Just a few days ago my wonderful fiancee and I were traveling to Ft. Wayne Indiana to celebrate our coming marriage with my extended family. The day started out delightful, working at church and then leaving early at lunch to make the 3 hour trip to Indiana. This 3 hour trip ended up being more like 5 hours. The first reason for this was Memorial Day traffic going into downtown Chicago. The second reason was something that will end up changing our perception of the fragility of life.
Traffic was finally picking up out on 80/90 past Gary Indiana when we made the exit onto 49 going south. We would only be on this road 9 miles but ended up taking us 45 minutes. Why? Because of witnessing the most horrific thing I think I've ever seen.
I was in the middle of calling my aunt telling her we were about 2 hours away when I had to hang up the phone. The Lincoln Navigator directly in front of my car, going 65mph, was starting to go off the road toward the median. Both Carolyn and I noticed it at the same time and immediately started that nervous, "what on earth are they doing?" inhale through our teeth. What happened next would end up being burned onto our brains for the rest of our lives. The SUV hits the rumble strip and the driver apparently realizes at that moment she was going off the road. Instead of slowly correcting, she jerked the wheel, overcompensating, throwing the car out of control at this highway speed. The car swerved right and then left and then right again going completely perpendicular to the direction we were traveling. The driver's side wheels caught on the road and then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The SUV flipped crushing the driver's side windows and continuing all the way over. On the up turn at about 50mph we see the driver hanging out of the window half way and then flung from the vehicle, landing in the median. The SUV continued about 50 feet more stopping in the median right-side up. There was debris all over the road as if a suitcase exploded. Glass was everywhere and the woman driver was laying motionless in the median. We had not time to think but only act. By God's grace we both kicked into action and ran out to the woman. At the same time her two girls (about 10 and 12yrs old) ran from the SUV screaming and in utter fright. "Call 911!!MOMMY!!" I immediately got my phone out and called 911 but didn't know, in the moment, where we were. The truck driver who stopped behind me took the phone and told the dispatcher exactly where we were. Carolyn during this time took both of the girls in her loving embrace and comforted them and told them "it's ok, everything is going to be ok..." I ran over to the SUV to check to see if anyone else was in the car. A few guys and myself had to get the keys out of the still running SUV for fear of an explosion. The doors couldn't be opened and the whole cabin was crushed in. The mother laying on the ground was in shock but responsive, bleeding profusely from various areas. She was fading in and out and her girls were yelling "Keep praying momma! Keep praying!" I asked the girls if they were believers and if we could pray with them. They said, "yes, we are.. please pray.." The paramedics took them before we were able to pray together, but we were all praying individually that whole day. It was amazing, the first ambulance was there within 3 minutes. The police were there shortly after and being the first person on the scene, I had to write out the witness statement for the police. They loaded the three up in the ambulances and rushed off to the hospital. Carolyn was left with blood all over her from the little girls crying into her.
During that time with the girls, they used my phone to try to get a hold of their father. He wasn't answering, but eventually they got through. Carolyn and I, about a half hour later got back in the car and drove off. We prayed for all three of them, especially for Megan and Kirsten, who being so young saw their mother on death's doorstep.
The next day, I received a phone call from an unknown number. It was the father of the girls. "Is this the man who stopped and comforted my girls during the accident yesterday?" I said, "yes, my fiancee and I were both there with them, How are they doing? How is your wife?" He then proceeded in tears to thank us for comforting and praying with the three most important woman in his life. He said that his girls were so comforted by Carolyn's sitting with them on the highway median and loving on them. He was so grateful. He said that his wife was stabilized after going through surgery to patch up a few areas that were rubbed down to the bone, but that she was going to be ok. He didn't have much time, but said he was going to call back in about a week to talk some more.
I am waiting eagerly for his phone call. I may even call him before he gets the chance and check in. He had mentioned that his girls said that we told them that we were believers and he so much appreciated that. "Normal people would have called 911 and driven off... you two stayed and comforted my girls..."
Normal doesn't cut it for me. And I hope it doesn't you either. The fact that we were able to be there for those girls is by God's grace and we were only doing what we are called to do as Christians, share Christ's love. I plan on laying out the gospel to this family in due time and I pray that God would give me the right words to speak and that their hearts are receptive to the good news. If they are already believers, praise the Lord that family could be there in their time of distress and how God brings people together.
Thank you Lord for preserving their lives, and preserving our lives eternally through Your son.
