Another Saturday Night

Saturday night Haley went to bed as normal around 7:00 and Justin and I were watching and listening to the Clemson game on the internet. At halftime I went out to pick up a pizza and some wings for dinner. I got the food and was headed home, when I saw a truck flash out of the corner of my eyes and I had a split second to brace for the impact.He was turning left out of the Wal-mart parking lot and didn't see me, until it was too late. He hit my passenger side back door and then my tire got caught up by the truck or the ground or something. The wheel came off and my car went airborne. I'm not sure if it flipped all the way over or what exactly happened until it was upside down skidding down the road.I don't remember exactly what I thought when I saw the truck coming - I'm pretty sure it was two words, but I don't remember if it was Hold On, or Oh shit, or Dear God. Then for a split second I thought I was just going to spin around and then I was being thrown around in my seat and I figured the car was rolling over. Next thing I realized, I was upside down and the car was sliding on the roof down the road. There were sparks and glass flying, so I think I put my arms in front of my head and thought I'm ok...thank you God. The car came to a stop and I was hanging upside down held in place by my seatbelt. There was smoke or steam or something coming from the engine, so I wanted to get out as fast as I could.I braced myself so I wouldn't land on my head and undid the seatbelt. I'm not exactly sure how I was positioned, but it took me a couple of seconds to figure out where the door handle was and then I had to reposition myself, so I could reach it. By then a couple people opened the passenger door and asked if I was ok and if there was anyone else in the car. I think my response was "Could you come to the other side please?" Then I found the door handle and opened the door. I was on my hands and knees on the roof of the car and saw my Ipod still plugged in and hanging in mid air. There was a man standing right outside the door and he held the side airbag out of the way and helped me get out and stand up.There were a couple of other people asking if anyone else was in the car and where the baby was. They could see the stroller hanging out of the back window and the pack and play was in the middle of the road about 10 yards in front of my car. The window shade was still in place and Haley's ladybug toy was right up against the window, so I must have answered about 10 times that I was by myself and that the baby was home in bed (THANK GOD)!I was wearing flip flops and they had come off my feet, so the man that helped me out tried to get me to stand on his shoes to walk over to the grass. Instead I just took as big a step as I could and stepped over most of the glass. Then I got to the side of the road and sat down and started shaking and crying. A nurse that saw the crash had already called 911 and I could hear the sirens coming. She asked if she could call anyone for me and then brought me her cell phone. It was a slider phone or something and I looked at it and said "I don't know how to work it" so I gave her the house number to call Justin, because I couldn't think of his cell phone number.Justin was on his cell phone on the patio talking to his dad, so he didn't answer the house phone. Later he said that he and his dad both heard the sirens and Justin said "Well, something just happened." When the machine picked up I said "Justin it's me. I'm ok, but I need to talk to you." Then he picked up the phone and I said "I'm ok, but I've been in an accident and my car flipped over." He said "Oh Jesus, is that the ambulance I heard." And I said "Yeah, probably." Then I said "Can you call Jane or someone and have them stay with Haley, so you can come up here." He said "Yeah, I'll be there as soon as I can." Then I said "Ok, I'm right in front of Chili's."By then the cops had arrived and asked if I was ok and then asked for some ID - I said it's in my purse in the car, so he brought me my purse and I took my debit card out of my wallet and handed it to him. He just looked at it and said "Uh" and I said "Oh, that's not what you want" and took my debit card and set it on the grass next to me and handed him my license. The bystanders kept asking if I was bleeding or if I was cut anywhere. There was a scrape on the top of my foot, but it wasn't really bleeding, so I kept saying no, I'm fine. And someone said well there's blood all over the airbag and finally someone else said - I think that's pizza.Then the ambulance got there and the EMT checked me out - he took my blood pressure and checked my pulse and asked if I was hurt anywhere. My chest was burning a little from my seat belt rash and the scrape on my foot was a little sore, but that was it. The cop came back and asked me what happened, I gave him my account and then he interviewed a few witnesses. The woman in the car that hit me complained of chest pains, so the EMT went and checked her out, but her and her husband were both ok. Her husband had been one of the first people over to my car to check on me. He kept saying how sorry he was and that he just didn't see me.There were several witnesses that were standing around me and asked what kind of car it was, because they couldn't believe that I walked away from it. There were a couple of doctors that came out from Chili's to make sure there weren't any emergencies. And at some point one of the witnesses picked up my debit card that was still laying in the grass and said you might want to put this away. So I thanked her and said that I wish I could get my cell phone out of the car and then I realized that it had been in my pocket the whole time. Someone joked about getting a piece of pizza out of the car for me and said that if I went back to Fox's Pizza that they would probably replace it for free. They asked if someone was coming to be with me and I said yeah, my husband had to wait for someone to get to the house to stay with the baby before he could leave. Then I called Justin and he said Mark was at the house and he was on his way. Justin got there shortly after that and I don't think I've ever been so happy to hug him in my whole life. So he stood with me and it turned out that he used to work with one of the witnesses. They told him what happened and that it wasn't my fault and that they thought I had swerved to try to avoid being hit, but I didn't really remember doing it. Justin got my shoes out of the car and wiped all the glass off of them. Then we decided that I should probably go the hospital to be checked out to cover our bases just in case. So I went and sat in the ambulance and then a state trooper came and gave me a piece of paper with the accident number and the wrecker company that was coming to get my car and then I went off in the ambulance to the emergency room.Justin met me in the waiting room and during our 2 hour wait we called the insurance company and talked to some family and friends. I was finally called back to triage and spent another hour and a half back there and saw a doctor for about 3 minutes. He pushed on some bones and some organs and said I was fine. He gave me a prescription for some strong ibuprofen and some muscle relaxers and said to follow up with my regular doctor if I was still hurting in a couple of days. So after that enormous waste of time I met Justin back in the waiting room - where he had been sitting among all the sick people trying not to breath in any flu germs - and we were on our way home at about midnight. Mark met us at the garage door and we walked in to find Terry Lynn and Haley laying on the couch sleeping. I know I've never been happier or more grateful to hold my little girl. So we chatted with them for a couple of minutes and then Justin put Haley to bed while I took about 5 Advil and headed to bed expecting to feel like I'd been hit by a truck when I woke up in the morning.I have been a little sore and have a few bruises, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I'm able to walk around, hold Haley, sit on the floor to play, and pretty much do everything as normal. It does seem like Haley finds every spot on me that hurts and wants to climb on it or stand right on a bruise, but I really don't have much to complain about at all. Sunday afternoon we went to look at my car, take some pictures and get everything we could out of it. I've talked to the insurance company a couple of times and they're pretty sure the car will be totaled and that I should be able to get a rental car on Tuesday. So we've been moving at a little slower pace and have been enjoying each other and thanking god the last two days.

Here are two pictures from the accident - my lights were still running and Justin said when he got my shoes out of the car the ac was still running too.This is the truck that hit me - I just don't know what to say about how it looks.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I can't count the number of times I have thanked God for being with you that night, and after seeing the pictures, I am more grateful than ever.
Love you!
Susiebell
The Baur Family said…
OMG Jill! Thank God you are alright and that Haley wasn't with you! How scary! I don't know how you managed to get out of there without any other injuries, but I'm glad you are ok. Take it easy!
OMG Jill! How scary. Thank goodness you are ok! That is so incredibly scary. Hope you feel better soon.
Sarah said…
Jill that is just awful! I had goosebumps reading your story. I am so glad you are all okay!