Near-fatal accident leaves history teacher thankful for new perspective on life

There was no time to react.

Riding downhill at nearly 30 mph on a bike with faulty brakes, history teacher Jim Chin — then an undergrad at UC Berkeley — didn’t have time to see the pickup truck just around a corner. 

Seconds later, after an abrupt turn, Chin barreled head-on into the truck’s metal racks. 

The accident left him severely wounded and near death. Six years later, despite the physical scars left as reminders of the pain he endured, Chin views the accident as something he is thankful for.

“Before the accident, I was an extremely uptight person,” Chin said. “I took life too seriously and was probably described as a rather unpleasant person to be around. But my close-call with death changed how I thought.”

Reflecting upon the accident, Chin said he had not maintained the brakes on his bike — a decision with long-lasting consequences.

“At the time, UC Berkeley was undergoing construction,” Chin said. “There was a construction zone that I attempted to aim for in order to keep my bike from crashing into other students.”

After running head-on into the racks on the truck, Chin lost a small portion of his face, which was later reconstructed with plastic surgery.

Chin said that the pain was so immense that he couldn’t even think clearly.  The accident tore important tissues and arteries on the left side of his face, resulting in part of his eyelid detaching from his eye. 

“I must have been in shock because I kept apologizing to the truck driver for getting my blood on his truck,” Chin said.

Luckily, there were many people around to witness the accident, and someone called for help immediately.

However, upon arriving at a local hospital, Chin said the surgeon who was supposed to operate on him thought his wounds were too complicated and another, more experienced surgeon needed to be called in to operate.

“I was simply given morphine so that the pain would lessen and was told to wait about 3 and a half hours until the other surgeon would arrive to operate,” he said.

Following surgery, it took weeks to recover.

During that time, he noticed his attitude and perspective had changed.

“I was extremely lucky,” Chin said. “There was a risk that the surgery could have caused an infection near my brain, which was something I didn’t have control over.”

The close call with death not only changed how Chin viewed life, but in turn changed how he has thought and acted.

“I realized that there were certain things I did not have control over,” Chin said. “Regarding the accident, there was a possibility that the surgery would not have been successful.  Therefore, I could either spend time worrying, or do my best to take care of myself and enjoy my time with my friends and family instead.”

Chin realized that his despite his lack of control over what would happen during his recovery, he had absolute control over what he chose to do and feel. 

“That discovery was very freeing, and I’d like to think that for the most part, it keeps me more centered and calm than I would otherwise be,” Chin said.

Because of this, Chin has managed to view the accident positively — despite the remaining physical effects such as the plastic and gel that holds a tiny part of his skull together.

“The accident showed me that life is more than taking everything too seriously and being super uptight; it’s meant to be fun,” Chin said. “Anything can happen at any time, even if you don’t expect it. I realized that life isn’t something to be taken for granted, and for that I am truly thankful.”