About six months ago now, I experienced the absolute most terrifying moment of my life...hands down. Although the memory of that Sunday morning is always in the back of my mind, a few days ago I was reminded all over again and in a much more vivid way.
You see, on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, my daughter was in a car accident. And I was driving directly behind her and watched the whole thing. An elderly woman ran a red light and hit my then boyfriend's SUV. Of course, he was driving and in his vehicle was his oldest daughter and my sweet Brookie. I was following directly behind him and had his youngest daughter in my back seat. I watched as this lady ran the very red light and hit the back passenger side of his vehicle, causing it to do a complete flip. I thank the Lord that it landed on its tires instead of continuing to roll more than just the one time. I watched this in complete shock and as I came through the intersection, I stopped as close to their vehicle as I could without running over the various debris. I threw my door open and stood up. I remember standing there for a split second, frozen. All I wanted to do was run to my baby and make sure she was okay. But, I had Lindsay in my back seat. I was grateful that she hadn't seen what I had, but I couldn't leave her there in my running car on a highway behind this accident, nor could I take her up to her daddy's car not knowing what we might find. I was panicked, absolutely panicked. Thank goodness I quickly saw movement in the vehicle and then John got out and told me they were all okay. Shortly thereafter the two girls started screaming hysterically once they realized what they had just endured. He helped them out of the vehicle and I have never in my life been so grateful or happy to have my baby girl in my arms. She was freaking out because she had lost her shoe (the impact had thrown it forward and we found it under the dashboard in the front seat) and she had a cut on her forehead but seemed otherwise okay. Thankfully the other two were also okay and I cannot believe that there were not more serious injuries! The firemen and ambulances arrived quickly. I did have a moment of panic when after the tears started to slow down, Brooke became very sleep, very quickly! A wonderful fireman was trying to keep her alert and talking and by the time her ambulance arrived, she had begun to perk up a little bit. They said it was probably a minor concussion but like I said, still grateful that is all it was!
I can literally close my eyes and watch the accident play in my memory. It is so incredibly vivid. But, the thing that brought all of this back in such detail isn't my memory. I saw the video. John emailed me on Friday and told me that the Sioux City Police Department posted a video on YouTube of a compilation of red light camera footage and our accident is on the video. I'm not sure if I should have, but of course I had to watch it. Although I really am glad that I watched it, and I am grateful that he shared the video with me, of course it really shook me up to see it again. It was as horrible as I remembered.
If you want to watch it (and I won't blame you if you don't), I will share it here. There is an introduction with a few crashes on it and then it says Sioux City PD Drive RITE Safety Approach and then it starts in on the local footage. Our crash is the second one in after that introduction and it starts at about 32 seconds. John's tan SUV comes through the intersection and the old lady hits right by the wheel literally just behind Brooke's seat. You can clearly see that her light is red. John's vehicle starts to flip just as it goes off of camera and then I come through the intersection and stop just off camera before I get out.
Whether you watch this or not, please just remember, don't take a single minute for granted. I watch this video and I can visualize where I had strapped my daughter in just minutes before and how close this lady was to hitting the car directly where Brooke sat. I see it flip and I remember the sound of the girls shrieking as I stood there in disbelief. That day could have turned out so differently and I am SO incredibly thankful that all three of them are all alright. I will not use this to dwell on the might haves or could have beens. However, I will allow this to let me reflect on just how precious life is. I will always hold Brooke a little tighter, tell the people in my life that I love them a little more often, and spend a little more time being grateful for all of my blessings.
Thank you Lord...that's all I can say. Thank you Lord!
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