’re great impersonators, as I’ve already mentioned. If you need miscellaneous sounds like lightning, dogs barking and sirens, they can handle that too, enough to drive humans insane. I wonder if Hollywood ever thought of hiring them. African Greys have no trouble sounding like Damien from The Omen or Regan from The Exorcist. I’m told both of them were entertaining. Once when Scott and Jenny left Kyle with a babysitter, they received a call saying that the baby was fine but she mentioned hearing sounds, Like there’s an angry man in your basement.
When the family grew, Jenny and Scott employed the time-out method of discipline: That’s one. That’s two. That’s three. Time-out. One day when this was called for because of the kids, Graycie opened her beak after hearing what was happening and said, That’s one – two! Time-out. She directed the child to the appropriate corner. Another day a typhoon was on the way to Virginia so Jenny brought the kids and the parrot into the basement. The power went out but the Grey put on a show talking and calming the children. She did come in handy. This wasn’t the first time and it wouldn’t be the last time the African Grey did her vaudeville thing.
Jenny was always aware of Graycie’s being on the attack. Her arms almost resembled that of a junkie from all the beak and claw attacks of the precocious parrot after all she had done for the bird. It surprised Jenny that others didn’t face the same agony. Easy going Buddy walked into a room and the Grey seemed to be so friendly to him. She acted the same way with Carolina, a hot Brazilian neighbor and Anne Marie who came from New Zealand. Another charmer was Michael, a friend from the area.
Scott worked at home and used a 3M dispenser from time to time for packaging shipments. Graycie screeched when she heard the sound, but it wasn’t long before she sounded just like the 3M gadget as she kept up the noise. There probably wasn’t any sound she couldn’t copy, including the yelps of puppies. She could drive Jenny crazy from the plink! plink! plink! she made with her beak on the bars of her cage. She knew she was annoying her master because she then might say to the dog Bridget, who came on the scene and almost knocked over the Grey, Bridget! Noooo! You’re a bad, bad girl! Stop it now!
With all her chatter, Graycie became the soundtrack of the family’s lives. Years after Beau died, she would mention his name along with the names of other former pets: Hobbes and Mink. At other times she would talk to herself and come up with remarkable thoughts and sayings, even reprimanding herself for her own bad behavior.
Returning to the poop patrol, Jenny guessed that over the course of a year, she went though 180 paper towels. That involved a great number of trees that could have been saved had Graycie stayed in the wild. Doo-doo droppings would have been confined to the rain forest and provided nourishment for the environment. Of course, a bird overhead or a crawling creature may also have devoured her. At times Jenny had thought about making parrot soup in the slow cooker, but then relented. The caretaker heard that African Greys can live to be 80, but a vet offered that he rarely saw parrots in captivity managing beyond the age of 40.
In her book, Winging It: A Memoir Of Caring For A Vengeful Parrot Who’s Determined To Kill Me, Jenny Gardiner relates much more about Graycie and the Gardiner family, which includes three children and numerous pets. It’s a story of love and dedication filled with adventure, frustration and many laughs. I can’t recommend it highly enough. If you’re thinking about adopting a parrot, be forewarned. It’s a great deal of work. You really have to do research and read Jenny’s book. Also, if you are still desirous of getting a parrot, procure one from a rescue organization or reputable breeder and not from breeding mills. Gardiner also mentioned Project Perry and Matt Smith. It handles all kinds of birds that have been abused or abandoned. Not that long ago they opened an indoor / outdoor sanctuary for African Greys.
The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher offered a quote about crows: If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be crows. Half a century ago, a crow lived at the Allee Laboratory of Animal Behavior in Chicago. The bird was fed mash that the keepers moistened. If they forgot, the crow used a plastic cup to do it himself. Otto Koehler cared for a raven named Jacob. Otto had five groups of objects, numbering from two to six along with five different sized boxes in different positions. These had six, five, four, three and two marks on them. Jacob’s job was to match the groups with the corresponding boxes. He matched them time after time.
A raven is an oversized crow and both are of the family of Corvids, which includes jays, jackdaws, rooks, nutcrackers and magpies. Corvids are blamed for stealing crops and eggs from the nests of songbirds. They’re also blamed for getting into garbage and leaving a mess. The instances of this behavior are greatly exaggerated. Humans also forget that Corvids devour caterpillars, grubs, worms and other harmful pests. Their pursuit of nestlings maintains the health of the songbird family.
Corvids are cunning and adaptable. This flexibility along with the jokester mentality indicates intelligence. Ornithologist John K. Terres posits that of all birds, Corvids are the smartest. First place goes to the crow, proclaims naturalist Tony Angell. Writer and zoologist Bernd Heinrich believes that the raven surpasses the crow in this regard and Konrad Lorenz agrees. Those working with mynas and parrots add that their birds can’t be ignored. As mentioned earlier, Alex the Grey wasn’t the only bird that could talk. Irene Pepperberg compared crows to gorillas and chimps.
According to Aesop – the fable guy – a crow encountered a pitcher with water. There wasn’t much inside but the Corvid dropped a few pebbles into the container and eventually Charley the crow could drink. After they are born, young pinyon jays can soon recognize their parents’ calls. Those that feed only give food to their own, even if a moocher is in the nest. Sorry guy, go to your mom’s nest.
Corvids also experience grief. If one loses her mate, noisy visitors will arrive within a few hours to comfort the widow. Catherine Feher Elston’s pet crow, Gagee, cared for a wounded fledging. When the latter died, Gagee was silent for four days. If a mate is missing, the other will utter calls to summon the gone bird. Besides bird calls, Corvids seem to sprout words. A raven heard explosions that a construction crew set off and answered with, Three, two, one, kaboom! Perhaps not as good as African Greys, members of this family can talk and imitate human sounds. After hearing the German word, komm, when summoned to eat, a raven uttered that word to another bird to be fed.
Corvids can hide food and then retrieve it, months after they do so. Those that watch may be able to find the nut, but the one who does the hiding just reburies it. Now it’s safe from the poacher. Crows and ravens rely on larger animals to kill some of their food supply. Bringing down a deer isn’t an easy job. They also hang around eagles just to taunt them. Sometimes that gets hazardous. Those that get away from the eagle or other dangerous animals can survive longer than forty years. You can read more about these amazing birds in the book by Candace Savage, Bird Brains: The Intelligence Of Crows, Ravens, Magpies, And Jays.
Tibby, a female whooping crane, was brought up by a man from Scotland, who managed despite being on crutches. When the man became seriously ill, he asked Gavin Maxwell to care for Tibby. The guy died, and Tibby wasn’t happy, escaping the enclosure that Maxwell provided him. The crane got to the village and seeing a man on crutches, decided to stay with him. The guy chased her away. Soon Maxwell received a call from a person who had seen Tibby and mentioned her acting unusual, trying to follow him indoors. Gavin inquired of the guy if he used crutches and sure enough, he did. The caller was surprised at the reply but Tibby was just connected to a person on crutches who treated her well.
Biologist Marcy Cottrell Houle observed two peregrine falcons, Arthur and Jenny, feeding their young. Jenny left one day, but never returned. Arthur missed her and you could see it by his actions. He called out and when Jenny still didn’t appear after three days, he let a cry of despair, filled with sadness. For an entire day he didn’t move. Two days later, Arthur left to gather food for the young and was frenetic in his efforts. Nevertheless, three of the five nestlings died, but the others fledged successfully. Arthur’s grief is witnessed numerous times in the animal kingdom, whether wildlife or domestic animals.
Sarvey Wildlife Center is located in the state of Washington. It’s a place of animal rescue, rehabilitation and release, serving King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. Jeff Guidry heard about it and visited in February 1996. Seeing the cougar, raccoon and owl along with meeting Judy, Kaye and Crazy Bob, he was impressed and put to work that same day. His job was to clean cages and to put the squirrel back when the cage was cleaned. He was successful, but not without some blood coming from his finger. Nonetheless, he would work there one day each week for four hours since he had another job.
On August 12, 1998, Sarvey received a new arrival that would change Jeff’s life. It was an emaciated female eagle that Crazy Bob brought in. Guidry took her to the vet, after removing the passenger seat of his escort. Now the eagle and driver could see each other. The vet sedated her, took some x-rays and found enough damage to the wings and inserted some pins. On the way back to Sarvey, Jeff asked his feathered friend how she felt and assured her that he would take care of her. In time she would be named Freedom.
What was needed was for Freedom to eat. Guidry took care of her and spoke words of comfort and hope to her and she gained weight. Even with the weight gain, she still couldn’t stand. She would never be able to fly because of her damaged wings and the decision was made to euthanize her if no progress resulted in seven days. That fatal day that would soon come was a Friday but Jeff only volunteered on Thursday. He went in on his normal day, anyway. When he arrived, the staff was smiling and he noticed that Freedom was standing. Apparently all the talking he did to her paid dividends. Freedom would be used at shows to teach others about wildlife.
Freedom may not have survived without Guidry. Since guests at the rehabilitation center are all rescues, they’re also wild. Untrained, uncaring persons wouldn’t fit it at Sarvey. Not only that, they’d probably visit a hospital before they resigned from volunteering there. All those humans had something special and the animals related to it. Each respected the other. Some of the rescues didn’t survive, just as Freedom almost didn’t, but a great number of animals were released into the wild. That was one of the goals.
In spring of 2000, Jeff felt a lump on his neck. It was still there after a few days, so Lynda, his companion, forced him to have it checked out. He had a biopsy and it was determined to be Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The surgeon told him his odds were fifty-fifty. When he returned to his family doctor, he decided he needed to go to Virginia Mason because of their oncology center. Lynda mentioned Dr. Andrew Jacobs at Mason. After seeing him, his odds improved, but only slightly. Jacobs informed him it was treatable with chemotherapy. Jeff was still distraught, but was determined to beat the cancer.
There were eight treatments, three weeks apart, so it would be a long battle. Jeff contacted his employer and mentioned his plight to the people at Sarvey and received 100% support. Lynda and his family were there for him as well. There were times when Jeff had setbacks, but he learned what he should have done but didn’t do. When he felt better, he went in to handle Freedom – I’m sure she knew he was suffering. He had saved the eagle’s life so maybe the favor would be returned.
The treatments were done and just after Thanksgiving, he and Lynda went to see Dr. Jacobs. He wasn’t at ease – I wouldn’t have been either – but things changed when Dr. J. appeared smiling, saying, You get to live. There are no signs of cancer anywhere. Jeff and Lynda hugged and soon the doctor had his turn. He also mentioned a drug, Rituxan, which would require four treatments. Guidry agreed to them as well as checkups every three months for a couple years.
When Guidry went back to Sarvey, he relayed the good news to Kaye, who herself had battled cancer. He left and took Freedom outside. The air was cold but bothered neither of them, with the eagle on his right arm, facing him. Before long, Freedom could be felt draping over his shoulder with her left wing. She then had her other wing around him so she could touch the center of his back. It was almost like a cape. Being out with her so long, he noticed that this was the first time that Freedom had done that. They looked at each other and the eagle touched his nose gently with her beak.
Jeff was upset with anyone who messed with nature and wildlife. Some dumb guy saw a mother bear carrying her offspring away, leaving another cub, so he took it to Sarvey. The mother bear would have returned for the missing cub. As a result, he was at the center in danger of not being released into the wild because of over nurturing. He was raised until he was mature. Fortunately, Jeff noticed that the cub’s behavior had changed and it appeared that release could be done. It was successful, something all the staff were happy to see.
There were two other bears involved in the drug trade: Corky and Pumpkin. They weren’t dealers or users but victims as they were headed for movie stardom in Hollywood. Their trailer was pulled over and U. S. Customs found marijuana and almost $200,000 cash. Corky and Pumpkin were delivered to the center, but they were full-grown, so ease into the wild wasn’t an option. They weren’t that healthy either but the staff remedied that. Next was to find a place for them. Selected was the Wild Animal Orphanage (WAO) in San Antonio. Corky and Pumpkin had a new home with a few other bears. They all spent evenings playing Bingo. Seriously, when Jeff later visited WAO, Corky recognized him and lowered her paw. She almost seemed to say to him, Hey, I’ve missed you. And thanks.
Guidry wrote a book about Sarvey and his experiences, but needed an ending. What he wrote in the last chapter was as good as the rest of the book. Over time, people think they can make a wild animal a pet. It’s not meant to be, so don’t do it. Stick with a dog, cat or pet rock. Another annoying observation of Jeff is that building condominiums and businesses leave animals with no habitat, or one that’s toxic. I’ve read his book and highly recommend it. Its title is An Eagle Named Freedom: My True Story Of A Remarkable Friendship. After further consideration, I believe I chose the right title for my book.
I’m not sure how Ben Franklin would have felt about Freedom – the bird not the other concept. I’ll deal with that shortly. The turkey on your Thanksgiving table evolved from wild turkeys. The name probably originated because the British made an association between the bird and the country of the same name. Domesticated turkeys don’t fly but the wild ones can for about a quarter mile, despite their size. They wind up in trees, although not in the stands of the hunters, I don’t think. Besides the familiar gobble, they emit putts, cutts, whines, kee-kees, and clucks. All these sounds have meaning to other turkeys, some as warning others and as mating calls. I’m sure one represents a reminder that football on Thanksgiving is coming soon. Turkeys eat grasses, trees, shrubs, nuts, berries and insects. Sometimes they consume small reptiles and even visit bird feeders.
Predators of turkey eggs include raccoons, skunks, foxes, groundhogs and rodents. The young and adults have to watch out for coyotes, wolves, bears, hawks, eagles and humans, who are at the top of the list. Nonetheless, turkeys are fighters, using their beaks and legs against those after them. They can also run or fly away, chasing humans as well as four legged attackers. Over two centuries ago, Benjamin Franklin preferred the turkey to the eagle as the national bird. He felt that the latter was of bad moral character, not obtaining his living in an honest way.
Violinist David LaFlamme wrote and produced the song “White Bird” in 1969 for the musical group, It’s a Beautiful Day. David sang it with Pappi Santos. The song was over six minutes long but shortened for airplay, reaching the number three spot on San Francisco station KYA. Sadly, Santos died twenty years later in a car accident.