Vicki Gunvalson Says She "Got a Second Chance" Following the Sand Dune Accident
The OG of the #RHOC tells The Daily Dish about the scary scene during the cast's Glamis trip.
"Put a camera on me, and put me on a trip, and you know something's going to happen," Vicki Gunvalson said in an interview with The Daily Dish about this season's cast trips on The Real Housewives of Orange County. And she's not kidding.
Not only will the cast have a wild time in Ireland, as the Season 11 trailer teases, but their trip to Glamis, California will also be memorable, but for a completely different reason. That's because the cast became involved in a sand dune accident during that vacation in April, which we see a glimpse of at the end of the supertease. "We're all very blessed, first of all, to be alive. We were definitely having a guardian angel, my mom always watching over me," Vicki said of her mother, Joanne Steinmetz, who passed away in February 2015 during the filming of Season 10 of RHOC.
Vicki said that the accident occurred after Tamra Judge made a turn while driving up a sand dune. The wheels of the vehicle lifted off of the sand on one side, and they began rolling. "During that time, I was in and out of consciousness," Vicki described the incident to The Daily Dish. "We had helmets on, but it was really scary. I've never rolled anything in my life. Bucket list checked. I'm done."
Vicki said she didn't really know what was going on until she was airlifted to the hospital. "Next thing I know, I'm on a stretcher. The next thing you know I'm in a helicopter. The next thing you know I'm in a hospital," she said. "They cut all my clothes off me, wrote "trauma" on the side of my arm. Like, OK, this is kind of serious."
The RHOC cast's sand dune accident will be featured later on this season.
She said she feels lucky to be alive after the accident. "I really believed that when I was laying there in the helicopter ride over to the hospital by myself, I really kind of felt this wasn't my time, but I was prepared to go. I've accomplished a great life. I have two great kids, I have two great grandkids, I have a great business. I kind of just thought like, 'If this is my time, I'm good,'" she explained. "But once I realized that I wasn't paralyzed and I was going to be OK, I just thought, 'I'm gonna be OK. I got a second chance.'"
Vicki ended up with some "neck injuries and back injuries and a concussion," but she said neither she nor her RHOC castmates were severely injured. "I was probably hurt the worst, and I'm good now," she said. "I went through physical therapy and a lot of chiropractic and acupuncture and everything. I mean, my neck is still stiff on the left side, but I get massages once a week, and it's loosening up and I'm feeling good."
But Vicki said she is just thankful that the accident was not as bad as it could have been. "We're here. We're fortunate. Nobody's deceased. Everybody's able to walk out of it," she said. "It was God's blessing. I mean, truly."
While we wait to see the full trip later on this season, get the behind-the-scenes scoop on another memorable RHOC vacation, below.
