[RedSnake351]

I am sure friends of Dave's won't mind that I will share this sad news with other Cobra enthusiasts.
Last Monday, one of our Windy City Cobra Club members, David Schlagman, was involved in a very serious accident which turned fatal 4 days later.
Here was the first report e-mailed by his friend, Marty:

Subject: RE: David Shlagman

Yesterday morning, David was traveling on St. Mary's Rd. south of Hwy. 60 when the accident occurred. They surmise he may have seen a stray deer or other animal and swerved off the roadway to avoid it. Then, the car hit a dip on the shoulder, came back up and hit a concrete structure, causing a frontal collision. They had to use the Jaws Of Life to remove him from the car, however, he was cognizant when the paramedics arrived and was asking for his cousin, a paramedic in Long Grove, to be there.

I went to visit the hospital, and saw David. He's flat-boarded, with IV's and tubes. He was heavily sedated and fast asleep. It looks like the vitals are all there, so thank God for that. I believe there was no head injuries in the accident.

He will be in intensive care for several days; broken ribs, punctured lung and liver, and a pretty good loss of blood, all of which they have under control. The big question is, about the spinal cord injury, to what extent it is. They can't say, and won't really opine about this. I think he was on Coumidin, a blood thinner, so bleeding is an issue. They have put a "filter" in his artery to prevent any solid matter from making its way upstream, so they're on it. He is in a good hospital for these types of injuries.

Say a prayer for David and his family. He needs all the help he can get. We can only hope for a full recovery. David, we're pulling for you!

Then his friend wrote the following late Friday:

I am very sorry to report that David passed away this evening from complications of his accident on Monday morning. He suffered multiple critical injuries and in spite of all of the measures utilized in the ICU, his life ended about 7:30 this evening. He was surrounded by his close family & friends, including a very loving son, and I feel fortunate that I got to say my good-byes to him before he went. I will miss him very much as he & I have become close friends over the last year. He was quite the "character" and had a very big heart, possessed a great deal of common sense, and was well educated in the lessons of a life well lived! Nobody loved their Cobra more then he, and he'll be missed very much by those who loved and respected him!