cerebral discharge

The following is an experience I had last year sometime. I took the time to write it out the day after, and I thought both of my readers would want to see it. Enjoy.

Yesterday, as I was driving home from visiting some people in South Bend, i witnessed the 2nd scariest thing i’ve ever seen. I’ve been more scared before in my life, but only once. I don’t want to talk about that……..

So, i’m driving south on highway 31 and there is a blue minivan in front of me, about 40 yards up. We’re going around 60-65 mph. I noticed that the minivan began to cross the center line as if he was about to turn into a driveway or something, but instead of using a blinker or slowing down at all, he just continued to drift left farther and farther until he was driving into oncoming traffic! I watched as 4 or 5 cars and a large truck all swerved around him wildly, somehow avoiding a catastrophic collision, which at 60 mph per car would have been akin to driving your car at 120 miles per hour off a cliff.

Horns are blaring, my heart is pounding, cars are swerving, drivers are swearing (or praying, depending on if they are better people than me), and still the minivan drifts farther and farther left. The one thing i didn’t see(well, of course there were a lot of things i didn’t see, like a unicorn eating filet mignon out of the hand of a 4 year old child, or a butterfly the size of a large building dive-bombing a kitten…anyways…) the one thing i didn’t see was the man’s brake lights blink even for a second.

It took me a few moments before i realized “this guys out cold and he’s not going to stop til nature stops him.” Instantly i thought of Mike Yaconelli, of Youth Specialties fame. Mike Yaconelli died a few years ago after driving his car off of the road and into a tree. Evidence has demonstrated that Yaconelli was dead before he ever left the road, although of what causes, i am uncertain. I thought of that situation while watching this car go careening into traffic and eventually off the road without ever swerving of touching his brake lights.

What happened next took my breath away: the minivan finally crosses the entire 2 lanes of oncoming traffic unscathed only to end up in a 4-5 foot ditch lining the highway, above which lies a row of single-family homes. The first thing the van hit was a mailbox mounted on a 4×4; it sheared the 4×4 off about 6 inches above the ground, throwing the mailbox some 50 feet.
The van then dropped it’s left tires into the ditch at 60 miles per hour, and the van rolls to the left onto it’s roof.

Then, all hell broke loose.

The minivan, now upside down in a ditch, still moving 50 miles per hour, after taking out a few sign posts without any hint of being slowed down or phased at all, came upon the driveway for one of the houses, which goes over the ditch, with a drainage pipe running under it, as you all have seen before. Upside-down, at highway speeds, the van hit the 4 foot tall wall of concrete and steel, nose first, and the back end of the van flipped up over the top. It began to tumble head over heels, rolling maybe 3 or 4 more times sideways across 2 yards, before it hit another driveway, this time heading backwards. Up and over the front end went, landing on it’s roof yet again, before rolling over one last time, landing on its wheels and rolling off the other side of the driveway back into the ditch, with it’s rear wheels sitting up on the driveway.

What do I do…

I called 911 on my cell and cut across two lanes of oncoming traffic and parked my car next to the van in the shoulder, almost going into the ditch myself. The family living in that house came running out, a man and his wife, with 4 children under the age of 8. Mom kept the kids on the porch while Dad ran down to the van, meeting me at the drivers door. While i talk to emergency response, he opens the driver’s door and reveales a man of about 70 years by himself, wide awake.

Another neighbor comes running down and helps hold the mans head up for him, as it is extremely likely that he will need assistance in doing so as his car is sitting half in a ditch after being flattened. The first man holds the driver’s door open, which is a considerable task, considering the angle at which the van was sitting. I stay on the line with emergency response giving instructions to the other people, and with my free hand i held the airbag away from the man’s head so we could all communicate and he could breathe.

The entire back half of the van, starting immediately behind the drivers seat, going all the way to the very back, was flattened. The ceiling and floor had turned on some romantic music, put the kids to bed early, and they had become one.

The passengers side was caved in about a foot and a half in the front, and completely in the back. There was no way either passenger side door was ever going to be opened. The same was true about the rear driver’s side door.

The windshield was caved in, the safety glass held together by some unseen glue; It is certain that the man would have been shredded had this windshield been made of the same glass that the side windows were made with.

I found peices of glass 50 feet from the final resting place of the van. I found half of a cell phone lying in the ditch 20 feet back.

A pen…
Someone’s mail…
his keys…

The only thing that was not at all damaged was the driver’s seat area. The ceiling was un-dented, the window unbroken, the driver in one piece.

I could not believe what i saw. After all the tumbling and rolling that the van did, the driver was sitting there wide awake, a little shaken about what just happened, and probably with a heck of a sore neck and back, but other than that, he seemed fine. His hands were lascerated badly from the windshield glass, but nothing that 20 or 30 stitches couldn’t fix up.

Someone handed him a napkin from their pocket with which to wipe up the blood that was dripping from his fingers. He fumbled with this napkin continuously for the next 10-15 minutes that he sat in that seat before being loaded onto an ambulance.

A paramedic who happened to be passing by pulled his truck over about 2 minutes after the incident and came running with his bag-o-tricks. He immediately whipped out a neck-brace and put it on the man’s neck to alleviate the situation that gravity was applying to his aching spine.

I continued to hold the airbag off of his face.
He continued to fumble with the napkin, constantly mopping up more and more blood, until the napkin was entirely soaked, and still he fumbled.

i inspected the mans body for visible bruises or contusions, but could find none visible. He could have had some injuries beneath his clothes, or internal injuries of some sort, but nothing major that i could see.

His head was completely unscathed.

Then the man did something i’ll never forget: he looked up at me with sad, afraid eyes and reached out his left hand, holding the bloody napkin. He was trying to get me to take it from him, as it was no use to him anymore.

He was unable to express his desire for me to take the napkin from him with words, but it was clear to everyone around what he wanted.

I did not oblige.

I have issues with blood in general, mine or anyone elses, and especially I have issues with touching someone elses blood. This man could have had a disease, and there was no way i was touching his blood with my bare hands. It would be unsafe.

So i did not oblige. I saw the frustration in the man’s eyes as he realized that i wasn’t going to be taking his bloody napkin from him, and i averted my eyes so i wouldn’t have to see him pleading in an almost undetectable way.

my heart was broken.

Soon after, the fire department arrived to assist the paramedic until an ambulance could get there and provide major medical assistance.

I stepped back finally from the van, after getting one of the FD guys to hold the airbag away from the man’s face for him, and i took a breath.

When i become emotional, i forget to breath. talking to emergency response was like holding my breath under water. i kept gasping for air in the middle of a word while i relayed the necessary information to them.

so i took a breath.

After a few minutes, they were finally able to extract the man from the vehicle and get him onto a stretcher. As soon as they lay him down, i noticed something in his hand: it was the same bloody napkin from 5 minutes ago that he was trying to get rid of.

I watched him lift his left hand with the napkin and stretched it out towards the people around him, Fire department workers, paramedics, sheriff’s deputies. No one would take it. He pointed his arm at a few specific people, and no one would take it.

Resigningly, he crossed his arms over his chest and kept the napkin to himself. I assume at some point, in the ambulance, or maybe the hospital, someone with a far stronger stomach than I thought nothing of it and took the napkin from him and absently threw it away in an over-sized orange bag marked “Bio-Hazardous waste.”

The next 15 minutes or so were a blur. I stood around in the yard, pondering what had just occured, comparing stories with the few other witnesses who stopped to help, and giving my version of the story to the deputy on site.

i walked up and down the 50 yard area that was torn apart by this 2 ton bullet. i saw gouges left in the dirt that were a foot deep and 8 feet long. i found a few signs that had been sheared off a few inches above the ground, their steel posts torn like a frat boy could tear a beer can in half.

Finally, i realized that it was over, and that i could do no more help. The deputies directing traffic stopped the traffic for a moment to let me out, and i got on my way.

It was not half a mile before someone pulled out in front of me going far too slow causing me to slow down a bit. An SUV come up behind me in the slowdown and immediately became angry that i was going so slow. I could see him mouthing obscenities in my rearview mirror. He jerked the steering wheel to the right, zipped past me, and sped off at about 15 over the speed limit.

He had no idea what i had just seen.
He had no idea why i was going slow.
All he knew was that i was keeping him from getting to the bowling alley 20 seconds earlier, and he was angry.

I took a breath.

I’ve told this story a half a dozen times in the last 20 hours or so since it happened. I realized at one point that i had been telling it wrong. I always started with “you won’t believe the car accident i saw today!”

It wasn’t an accident, it was a miracle.

The entire car was smashed except the driver’s compartment. miracle
The man’s face was entirely intact. miracle
The children were not out picking dandelions in the front yard, 6 feet away from their front porch. miracle
Half a dozen other vehicles were in the direct path of this van, and they were coming together at the speed of 120 mph, and yet not a single other vehicle was involved in the wreck.  miracle

Our God is a powerful God, is he not?