Monday, May 19, 2008
God's Hand of Protection
Last Friday, May 16, 2008, Steven, Ryan, and I were involved in a car accident. I really can't tell you what happened for sure, but my impression is that we had another vehicle make a blind left turn across our lane. I do know that we hit that vehicle in both of the passenger side doors. The other car spun around and narrowly missed hitting another vehicle, and ended up facing me diagonally. The other driver was ticketed for the accident. There was a semi in the left lane waiting to make a left turn. I was in the right lane and did not see the vehicle at all, until right before I hit it. The semi was blocking my view of oncoming traffic, which means that the other driver's view was blocked as well. The accident happened at the same intersection where we turn to go to our church building. No connection - we were not coming or going to/from church, but that's where it happened.
The boys had participated in Stanford Achievement Tests Friday morning; I was a proctor, so I was also there. Afterwards, we ran several errands, the bulk of which involved grocery shopping. We had Chris' car, because the Civic was due for an oil change. We were done with our other errands, and were on our way to our mechanic's shop for the oil change, when we were stopped cold in our tracks.
There was a semi-truck driver that stopped to help us - he took care of calling 911 and directing traffic around me, since I couldn't move my car out of the lane. He also called my neighbor to arrange to have her get Andrew off his school bus for me. He was great. I was able to call him the next day and thank him. I thought this man was the one driving the semi that the accident happened by, but he was actually behind that semi.
The passenger side front door would not open - the back door opened though, thankfully, because I was able to get to my hysterical Ryan. Steven held it together pretty well at the scene, while Ryan got it all out. Over the course of the weekend, Steven did a lot of talking through the course of events.
The paramedics and police came. The paramedics checked out Ryan especially, since he couldn't stop crying. He had no idea that his seatbelt would hold him that tightly. I tried to explain that it did its job, and that he was safe because of that. I declined to have any of us taken to the hospital. We monitored everyone as the evening wore on, and I think we're all fine.
Steven was upset because I had an abrasion on my face from the airbag and there was just a little blood. He was also upset that the car was broken. I explained to him that it was just a "thing," and that I was thankful that he wasn't broken. The car could be replaced, but there is no replacement for my precious boys!!!!
I couldn't get a hold of Chris on his cell or at his desk, so for the first time ever, I had to have him paged. It took two tries, and an alert co-worker who knew Chris was in a meeting, to get a hold of him. He knew instantly what was wrong, and only had to ask how bad it was when he got on the phone with me. He left work immediately to come get us.
Because the boys were so upset, I called our friend Wilbur to come pick them up. Wilbur came right away to get them, and also took my groceries away, since I knew that my car was going to have to be towed. I am so thankful to have wonderful friends that we can call on in time of need.
Right after the accident happened, a man came running, from a nearby restaurant I believe, to find out if we were ok - he helped me locate my cell phone that had fallen on the floor of the front seat, and made sure that the boys were ok. I never saw him again, but I was thankful for his concern. Later, after the other car had left, and things were calming down, I had a lady stop and ask if I needed a ride. I am just thankful for strangers that took the time to help or offer help. The police officer stayed with me until Chris could arrive to pick me up.
Besides the minor bumps, bruises, and burns, and the brokenness of our car, the only other casualties of our accident were one broken can of pop, and a dent in my laptop. We threw the pop away, and my laptop has been working just fine.
God's Hand of protection was on Steven, Ryan, and me. The seatbelts held, airbags deployed, and metal crumpled where it was supposed to. The accident was a lot scarier to the three of us than the damage that shows in these pictures.
For some reason, I rolled down the passenger side window. I don't know if I did it when the airbags started smoking, or to talk to someone, I'm really not sure. It was a detail that I remembered this morning, actually. Another detail that occurred to me later was that I was wearing sunglasses while I was driving, but I didn't remember having them on later. I found them today when I stopped by to take pictures - they were on the floor. Also while I was there today taking pictures, we were going to put the window back up, but the battery was dead, so we couldn't.
The Civic had to be towed. The other car was drivable, even though both of the passenger doors were pretty crumpled.
Here you see the driver's side airbag.
The only lingering injury, thankfully! I received friction burns on both of my hands from the airbag deploying. The minor bumps and abrasions on my face and neck have pretty much disappeared already. At least you know I wasn't talking on a cell phone when the accident occurred, since there are burns on both hands; and I was not shifting at the time either. Of course, I wouldn't be able to tell you what gear I was in. That's one of the many details that eludes me.
My three precious boys two days after the accident. Thankfully Andrew was at school when the accident happened. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if all three of them had been with me.
The boys had participated in Stanford Achievement Tests Friday morning; I was a proctor, so I was also there. Afterwards, we ran several errands, the bulk of which involved grocery shopping. We had Chris' car, because the Civic was due for an oil change. We were done with our other errands, and were on our way to our mechanic's shop for the oil change, when we were stopped cold in our tracks.
There was a semi-truck driver that stopped to help us - he took care of calling 911 and directing traffic around me, since I couldn't move my car out of the lane. He also called my neighbor to arrange to have her get Andrew off his school bus for me. He was great. I was able to call him the next day and thank him. I thought this man was the one driving the semi that the accident happened by, but he was actually behind that semi.
The passenger side front door would not open - the back door opened though, thankfully, because I was able to get to my hysterical Ryan. Steven held it together pretty well at the scene, while Ryan got it all out. Over the course of the weekend, Steven did a lot of talking through the course of events.
The paramedics and police came. The paramedics checked out Ryan especially, since he couldn't stop crying. He had no idea that his seatbelt would hold him that tightly. I tried to explain that it did its job, and that he was safe because of that. I declined to have any of us taken to the hospital. We monitored everyone as the evening wore on, and I think we're all fine.
Steven was upset because I had an abrasion on my face from the airbag and there was just a little blood. He was also upset that the car was broken. I explained to him that it was just a "thing," and that I was thankful that he wasn't broken. The car could be replaced, but there is no replacement for my precious boys!!!!
I couldn't get a hold of Chris on his cell or at his desk, so for the first time ever, I had to have him paged. It took two tries, and an alert co-worker who knew Chris was in a meeting, to get a hold of him. He knew instantly what was wrong, and only had to ask how bad it was when he got on the phone with me. He left work immediately to come get us.
Because the boys were so upset, I called our friend Wilbur to come pick them up. Wilbur came right away to get them, and also took my groceries away, since I knew that my car was going to have to be towed. I am so thankful to have wonderful friends that we can call on in time of need.
Right after the accident happened, a man came running, from a nearby restaurant I believe, to find out if we were ok - he helped me locate my cell phone that had fallen on the floor of the front seat, and made sure that the boys were ok. I never saw him again, but I was thankful for his concern. Later, after the other car had left, and things were calming down, I had a lady stop and ask if I needed a ride. I am just thankful for strangers that took the time to help or offer help. The police officer stayed with me until Chris could arrive to pick me up.
Besides the minor bumps, bruises, and burns, and the brokenness of our car, the only other casualties of our accident were one broken can of pop, and a dent in my laptop. We threw the pop away, and my laptop has been working just fine.
God's Hand of protection was on Steven, Ryan, and me. The seatbelts held, airbags deployed, and metal crumpled where it was supposed to. The accident was a lot scarier to the three of us than the damage that shows in these pictures.
For some reason, I rolled down the passenger side window. I don't know if I did it when the airbags started smoking, or to talk to someone, I'm really not sure. It was a detail that I remembered this morning, actually. Another detail that occurred to me later was that I was wearing sunglasses while I was driving, but I didn't remember having them on later. I found them today when I stopped by to take pictures - they were on the floor. Also while I was there today taking pictures, we were going to put the window back up, but the battery was dead, so we couldn't.
The Civic had to be towed. The other car was drivable, even though both of the passenger doors were pretty crumpled.
Here you see the driver's side airbag.
The only lingering injury, thankfully! I received friction burns on both of my hands from the airbag deploying. The minor bumps and abrasions on my face and neck have pretty much disappeared already. At least you know I wasn't talking on a cell phone when the accident occurred, since there are burns on both hands; and I was not shifting at the time either. Of course, I wouldn't be able to tell you what gear I was in. That's one of the many details that eludes me.
My three precious boys two days after the accident. Thankfully Andrew was at school when the accident happened. I can't even imagine what it would have been like if all three of them had been with me.
posted by Robin Hayes, 7:00 PM
6 Comments:
Robin! Praise the Lord you are all right! What a terrifying ordeal. I'll be praying for you and the boys - sometimes shock takes a while to get over! Hugs from here!
commented by 
Ann-Marie, 8:49 AM
Ann-Marie, 8:49 AM
God be praised! I couldn't help but get choked up as I read even though I had already heard about God's gracious protection of you and your family.
Honey, I love you all so much. I'm so glad you're ok. MWAH!
Robin, I did not even know that this had happened! What a shock, but also what a praise. How is Ryan doing now? I hope he didn't have nightmares.
Love, Judy Frayne
Love, Judy Frayne
So glad that you were all safe!! God was so good and merciful to you all! I know the feeling that you expressed since we girls were in an accident a couple years ago. It's so scary! It was neat to hear too how God sent different ones to help and comfort you in your time of distress.
You are beautiful in that last picture, and your boys are so cute!
We are all so rejoicing in God's protection to you all!
Love, Katie
You are beautiful in that last picture, and your boys are so cute!
We are all so rejoicing in God's protection to you all!
Love, Katie
Dear Robin,
I read all of your blogs to "keep up". We thank God for His mercy...hopefully by now you all are feeling better. Our love and thoughts to you and your family.."the Boys", Bev in Enid....
I read all of your blogs to "keep up". We thank God for His mercy...hopefully by now you all are feeling better. Our love and thoughts to you and your family.."the Boys", Bev in Enid....
This is my scrapbook blog. It has been designed this way because our children grow so quickly, and we just want to be able to chronicle their changes. I am not a writer, so you will not find any profound writing pieces on this blog; but I do like to take pictures and share them with family and friends.
Contributors
Archive
- current
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
- February 2009
- March 2009
- April 2009
- June 2009
- October 2009
- December 2009
