Today brought a rather hair-raising experience.
We had to travel from one town to another along the highway. The trip would take about an hour. As we drove along, we noticed the 4x4 car in front of us towing a caravan, which began to sway. The swaying became worse and worse, and as we slowed down the car crossed to the wrong side of the road, flipped, and ended on its side, caravan and all. The drivers were facing us, still in their seatbelts, stunned.
There were three other cars who quickly parked on either side of the highway and got out to help. My mother was in our car and she called the police as I parked in a safe spot. My kids watched the whole thing silently. Slowly the passersby pulled the windscreen off so that the couple could get out, and then they all stood at the side waiting for help to come.
For the next half an hour, I stood and helped to direct traffic, as only one direction could go at a time. My mother comforted the driver and his wife who were understandably shaken by the whole event. Slowly the other drivers melted away: one had to go to work, one was on his way to a funeral in Sydney. A tow truck driver arrived. He very helpfully handed flourescent vests to the two of us who were directing traffic (another man took the traffic from the other side). Then the police, the ambulance and fire brigade arrived, and finally everything was in the hands of the professionals.
It is a strange thing to witness an accident. Everything seems to happen in slow motion, yet details don't quite sink in. The one thing that sticks out is how well God looked after us in the whole event.
These are things I am grateful for:
* The driver and his wife were unhurt by the accident
* All cars in both directions were at a safe distance when the caravan lost its footing, so no other cars were involved in the accident. In a 100km/h zone, this is a great blessing.
* We were able to provide help to the couple until the police arrived, so they weren't left to fret alone.
* My kids were wonderfully patient, and even though we were on our way to a concert they waited quietly while we helped.
* Drivers going in either direction kept their heads, and let civilians tell them when they could move to the other side of the road.
* The police were lovely.
After it all calmed down, my son said "Well, that was a lucky escape!"
I don't think luck had anything to do with it.
5 comments:
Wow. And how is your adrenalin level now?! Have the kids needed much of a debrief?
And did you get to the Wiggles in time?
The Adrenaline has eased off a bit, though the world still seems to have a slightly different shade of sunshine. The kids have been ok once we were able to let them know that everything was alright.
And yes, we got there in time. I was a bit worried as I had my sister-in-law's tickets in my bag, but the door staff were very understanding (the joys of a country town, eh?) and let them in once they knew the story. I don't know which had the bigger impact on the kids, though - seeing Dorothy the Dinosaur or a tow truck in action!
And the big question: How was Sam compared to Greg?!
He's a good performer, but Anthony seems to have taken on the director role. He was far more up-front introducing acts, telling the kids what was coming up etc. Sam sang a lot of the songs as the lead, but it was always Anthony letting us know what was happening. They were all lovely and smiley throughout, and cracked themselves up quite a few times. The guy who plays Captain Feathersword couldn't speak for a while as they were laughing so much. It was a more intimate setting, too, so the kids were quite overawed at seeing them so close (mind you there wasn't enough stage room for the big red car...).
Oh my!!
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