Pamela Brandt has been a dear online friend for several months. She was actually on our radio show Tale Lights with the Baums, and everyone fell in love with her deep southern accent and charm. Pamela is the epitome of a strong, independent, trucking women. After speaking with Pamela, she shared with me a terrifying accident she was involved in.
This all happened back in 2018 in Georgia at the 75/285 split going southbound. Two vehicles were chasing each other down the highway in a serious road rage incident. Snarling traffic and before anyone knew they began to shoot at each other. Pamela was driving a brand new Kenworth truck and was smack dab in the middle of construction. They were doing some construction outside of the Braves Stadium.
So before she knew it she was trying to make her way through construction, and soon trying to avoid two cars in a road rage incident. All of the sudden the truck in front of her came to a complete stop, trying to avoid hitting that truck Pamela went into a jackknife situation. At that same moment the truck that was behind her, wound up hitting her on the right hand side.
Now the terminal where Pamela worked, was very close to where this accident occurred. Just off the I-285 at Fulton Industrial. Next thing she remember is waking up in a hospital bed surrounded by half of her team members around her from her terminal. They had come to be by her side at the hospital to make sure that she was ok
Once Pamela began to regain consciousness she realized she was in pretty rough shape and in alot of pain. The accident caused fractures in six out of seven of her back vertebrae and she was unable to move anything. Pamela also broke her right numerous and her 4-5-6 Lumbar bones were also broken.
It was at this moment that Pamela knew first she was lucky to be alive, but secondly that this road to recovery was going to be a long one. Speaking to the Doctors after the accident they explained that because her seatbelt was so snug, it literally saved her life. Had her seatbelt not been properly installed, she could of been paralyzed over dead.
Pamela’s recovery included having to be in a head harness for twelve weeks, and steroids to help bring down the swelling. The steroids she was given actually caused her to develop type 2 diabetes, and almost suffer kidney failure in the process. During this hard road of recovery, Pamela was also told by her Doctors that she would never be able to drive a semi truck again.
The CEO of the company that Pamela worked for Mike Gerdin flew in to check on her personally. When he got into her hospital room he asked her what her plan going forward was? Pamela’s response was simple “Fight!”. For six months that is exactly what Pamela did, she fought to help regain her old life again.
During this difficult road to recovery, most people would of given up hope. But not Pamela, she said she had faith that she would get better and get her life back. Pamela also said, I hope my story inspires someone that nothing is impossible. She also said that she is sixty-four years young, and still going. To this day she still sleeps in a harness that sends low doses of radiation to help her fuse her bones in her neck.
Pamela is now a Driver Manager for Terminals like Atlanta, Jacksonville, FL, Olive Branch, MS, Mt. Joliet, TN, Kingsport, TN, and Richmond, VA. Currently Pamela has a family run trucking business called Betend Brothers Farm and Feed and Seed. To this day Pamela does still occasionally drive a truck, but nowadays spends most of her time recruiting fellow truck drivers coming into the industry.
Pamela is one strong and resilient women, who did not let a life changing accident detour her from her path in the trucking industry. To learn more about Pamela you can visit her Tiktok page by clicking here
