Car Accident Remembered

Blog Prompt: Today is Pandemonium Day. Tell about a day in your life that was utter pandemonium.

It was Easter Sunday in April 2000 and we were returning from a camping trip. When we got home, we decided we needed to get something to eat for lunch before unpacking the car and so we left the house again. About a mile from my house, we had a car accident. An elderly lady had a heart attack and was unconscious behind the wheel. She ran a stop sign from a side street and we hit her in the passenger side of her car. Her car was wrapped around the front of our Chevy Tahoe as we spun around and around, knocking down a stop sign, and coming to rest beside her car on the corner. Witnesses say that she came across the road so hard, that the bottom of the car hit the hump in the road and caused sparks. It actually knocked a hole in her gas tank and all her gas leaked out in the sand where we stopped. (No one can figure out how that sand got there because no one remembers it ever being there). The firemen say the sand is what kept us from all bursting into flames. I’m so glad that God was taking care of us. (see the picture!)

Another person called 911 while we crawled out of our car on the passenger side. The dust from the air bags made my husband think that the car was on fire so he practically tossed me out my door. His door was jammed up to the side of the other car so he had to climb over the console and out my door. When we got out, he had to lie on the ground because of pain in his back (he re-fractured his back which had been broken when he was a teenager). The elderly lady was unconscious at the wheel still. As I sat in the middle of the road, I called a bunch of friends to tell them what happened. An ambulance quickly arrived and took my husband and me together to the hospital. When I asked if we were going to the closest hospital, I was told that we were being taken to a different one because our injuries were too severe. Since I knew I was fine, I thought my husband was dying and since he knew that all he had was back pain, he thought I was dying. It was pretty scary. Also, since I was strapped in around the shoulders and the legs, every time the ambulance turned, my butt kept sliding so far off the backboard, I had to keep asking that the guy push me back on or I would fall off.

When we arrived at the emergency room (my very first time in an emergency room as a patient), it was hectic and no rooms were available so I was left in the hallway. One nurse came to get insurance information and let me know that it was doubtful that the elderly lady would live. (Gee, thanks for sharing that with me lady!) While I was there, the friends I called arrived and of course told the hospital that they were all family so they got to see us. Another friend from school heard about the accident on her scanner since her husband works for the media and when they arrived at the scene, she recognized my car and our names so she came to the hospital, also saying she was family. It was amazing how many brothers and sisters my husband had, especially when his only sister actually arrived at the hospital to see the other “siblings.”

Eventually we were released and friends brought us home. By this time it was after dark and then we realized our car keys and house keys were with the wrecked car somewhere (we still didn’t know where). Do you know how hard it is to find a locksmith on Easter Sunday night? After called 5 or 6 locksmiths, I finally reached someone who told me that he was no longer in business and I think I started to cry on the phone. He finally agreed to come and let us in our house when he heard the story. After he got us in the house, he didn’t even charge us any money and I felt so bad later because I can’t remember his name to send him a thank you note.

By the time we got in the house, and everyone left us, we were still in shock and pretty sore. Bedtime never looked so good!

photo credit: thanks to my friend Pam Rogers