Terror in Real Life: The Day I Almost Died

It is my sixteenth birthday. I’ve just acquired my license and my father says I can drive his car to school on my own. After we leave the license office I drop him off at the house and then back out of the drive way. I watch him in the rear view mirror as he waves goodbye. The day is beautiful as the August sun burns bright. I turn a corner and am out of sight of the house. It is then that I make a realization that will change my life forever. I am free, there is no one in the passenger seat to tell me to buckle up, or slow down or to turn the radio off. I speed down the road going twenty miles over the speed limit just because I can. I laugh in exhilaration.

It’s a month later and I am driving my mother’s car. I have my red haired friend Katie with me in the passenger seat. Both of us know we should be at the homecoming dance with our fellow class mates, but the night calls to us. We know the police will stay close to the schools in case the students get any bright ideas. Katie and I are speeding down a country road, confident no cops are within five miles of us. I’ve traveled down this road before and crank the engine up. The speedometer passes 110 and Katie starts to scream and hold on, but I just laugh.

It’s the week before Halloween and I’ve got a car full of friends. We’re speeding down a highway. My best friend Nikki sits unfazed in the passenger seat, but the boys in the back are alarmed. None of them have ever gone over a hundred in a car before. Ahead I see an SUV traveling at the posted speed. I pass it on the left and see a semi-truck ahead traveling in the opposite direction. At the last second I squeeze in front of the SUV and slip back in the right lane. One of the boys in the back needs to change his underwear. I just laugh, I’ve cheated death.

It’s a cold February morning. Rain is pouring outside. I think it’s beautiful as I get ready for school. I imagine today is going to be a great day. Tonight I have church and that is always fun because I’ll get to take my friends home in my beautiful car I nicknamed The Tank. We always listen to music and laugh and talk after church.

As I get ready, I start to get several text messages from Katie. She’s accusing me of saying bad things about her. I tell her she’s completely wrong, but Katie doesn’t listen and calls me sever bad words. I tell her we’re not friends. Her reply is,

“I don’t care if you live or die.”

I storm out of the house yelling for my little sister and brother to get in the car. I want to get to school as fast as possible to confront Katie, but the weather checks my speed. My mind is not on the road at all. All I can think about is yelling at Katie in person. I wait to turn left in the rain and then look up. A huge white van is looming out of the gloom. It’s headed right for me. I scream and stomp on the gas trying to get out of its way, but my car is very old and does not move very fast ever. I have only time to scream

“Oh my God!” and then the two vehicles collide.

I watch the surreal moment when the world is spinning. All I hear is the screaming and screeching of twisting metal. Blood and smoke and glass are flying though the air. My car is spinning around and around like a demented carnival ride.

Then there is silence. Nothing moves, no one says a word. For half a second there is peace, and then my siblings wake up.

My sister starts screaming that the car is going to blow up. My brother is just crying. I move my arms and neck and torso to see if everything is intact. Nothing hurts so I must be fine. My mind switches to the kids.

I have to get us all out of the car incase it does explode. I can see smoke rising from the engine that is almost in the passenger seat next to me. My car is a two door hatch back. The passenger side door doesn’t work so mine is the only way out.

I turn and shove the door open and go to step out. I realize my legs feel very tingly like they’ve fallen asleep. I look down and see that the steering wheel is sitting in my lap. I lift it and look at my legs. Through my jeans I can see something is wrong with my right leg. I’ve broken my leg I think. I ignore the tingling and continue to climb out of the car.

I look down at my left foot as I step out and suddenly I’m extremely upset. I have busted my favorite pair of black flip flops. Then I giggle because that is a very silly thing to be so upset about at a time like this. I pull myself up and try to walk but my right upper leg collapses on it’s self. Guess I’m not walking anywhere anytime soon I think.

I turn and pull my sister out of the back seat. After that I can’t stand any longer so I sit on the ground and make sure my siblings are safely out of the car. My sister is sobbing as I look up at her from the ground. Her tears mix with the blood all over her face as she screams at me

“WHY?!”

“I don’t know Sarah.” I say quietly, and then I can’t sit up any longer. I fall backward onto the cold wet pavement. The rain feels very good, like an ice pack all around me. I lay starting up at the sky thinking of how my parents will kill me when the find out what I’ve done to my precious baby. My car I realized was probably gone forever.

A man with glasses kneels by my side and starts asking me questions. I know it’s only a matter of seconds before I fully realize how bad my leg is hurt. So I do my best to tell him my name, my birthday, and my home phone number. I know I absolutely have to get my father here. Once he’s here the kids will be taken care of, and that is all I can think of at that moment.

The man with glasses grabs my hand and I squeeze. Pain is starting to come in waves. I can hear my sibling’s anguished screams some where near by so I know they are both still alive. My voice joins theirs but my screaming is loudest. I scream to God to help me. I feel myself loosing control, the pain is unbearable now. I can feel all the pieces in my leg moving around. But my father isn’t there yet. I have to regain control. So I swallow the pain and look at the man with glasses again. I tell him he must call and some how the number comes again.

A few minutes later I hear my father crying and running. The paramedics are there and don’t want me to move my neck but I lift it anyway. I see my dad go down on his knees next to my sister. I lay my head back down completely calm once again.

As I lay there awareness comes to me. I grasp that this is entirely my fault. My inattention while driving caused this whole thing. The pain in the ambulance is almost unbearable, but I don’t shed a tear. Then lying in the trauma bay I hear my mother coming to see me. I start to cry my calm completely gone.

“I’m so sorry mother. It’s all my fault. Please, please, don’t hate me.” I sob. The doctors make her leave because she’s upsetting me.

In the months to come my broken femur heals, but I am left with scars. The scars are not just on the outside. I had to have a titanium rod put in my bone, but more then that I am emotionally marred. I can not sit in a car with out feeling a huge thrill of terror run through my entire body.

Driving is not something to be taken lightly. It’s a serious life threatening situation. I hope you can learn from my mistakes and focus on the road. I didn’t listen; I had to learn the hard way. I hope you won’t be the same way.