There is no greater fraud than a promise not kept.
The accident happened a long way from home. In a town I was not familiar with and where I knew no one other than the owners of the bed and breakfast where I had just stayed for the weekend.
They had been called from the scene of the crash and immediately stepped in to help facilitate the necessary actions on my behalf. If it were not for the assistance of this couple, I do not know how I would have made it back here due to the seriousness of my injuries and the circumstances I found myself in because of the accident. I owe them a great debt far beyond what you can imagine.
There is a protocol for reporting motor vehicle accidents to insurers. I was not able to speak for myself and did not yet know the full extent of the my brain and spinal cord injuries. The fight for the insurer-related assistance and support I desperately needed began with that very first call made by the b&b owners. And that fighting would continue for 5 years.
(Yes, it absolutely took that long for the insurers to concede I was catastrophically injured in the accident that took place on October 5, 2009. And let me just warn you, the personal injury claim process is actually far more traumatic and personally and financially devastating than the precipitating accident and life-changing injuries.)
That’s 5 years of:
- first losing and then being denied access to my children (the severity of my injuries left me unable to do a single thing for myself for a long time and for all the time I’ve been in rehab and recovery, the insurers refused to provide any means for me to see my family which hurt all of us),
- being forced into solitary confinement and social isolation in a single room 12 paces wide for many years with no freedom or privacy,
- receiving absolutely no assistance with the activities of daily living and personal attendant care or the financial means to provide the necessities of life, and
- selling everything of value I owned to pay for needed medical and injury rehab treatment withheld by the insurers and not covered by provincial health care.
My insurer’s brand promise is “Helping You With What Matters Most.” The brand promise of the insurer for the impaired driver who caused the accident is “We’re There When You Need Us.”
In my experience with the two insurers over the last 5 years, these empty promises are nothing but bold-faced lies. Based on firsthand experience, it is my opinion both insurers sold their customers a policy of deception.
The bed and breakfast owners, on the other hand, have more than lived up to their brand promise which was to provide “The Experience of Family for Travellers Away From Home“.
And I think you know which role model I expect all of our SMARTSTART community members to follow when it comes to living your brand.
Lastly, for those of you who are struggling with life challenges and adversities of your own, here is a fitting reminder:
You do not know how strong you can be until being strong is the only choice you have.
(You can quote me on that!)
More next time. Until then, remember to LOVE YOUR WORK, whatever it may be.
PS I hope you’ll find the new RAISING THE BAR series inspiring. If so, please share this post with friends and followers. You never know what burdens others are carrying or how much their load might be made lighter by doing so. ♥♥♥
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ABOUT RAISING THE BAR:
Raising The Bar is a new series for the SMARTSTART community that has been taking shape in my head for most of the time I’ve spent working to recover from catastrophic brain, spinal cord and psychological injuries resulting from a near fatal accident in 2009. Success, whether it’s in rehab, business, relationships, or life, hinges on our ability to master this simple formula: Belief (B) + Attitude (A) = Response (R).
I’m excited to be sharing it with you now as a next step in my injury recovery. Consider this your invitation to join me on a grand adventure. Oh, the places we will go! Including all the places that scare us most. For that is where the greatest opportunities for joy and happiness — the true measures of success — reside!