I was driving to the grocery store today behind a gray Blazer. As we passed through the intersection suddenly the Blazer in front of me was t-boned. I slammed on my brakes, threw my emergency brake and did some serious sliding to the side, all the while watching the Blazer flip on its hood. I jumped out of my car and ran to the Blazer, a woman was trapped inside. She was screaming as I crawled through the glass to get to her broken window. I reached inside and grabbed her hand. She was bleeding heavily from a gash in her head, her hands were shredded. She pulled and pulled on me, like she wanted to bring me in the car with her. I knew I could not move her till help arrived but she was begging me to get her out. I just kept reassuring her that help was on the way. I sat on down on a pile of glass so I could be closer to her. I held her hands and she kept reaching out and touching my face. I knew she was covering me in her blood but some things just don't matter.
The police arrived first. A car and a motor cycle. They pulled me away, thinking the blood was mine, that perhaps I had been a passenger in her truck and had somehow crawled out. The woman (whose name was Jackie) was calling for me. They took me to a curb, sat me down and told me to stay until the paramedic arrived. The firemen came next, they were looking me over as I was trying to explain that I wasn't hurt, I wasn't involved in the accident, I was just 4 seconds behind it. Once I had convinced them I was OK, they wanted to know whose blood was on my hands and face. When I explained what happened they immediately began to clean me up. They scrubbed my hands and wiped some blood off of my face. I hadn't even realized how much blood was on me until they were wiping at spots here and there.
They gently removed Jackie from her truck and I went over to her. I was told her cuts were not life threatening, simply put, head wounds bleed profusely and that is why we we're all in such a state.
Jackie had been on her way to therapy so I called her therapist for her (she gave me her purse so I could pull out her phone book.) She had also told me (while we held hands waiting for help) all about her life; that she was a recovering crack addict (three years sober) and that she had just received over-nights with her eight year old daughter. She was devastated that she wouldn't have a car to pick her daughter up the next day. I offered to call a friend for her as well and she had me call her sponsor. Her sponsor told me she would be there in minutes.
After the everyone triple checked me and I gave my statement I was allowed to go on my way. I ran my errand, still shaking, still nervous, still covered in a thin layer of someone else's blood.
Once I got home I washed everything again and headed over to my sisters to visit with my Aunt Ester and my grandfather. I was supposed to eat dinner but I was just too messy to be bothered. I had a short visit with them, as I will be having at the club with them on the 12th. I wish I had been in a better space for the visit but after what I witnessed I was just too exhausted to be there
So now I am home, just happy to be safe. I can not tell you what I was thinking when I left my car and crawled through the glass to get to a screaming scared stranger. Only afterwards did I think to myself - this is what is important, being there for others. Always.
The police arrived first. A car and a motor cycle. They pulled me away, thinking the blood was mine, that perhaps I had been a passenger in her truck and had somehow crawled out. The woman (whose name was Jackie) was calling for me. They took me to a curb, sat me down and told me to stay until the paramedic arrived. The firemen came next, they were looking me over as I was trying to explain that I wasn't hurt, I wasn't involved in the accident, I was just 4 seconds behind it. Once I had convinced them I was OK, they wanted to know whose blood was on my hands and face. When I explained what happened they immediately began to clean me up. They scrubbed my hands and wiped some blood off of my face. I hadn't even realized how much blood was on me until they were wiping at spots here and there.
They gently removed Jackie from her truck and I went over to her. I was told her cuts were not life threatening, simply put, head wounds bleed profusely and that is why we we're all in such a state.
Jackie had been on her way to therapy so I called her therapist for her (she gave me her purse so I could pull out her phone book.) She had also told me (while we held hands waiting for help) all about her life; that she was a recovering crack addict (three years sober) and that she had just received over-nights with her eight year old daughter. She was devastated that she wouldn't have a car to pick her daughter up the next day. I offered to call a friend for her as well and she had me call her sponsor. Her sponsor told me she would be there in minutes.
After the everyone triple checked me and I gave my statement I was allowed to go on my way. I ran my errand, still shaking, still nervous, still covered in a thin layer of someone else's blood.
Once I got home I washed everything again and headed over to my sisters to visit with my Aunt Ester and my grandfather. I was supposed to eat dinner but I was just too messy to be bothered. I had a short visit with them, as I will be having at the club with them on the 12th. I wish I had been in a better space for the visit but after what I witnessed I was just too exhausted to be there
So now I am home, just happy to be safe. I can not tell you what I was thinking when I left my car and crawled through the glass to get to a screaming scared stranger. Only afterwards did I think to myself - this is what is important, being there for others. Always.
1 comment:
You are amazing, things like that are easy to identify your impact on anothers life, you offered comfort to a terrified woman, you may never know how that will make her better. Its the lives that you touch every day in a lesser way, or so it would it seem, that you have the same or greater impact on. Im very proud to know you.
Lena
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