"No time to hit the brakes"

Zak Nel­son and his fiancé Elliot Griffiths from the UK were just off on a long-awaited trip in Iceland when an accident occurred. A car crossed the wrong side of the road and hit the couple’s car, causing Elliot to suffer serious injuries and required operations for internal injuries. Zak, who escaped much better, sat down with a reporter and told his story.

On the wrong side of the road

The couple landed in Iceland on April 19 and headed straight for the Southeast part of the country by car. The plan was to explore Kerið , Geysir , Seljalandsfoss , and Skógafoss on that first day out of four.

“We were supposed to go home on April 23 because Elliot wanted to celebrate his 26th birthday at home,” says Zak, “and then we had looked at Kerið and Geysir and were on our way to Selja-landsfoss when the accident happened.

“We were heading east when a car crossed over to the wrong side of the road, possibly overtaking. It was only about a hundred metres between the two cars and I didn’t have any time to hit the brakes or scream. I was just trying to deflect,” says Zak, “and the cars have been spooling together violently.”

“I was behind the wheel and all I could think was to try to deflect, but there was no time.”

Do you want to marry me?

“The car belts saved our lives; we’ve been told. We had a lot of bruises where the belts were,” Zak says, not knowing how hurt they were in the first place.

“I don’t remember much, but I felt everything happened so fast, actually it took a while before I was in an ambulance, but Elliot got in an ambulance before me. Elliot remembers a little more than I did, and I guess I told him, “That’s where the insurance went for the car” and then, “Now the vacation is ruined.” He also said that I was extremely calm when I told him that I had to take off my seatbelt and I would fall on him, but I would try to do so carefully,” Zak says.

The ambulances took the men to the emergency room at the hospital and Elliot was soon put in surgery for internal injuries.

“I don’t remember much from the first hours of the hospital but I remember asking to see Elliot, but I heard his voice. I was then rolled in bed to him where he was. It was so much relief to see that he was alive. Then he greeted me and said, “Would you like to marry me?” I immediately replied, “Of course!” Then he was rolled right to the operating table,” Zak says, and later learned that his intestines had been disintegrated in some parts.

The engagement is a positive thing

The trauma of an accident is a lot and it can take time to work it out. Zak says both of them have asked themselves “What if?”

“We’ve been wondering, what if we hadn’t stopped in a junkyard and had a pulse; what if we’d parked at another place near Geysir? There’s so much that leads us to the accident. It sounds silly, but we believe this was supposed to happen. We’re engaged and we’re happy that something positive came out of this because we wouldn’t be engaged if it hadn’t happened. I’m not happy that this happened, of course, but hopefully Elliot will be able to recover completely and then something good will come out of this,” says Zak, saying he’s already planning the wedding.

“The recovery after the second surgery can take many weeks, and we would rather be at home with our people,” he says, adding that he still doesn’t know when that may happen.

Want to come back later

Zak says he is very grateful that they are both alive.  Even though the Itrip to Iceland rip was certainly different than he had planned, they are already planning to come back.

“We’re talking about coming back here in a few years and seeing the country together. Elliot’s was in the hospital all the time,” says Zak.

“We’re now looking forward to going home to Norwich, sleeping in our bed, and meeting our cats. And starting our life together.”