Wednesday was bright, beautiful, and sunny in Gulfport. And cold... did I say cold? It's funny how some of the mundane things that happen will stick with you after an emergency.I got Beka in the car, my school books and bag and off we headed to drop her off so I could go to my one class that day. I left with plenty of time. On our way I looked at the jacket she had put on and then looked up at the temperature posted in the van. 31 degrees. I looked over at her and said, "it's too cold to be outside in this jacket. You need to dress for colder weather right now." And so we carried on a discussion about the cold temps.
After she was dropped off at Jennifer's, I went back the way I came. My standard route. At the end of Duckworth, I made my right onto Three Rivers Road. Without trees about, I could have seen my backyard. That's how close I was to home.
As I headed south on Three Rivers, I noticed a work van that seemed to want to pass the vehicle in front of him. At this point, I was about a block from where I turned. I remember thinking, "hello, it's a double yellow line here; you can't pass, buddy." I also noticed that it was weird because the vehicle in front was a good bit in front of him. After that vehicle passed me, I realized this guy was back headed in my lane. He was booking at a good speed and I pulled over to the edge of the road. There is no shoulder there; no place for me to go because of a deep ditch right along the road. I didn't press on my breaks but had taken my foot off the gas.
Everyone says "your life flashes before your eyes" in a moment like that but not for me... Instead I had thoughts. I don't know the exact number but they were all there kind of at once and all coherent. "I'm so glad Beka is not here", "Please don't let me go in the ditch", "turn your wheel buddy", "Shannon honk the horn"... it was during all of this that I could feel a heavy darkness surround me. It wasn't dark outside but I felt like I was surrounded by dark. It was at that moment that I thought, "Satan, you don't want me here."
I looked over and saw his headlights; right about at my window level. Coming straight to the door area. "Lord, please let me walk away from this" and no sooner did I think it in my heart than this bright, dazzling light - like a flash from a camera and just as fast engulfed me. I quickly turned my face away from the impending crash and put my hands up to shield my face. And then... he hit me..... I heard the pop of the airbag but don't remember it coming out. I remember feeling the van slide, hearing my van make crunching sounds as he pushed in on the door and then bounced off .... then the feeling of it tipping...
I wasn't scared at that point. Up until I knew Jesus had sent His angels - that bright,warm flash....I was scared. I wasn't as it slid and I wasn't as it tipped. I wasn't as I took my hands from my face and looked around. My legs were pinned under the dashboard and I heard glass clinking as I turned my head. Everything had slid to the right side of the van.
Now, you can say I have watched one too many action-packed car chase movies because my next thought was "get out, before the van explodes!" I tried to open the door and it wouldn't move. I tried getting my legs to move and they weren't listening. It took some pulling and tugging but I finally got them out. I noticed my window was open and I thought, "when did I roll my window down?" I grabbed the sill and pulled myself out of the van. I stumbled a bit and realized I was limping. I turned to see where the van was that hit me because at first I thought he drove off because I expected him to be crunched into my van.About 100 yards down, his van was now impaled four feet into an embankment. I spun around and saw firefighters running towards us down the middle of the road and a car turning into the driveway in front of the ditch where my van lay on its side.
The lady hopped out of her car and ran up to me and asked if I was"ok". She was my1st angel that day. An angel named Pon. When I became too hysterical to explain to my husband what had happened, she calmly took the phone and told him where I was. When a man pulled up in a golfcart, she convinced me to sit down on the floorboards of it. She sat with me as the first EMTs, firefighters, & police came to talk to me. They all asked me if I was ok and I would tell them yes and she would say "her leg is hurt; she's been limping". She was calming in the chaos.
I can remember turning to see the other driver and he appeared to be knocked out. Whether it was from the crash or something else I didn't know but he wasn't moving at first. I kept asking if he was ok, I was frantic with the idea that he might have been killed. I was finally told that yes, he appeared to be fine.
On my left leg appeared a goose-egg; my husband said it was about the size of his fist. As high and as big around. There was a red stripe down my leg from my knee to my ankle... 4 1/2 days later it's still red and there. The feel of my sweats on the "goose egg" hurt.... My other leg hurt just as bad but wasn't as swollen. As the paramedics were poking and prodding, they discovered blood all over my left hand and wrist. We deducted it was from my climbing out of the shattered window. I had glass all over; in my ears, my mouth, my cheeks, my eyes....
I kept waiting for Keenan; by this time the paramedic, who was very sweet, told me he thought that my left shin was shattered. He took my shoe off and looked for pulse. They splinted it. I had cops and everyone around me. I couldn't see if Keenan had gotten there. They wanted me to lay down on a moving board encase of spine injuries. I kept saying "not until my husband gets here." A few minutes later they parted and I saw Keenan running down the street. He had the morning sun behind him and he looked like an angel to me. As he ran, he looked over and saw the van; I saw his face loose all color. The female cop pointed to where I was and he looked over at me. I tried smiling at him so he knew I was ok.....The paramedic again told me he wanted me to head to the hospital. I said I would ride with my husband. As sweet as this man was, I could tell that he didn't want me to do that. He said "let me go talk to your husband." I smiled and said, "he'll agree with me". In a short moment, they both turned to me and I heard Keenan say, "take her in the ambulance." My face fell; I know ambulance rides are expensive.
I had a wonderful man in the ambulance with me. He kept me smiling and gave me really good advice. He also stressed his concerns about the type of wreck and all. He was another angel. I just didn't get that angel's name.
I spent the morning in the trauma department at Memorial. I had visits from my pastor and his wife and two more church members, including our music minister. X-rays confirmed my theory of it not being broken but I was given crutches and told to keep my left leg elevated and toe-taps only. They flushed my eyes to get the glass out; praise God I wore contacts! It saved them a lot of damage. I only have one scratch that still bothers me right now. Only little bits of glass stuck in my face, scalp, ears, eyes.... I was spitting out glass shards for the first couple days, though. LOL
I had heard people talking all around me at the scene of the accident. Most thought he was going between 50-55mph. The latter being what I heard most often. I heard them talk about getting me to the hospital; worried about internal bleeding and broken bones. The most amazing thing is none of that happened. Yes, I'm on crutches, yes, I'm in pain, but I am alive. I am so thankful that God's angels surround us and at times we get that glimpse of the battle.... forever knowing nothing happens without God's consent.
Wlox newslink
No comments:
Post a Comment