BELFRY - It was the opposite of a Christmas miracle.
As Jim Amadon got into bed for the night when he was startled by what he described as a "wicked bang".
It turned out to be a FedEx semi-truck sliding off the road and into his woodworking shop.
Amadon posted to Facebook explaining he would be out of work for a while and agreed to an interview with MTN News to talk about what happened.
"(I) looked out the window of the house and saw that there was a semi down here in the yard. I knew it was going to be ugly,” Amadon said.
He said his son called the sheriff to report the crash while he went down to check on the driver.
He said the driver complained of back pain but was otherwise in stable condition.
"We’re certainly glad that the driver wasn’t hurt, that I know of. That was the main thing — nobody got killed," Amadon explained. "This can be replaced, he can’t."
Although the driver is mostly okay, Amadon's shop is not.
According to Amadon, dealing with the insurance has been frustrating.
Amadon explained that the driver gave him his insurance information, but after that, he has had to deal with everything on his own.
“I haven’t heard anything from FedEx. The insurance company I got from the driver, I’m kind of getting the run around on that, getting hung up on," Amadon said. "They want me to do all the estimations of the damage and all that, take pictures. I asked them if somebody was going to come out and look at it, and the girl told me only if it’s over $2,500 in damage. I said it knocked the house clear off the foundation, and I sent her some pictures of it, and she said, ‘I’ll make the determination whether it’s over $2,500 in damage, not you.'"
Amadon said he finished his wood products and housed inventory in the shop.
So this crash is putting him out of work for a while, and he also lost completed projects that were waiting to be picked up.
“That’s a king-sized log bed with a blanket chest in it, that sells for $1,450. There’s a king, a queen, and five other queen headboards, footboards, and log beds. The entertainment center is $550," Amadon said. "I mean, it just goes on and on and on, and it's nothing you do in a day.”
Amadon said these products take a lot of time to craft, and he is sad to see his hard work destroyed.
“It’s kind of depressing to see a king-sized log bed crushed, and dressers, end tables, coffee tables, all that," Amadon said. "You kind of like it when you get it done. You look at it and say, ‘Yeah, that came out nice. Somebody will like that in their house.'"
Luckily, Amadon's customers are understanding.
“A lot of my customers told me when I can, to rebuild the furniture they were supposed to come pick up this week," Amadon said. "I’ve got some business coming back in, but I lost a lot of inventory."
But Amadon isn't looking for any donations. He just wants the insurance company to handle the situation.
“We’re frustrated with the response. I’m not responsible for this accident, but I’ve got to do all the leg work to get it cured," Amadon said. “I think the insurance company should have came right out. They should have called me. It shouldn’t have taken me three days to get through to a live body. And then only to be told, ‘I’ll make that determination, you won’t,' it's frustrating."
A FedEx representative provided MTN with a statement by email on the accident.
"We offer our sincerest apologies for the inconvenience caused by this accident and we will work directly with those involved to promptly address the matter."
