Coach Frederick Aura:
The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. Yes, I know that quote has been attributed to Mark Twain. But now it applies to me as well.
Five other marchers besides myself were hit by the car that sped through the marchers. All were rushed to the nearest hospital. I was the last to arrive by ambulance. Upon arrival, the ER was overburdened. My head injuries, while they appeared terrible and bled profusely, were considered non-life threatening, so to avoid further stress on the hospital’s ER capabilities, I was taken to the next available hospital. But somehow in all the resulting confusion, the identification information from my wallet was mistakenly applied to the hospital’s records for another tall, slender black man who had much more severe injuries.
When Adrian and Dominick arrived at the first hospital, they had no idea that I had been transferred to the other hospital. But the mistaken identification had not yet been resolved by the hospital. And the hospital orderly who was communicating with Adrian and Dominick relayed the information he could gain about patient “Frederick Aura” who eventually succumbed to his extensive injuries. It was several hours before things were cleared up and the Dominick and Adrian learned that I not only was alive but that I had been released from the hospital in battered by good condition. And I even got the fedora back that I wearing that day since Adrian picked it up from the street.
I feel terrible about the angst that Adrian and Dominick had to endure on Sunday.
The driver of the car was stopped and arrested after he got out of Washington, DC. He’s being held on vehicular manslaughter and homicide charges and the case is being investigated as a hate crime. Authorities are checking out his social networking, cell phone texts and calls, and internet usage as well as any organization with which he has been affiliated.
[My computer has been repaired and since only the RAM needed replacement, all my files and programs were amazingly INTACT! Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than wise. I pondered whether to just let this dynasty go or to continue it. Since there are a few things I still want to pursue with it, Coach Fed has been resurrected from his supposed death bed.]