It was Thursday, May 28, 2015, and Detective Dave Graham’s head was pounding. 

This was nothing new. In his line of work, Detective Graham had been shot four times and stabbed twice, and the incessant pounding on the right side of his head was one of the lasting ill effects of a head-on collision between his squad car and an errant pickup truck. 

He spends most days dealing with complex narcotics and gang cases through the Dolton, Ill., police department, which borders Chicago’s south side. But one evening, as he began his 45-minute drive home, he was excited. “I was going to get shots in the back of my neck for the injury that was causing the constant headache on the right side of my head,” Detective Graham explains. “I’d been getting epidurals every two weeks, but these shots would be a chance to try to get rid of the headache once and for all.” 

At 5:15 p.m., he merged onto Interstate 80. Within a few minutes, he noticed traffic slowing to a stop. He applied his brakes. He felt a sudden impact at the rear of his 2012 GMC Terrain. His head hit the window. His Terrain spun into a guardrail and he saw a semitruck headed directly for him. Instead of the right side of his head hurting, his whole head hurt. Then his world went dark. 

Detective Graham came to hearing the voice of an OnStar Advisor. 

“At first, I thought, where am I — what’s going on? Then I realized the voice was from OnStar — then I looked around and saw I was balanced on a guardrail, facing oncoming traffic.” 

The GMC Terrain’s built-in sensors for OnStar Automatic Crash Response* had automatically alerted an OnStar Emergency Advisor. This technology assists OnStar Members in getting the right help right away, even if they can’t ask for it. A trooper was already approaching Detective Graham’s vehicle as the OnStar Advisor continued to talk to him. “We work with the state police out here. They knew my plate and knew who I was,” Detective Graham says. He had been rear-ended by a vehicle going 80 miles per hour. The driver had been texting at the time and had not noticed that traffic had come to a stop, so he crashed into Detective Graham’s vehicle at full speed. In addition to notifying the police and Hazel Crest Fire Department paramedics, the OnStar Advisor had contacted Detective Graham’s wife, who arrived at the scene. 

The next several weeks were filled with neurologist visits, MRIs, CT scans and physical therapy sessions. While his original right-side headache remains, he credits his recovery from the May 28 crash to the quick and thorough response from his OnStar Advisor. “Without her action, I would have been dependent on someone calling 911, and there would have been a long, long delay,” says Detective Graham. “There was already a backup because of an accident ahead of me. I thank whomever the Advisor was that day and her swiftness. I had a severe head injury, but I was able to get treated and get back in the game.” 

One of his first actions upon recovery? Purchasing a brand-new GMC Terrain. “I have bought GM cars specifically for the OnStar service that has come to my rescue both as a civilian and on duty as a police officer,” says Detective Graham. He has made sure his family drives GM vehicles connected by OnStar, including his in-laws. A new GM vehicle is also on the horizon for his college-age daughter. And like her father, she’ll be protected, always able to connect with a live, specially trained Advisor 24/7, ready to help with Roadside Assistance,* emergencies on the road and more. “She’s about to graduate, and she’s going to have a new GM with OnStar,” Detective Graham says. “Unlike other services, you know someone’s going to answer.”