'There were angels watching out for me'
WRBQ-FM's Mason Dixon speaks out from the hospital after his car accident. His message to the county: "Please do something about that road before somebody dies."
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published June 23, 2005
TAMPA - Tampa Bay radio veteran Mason Dixon took one look at the 3-inch-tall angel peeking through the bouquet of flowers delivered to his hospital room and cried.
When his wife finally showed him pictures Wednesday of his prized 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible, split in half in a crash over the weekend, there were more tears.
"There were angels watching out for me," he told reporters huddled around his bed at St. Joseph's Hospital on Wednesday. "They wanted me to learn something, and I have. Now, I've got to go back out there and do their work. And I'll be happy to."
Dixon, 55, whose real name is Jimmie Crawford, was critically injured Saturday after leaving a Father's Day promotional event in northwest Hillsborough County.
He was traveling on S Mobley Road just west of Gunn Highway around noon when 19-year-old Nydia Davila lost control of her 2001 Toyota SUV and veered into oncoming traffic. She hit Dixon, barely missing him head-on, he said.
Dixon said he saw Davila's SUV "bouncing" up and down along the road. He said Mobley Road has deteriorated shoulders and potholes that have caused his own daughters to blow out car tires while driving on it.
As Davila's vehicle got closer, Dixon said, he hit his accelerator to try to get out of her way.
"The first thing that went through my head is she could get out of control," said Dixon, who is a morning DJ and program director at WRBQ-FM 104.7. "If I hadn't done that, she might have killed me. Not that it was her fault."
Davila wasn't seriously injured. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office charged her with careless driving.
From his hospital bed, Dixon sent a message to Hillsborough County commissioners: "Please do something about that road before somebody dies."
Doctors had to remove Dixon's spleen and reinflate his left lung. He also has several broken ribs on his left side, his daughters said.
He mustered enough strength Wednesday to take his first steps since the accident - a stroll from his private room to a nurses' station and back.
After hundreds of e-mails, breakfast at the hospital with Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and a phone call from a MacDill Air Force Base Central Command general, Dixon is looking forward to going home as early as Friday. It will take a little longer before he's back in the DJ booth, though he called in to the show Wednesday morning to thank his listeners for their get-well wishes.
"I got a lot of healing to do," Dixon said. "I think I'm going to take as much time as I can and do it right."
Then maybe he'll look for another 1971 Dodge Challenger convertible.
Dixon said there were only 2,000 of that model made, and he had been looking for one for years. He finally found that one a couple of months ago. And he had just had new air conditioning put in on Friday.
"I'll have to find me another one now, I guess."
Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com
TO HELPMason Dixon asks his fans to donate to the Mason Dixon Christmas Wish fund instead of sending flowers, by logging on to WRBQ-FM 104.7's Web site at www.oldies1047.com