Skagit Valley Hospital released Oak Harbor resident Bill Blodgett after a week-long stay for a minor stroke Sunday. The very next day, Blodgett nearly earned himself an ambulance ride back to the hospital after crashing his car on E. Silver Lake Road.

“I wasn’t told not to drive,” he said.

The crash occurred shortly after Blodgett left his home for a Monday morning doctor’s office visit and other errands, including a stop at Wal-Mart to fill a new prescription.

“I was getting a tape out of the radio and realized I was on the grass,” he explained. “I corrected and corrected again.”

The car swerved back and forth on the road “about 18 times,” Blodgett said, before he entirely lost control. His car crossed over the oncoming traffic lane, narrowly missed a telephone pole and rolled off the road. The car came to rest with the driver’s side resting atop damp soil.

The crash left dark, wavy skid marks on the pavement and a fresh track of disturbed dirt stretching from the road to the car’s resting place in the front yard of a Silver Lake Road home.

Blodgett remained in his car until a trio of emergency personnel could help him crawl out through the trunk.

“Hey, watch your step. There’s a pile of dog poop,” he warned the men helping him from the crushed car.

“I’m OK. I’m not injured at all,” he told the EMTs. “I just lost control of the car.”

Blodgett appeared unscathed by the rollover and goofed around with the paramedics, even posing for pictures. His blue PT Cruiser didn’t fare as well. The top was crumpled and the bumper came to rest about 20 feet from the vehicle.

According to Blodgett, his inability to control the car may have stemmed from a new set of wheels.

“I think the tires are defective,” he told emergency personnel, although he acknowledged the distraction caused by his search for a country radio station.

Blodgett had his seat belt on and walked away from the crash without a scratch.