R. Paul Adams

On the evening of December 26, 1972, around 6:30pm on US Highway 61, 3 miles south of Woodvill, MS, my wife, Bobbie Jean Beaird Adams, and I were hit by a drunk driver. She died of multiple injuries, at 37 , and I survived only because of the heroic efforts of a one armed funeral home owner who happended upon the accident, drove quickly back to Woodvill, jumped into an ambulance, picked me up and driving over 100mph, delivered me to the Fields Memorial Hospital in Centerville, MS , some 15 miles away. I had a dislocated shoulder, seven broken ribs and a punctured lung. I was drowning in my own blood and had gone into shock when the good Dr. Fields brought me back to life.

The man who hit us had been drinking all day at a rest/bar on the LA side of the State line. He was getting loud and obnoxious and so they chased him out into his car, where he took off towards Woodville. He had had numerous citations for DWI, and in this one suffered minor injuries, spending only one night in the Hospital. I stayed there two weeks recovering from my injuries, before I was able to return to Baton Rouge. Later I found out Mississippi authorities "threw the book at him", fining him $300.00 and suspending his Driver's License. The funeral home director called me several times to tell me he was seen driving again, in violation of his suspension. When ever this occurred, I would call the MS Highway Patrol and report him. He died several years later, from complications of alcoholism.

I later met a wonderful woman with a three year old boy, and five years later we had another boy, so my life got back to normal and things worked themselves out. My first wife and I had no children, which I regret since there is no one to carry on her genes. I like to drink, and I like to drive, but alas, I learned the lesson of not combining the two.

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