Mr. Daniel Cook, co-band director at Cam High, was in a car accident returning home from the band’s holiday concert at Rancho Campana High School the night of Dec. 12, 2018.

The accident occurred at around 9:15 P.M. between Central and Del Norte on the 101 North. The injuries Cook sustained were a broken clavicle and a fractured sternum.

Cook’s wife took him to the Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura. After the severity of Cook’s injuries were discovered, an ambulance transferred him to Ventura County Medical Center’s Trauma Unit. Cook was hospitalized for about 24 hours as he needed several EKGs after CT scans and X-rays that made sure the bleeding near his fractured sternum was not impacting his heart.

“The students were obviously concerned when I told them on Thursday. Furthermore, some of them had driven past the accident Wednesday night and saw that the truck involved was the same as Mr. Cook’s. Needless to say, they were relieved upon hearing Mr. Cook was awake and not in any further danger,” said Mr. Cameron Guerrero, co-band director at Cam High.

“I want to thank everyone for their interest and concern, but want to say that I’ll be fine. Especially considering some of the tragedies recently and the second year of fires to impact our region, I truly feel fortunate, which may seem odd. Things could have been much worse,” said Cook.

When students were told about Cook’s crash they were shocked and did not understand how to process what happened to Cook. “The band seemed to be really shocked and upset about the tragic accident,” said Eric Kienitz, freshman band member at Cam High.

Cook returned to work after Winter Break, which ended on Jan. 7, 2019. Prior to the accident, Cook had been working long hours so being unable to work was challenging for him. “Lately, the students just look forward to Mr. Cook’s return. I think they’re tired of only having me as a teacher,” said Guerrero.