When we found out that political commentator Robert Novak was running around in his black Corvette with a homeless person on his hood, we sort of assumed the worst. Little did we know, the worst actually meant that Novak had an undiagnosed brain tumor. From the AP article:
Dr. Lynne Taylor, a neuro-oncologist at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, said residents at the hospital are taught to check for brain tumors in patients who report having a recent car accident in which they didn't realize they struck something.
"People get spatial and visual neglect of a certain part of their bodies and they don't realize they've done what they've done," said Taylor, a fellow with the American Academy of Neurology.
We knew that a brain tumor could cause all sorts of mental lapses, we just didn't know randomly hitting something and not realizing it was one of them.
Since you can't realize you hit something without realizing it, let this be a Jalopnik PSA for people out there: Make sure anyone who gets involved in an accident where they are unaware they struck anything receives proper medical attention. This, of course, assumes that the night didn't start out at a beer chugging contest. In that case, get them to an AA meeting and take away their keys. We wish Robert Novak the best and hope that Newsweek retracts their Bob Novak Dignity Index, which was published before the announcement of the tumor and includes the unfortunate title "Bob Novak Has Had Better Weeks."
[AP via TPM, Photo: Davidson.edu]