Car Accident
Yesterday while driving home from Brenham, we witnessed a very bad automobile accident. Before our car had even been brought to a complete stop, I dialed 911.
One car with an elderly coupled apparently lost control and collided with a truck carrying a younger couple. Both vehicles flew in the air and rolled over before they stopped. We pulled over and ran to the car, which was closer to us than the truck. I tried to talk to the 911 operator and explain the situation but I did a terrible job.
I couldn’t tell her where we were in respect to the towns between which we were traveling. I couldn’t remember which direction we were traveling. I wasn’t sure how the accident happened because both vehicles were in mid-air by the time I saw them. I told her though that we needed ambulances and we needed them quickly. I told her who was breathing and who we weren’t sure about. I talked nonsense and gave her bits and pieces of information and she did an excellent job of piecing it all together.
I did all this while standing six inches away from a bloody and unconscious elderly man in his little smashed-up white car. He was contorted and slumped over the steering wheel, trapped. I am unable to separate in my mind the steering wheel from the side-view mirror from the man’s chest and neck and throat. I could not tell where one stopped and another started. But I could see that he was breathing. The woman at his side seemed to be in shock and her breathing was labored. She did not say anything that I could hear.
The other couple seemed to be alright. The girl had a bloody nose and a scratched up face. The young man said he might have had a broken foot. They either could not or chose not to get out of their truck. Both of their air bags had deployed.
We gave the young couple water. We talked to the others who had stopped. We walked in between the two vehicles uselessly. We waited for help and repeatedly told the couple in the white car that help was on the way, but they did not respond or acknowledge our words.
Police arrived. Then a fireman. I realized that cars were backed up and traffic was at a standstill in both directions. We wrote down our contact information and decided to get out of the way so as not to contribute to the confusion.
By the time we left, someone had put a blanket over the old man’s side of the car. They said he was dead. Jonathan and I were shaken up. It was a bloody mess and there wasn’t much we could do. What we could do, we did. The most difficult part perhaps, was simply in the knowing that we when we arrived, a man was alive and when we left, he was dead.
We drove home. Once home, Jonathan had some guys over to play and record music because he had already made those plans. I ran errands. I bought lipstick and milk and eggs but I felt terrible doing those things given what had just happened. I tried to justify myself with practicality: Regardless of any tragedy, the kids are still going to want breakfast in the morning. I’m still going to wear make-up when it’s all over. There's no need to be melodramatic. But these things felt shamelessly, selfishly decadent and trivial.
I called the Giddings Sheriff’s Department to find out more. The young man and woman were both treated for minor injuries and released. The old man was indeed dead before the ambulance arrived. The old woman was taken by helicopter to the hospital but she died about an hour after the accident. They have one son who lives in Ohio. He was notified this morning.
One car with an elderly coupled apparently lost control and collided with a truck carrying a younger couple. Both vehicles flew in the air and rolled over before they stopped. We pulled over and ran to the car, which was closer to us than the truck. I tried to talk to the 911 operator and explain the situation but I did a terrible job.
I couldn’t tell her where we were in respect to the towns between which we were traveling. I couldn’t remember which direction we were traveling. I wasn’t sure how the accident happened because both vehicles were in mid-air by the time I saw them. I told her though that we needed ambulances and we needed them quickly. I told her who was breathing and who we weren’t sure about. I talked nonsense and gave her bits and pieces of information and she did an excellent job of piecing it all together.
I did all this while standing six inches away from a bloody and unconscious elderly man in his little smashed-up white car. He was contorted and slumped over the steering wheel, trapped. I am unable to separate in my mind the steering wheel from the side-view mirror from the man’s chest and neck and throat. I could not tell where one stopped and another started. But I could see that he was breathing. The woman at his side seemed to be in shock and her breathing was labored. She did not say anything that I could hear.
The other couple seemed to be alright. The girl had a bloody nose and a scratched up face. The young man said he might have had a broken foot. They either could not or chose not to get out of their truck. Both of their air bags had deployed.
We gave the young couple water. We talked to the others who had stopped. We walked in between the two vehicles uselessly. We waited for help and repeatedly told the couple in the white car that help was on the way, but they did not respond or acknowledge our words.
Police arrived. Then a fireman. I realized that cars were backed up and traffic was at a standstill in both directions. We wrote down our contact information and decided to get out of the way so as not to contribute to the confusion.
By the time we left, someone had put a blanket over the old man’s side of the car. They said he was dead. Jonathan and I were shaken up. It was a bloody mess and there wasn’t much we could do. What we could do, we did. The most difficult part perhaps, was simply in the knowing that we when we arrived, a man was alive and when we left, he was dead.
We drove home. Once home, Jonathan had some guys over to play and record music because he had already made those plans. I ran errands. I bought lipstick and milk and eggs but I felt terrible doing those things given what had just happened. I tried to justify myself with practicality: Regardless of any tragedy, the kids are still going to want breakfast in the morning. I’m still going to wear make-up when it’s all over. There's no need to be melodramatic. But these things felt shamelessly, selfishly decadent and trivial.
I called the Giddings Sheriff’s Department to find out more. The young man and woman were both treated for minor injuries and released. The old man was indeed dead before the ambulance arrived. The old woman was taken by helicopter to the hospital but she died about an hour after the accident. They have one son who lives in Ohio. He was notified this morning.
Comments
just reminds me, once again, to savor life. thanks for posting.
It's something one never really gets used to. Yet life does--and must--go on. We are limited in our compassion and ability to grieve, and this is a blessing... because children must be cared for, eggs and milk must be bought, jobs must continue to be done, and the living must continue.
It is not hardness of heart that we move on after such things. It is just discernment of which burdens we must bear, and which are not ours to carry.