Yesterday we were planning to attend my nephews baptism in Utah. The plan was to run the kids over to the school to pick up their year book, fill the car up with gas, pick up some snacks, meet Ken around noon and get on the road as soon as possible.
I told Zeek to come with me and SissySue, KittyKat and Hank insisted on coming along as well. I told Jet and LuLu to lock the door behind me and that we'd be back in an hour. I instructed SissySue to buckle up KittyKat and Hank and we headed down the road.
It was raining and I was thinking through what I needed to do in order to be ready to leave in a couple hours. There was a garage sale and so there were cars and people parked along the side of the road. I'm not exactly sure what went wrong. I thought I was watching my driving. I had glanced at my speed and I was going exactly 45 mph, the posted speed limit. I had adjusted my wipers so my window was clear. I was not listening to the radio. I was not following any cars too closely, I don't even remember a car being in front of me. I was casually conversing with the kids, I was very aware of all the cars and people around me. I was not stressed or distracted.
Suddenly, there was a pick up directly in front of me, stopped and signalling to turn left. I screamed, hit my brakes, and swerved to avoid hitting him directly. We hit the back corner of his truck bed. I heard my car break! I watched as our impact on the truck lurched him into oncoming traffic. He quickly swerved and missed any other vehicles. Then my attention quickly was redirected to the fact that my car was still moving. The impact of the hit had NOT stopped us.
We were still moving forward. We were off the main road, driving down the side bank. I pushed on the brakes as hard as I could. Nothing. I pushed again. Still nothing. I looked down and noticed the brake was pushed all the way to the floor. It was broke. Okay, what's plan B?
I push on the emergency brake. Nothing. I double checked to see if I was pushing the right lever. It too was pushed all the way to the floor and we were not slowing down at all. I couldn't decided if my car was even still running. I pushed on the gas pedal, we lurched forward! Crap! That didn't help! But I did figure out that the engine was still running. I screamed, "I can't stop! Our brakes are broke!"
I began to quickly look around for something to hit that would stop our car without putting the kids or any other person into anymore danger. I couldn't see anything and we were quickly approaching another intersection and running out of safe bank on the side of the road.
I began to plead, "Heavenly Father, please help me stop this car!" Suddenly I heard Zeek say, "Mom, turn off the key." What? Again, "Mom, TURN OFF THE KEY NOW!!!" I did! We slowed down and safely came to a stop. It was all over that fast!
I checked the kids. They were all safe. I pushed on my door. It was jammed. I forced it open, climbed out, and told the kids to stay put. I crossed the road and walked back to the other vehicle. I asked the man if he was okay. He screamed at me and asked me if I had not seen him. I just shook me head. I had no idea what had just happened. I apologized and asked him if he had a cell phone to call the police with. He said no but that he was okay.
There was a third vehicle that was also stopped. A woman was standing next to that car. I asked her if she was hurt. She said no but that she had seen it all was not leaving until she had given her statement to the police. I thanked her for her thoughtfulness and asked her if she had a cell phone. She said she did but that the call had probably already been made to the police. I asked her to please call anyways. She handed her phone to me and said, "It's your wreck, you call it in!" I thanked her and called 911.
I told the dispatcher what had happened, gave our location, told her there were no injuries and both vehicles were off the road. I then asked her to call my husbands number and let him know that I had just been in a wreck and needed him to respond. I handed the phone back to the woman, looked at the debries from my car all over the road, and headed back to my car to check on my kids.
By the time I got to my car, I was sobbing! I was in shock! I told the kids to get out of the car and stand over next to the fence. None of the kids had jackets on, Hank was only wearing a t-shirt and diaper, KittyKat was missing shoes and it was raining. The car was making some leaking noises so I didn't dare let the kids back into the car.
The fire department showed up within a few minutes. They checked the car out and said it was not drivable (I sort of knew that) and that since the airbags had not deployed, the car was not in stable condition.
Ken pulled up about then and had to explain that he was married to me and not there to take the report.
City officers showed up shortly and Ken put the kids in the back of his car to get them out of the rain. A bonus to being married to a cop is that when you get in a wreck, the firemen and other officers are very nice to you! I filled out a statement, an officer took the boys home, my sub was towed, and Ken took me and the girls home.
The only injuries were Zeek hit his knee on the dash board of the car and has a slight bruise, SissySue has a mark from where the seatbelt tightened against her chest, and I have a small cut on my toe, probably from ramming my foot through the brakes! Not a mark can be found on the two little ones. I have some whiplash today and we are all whiped out! No one got out of bed before 10:30 this morning.
My mom asked Zeek how he knew to shut the car off. He told her that the night before he had been reading about car parts on the internet and had read that if your brakes don't work, either jump out of the car, or turn the engine off. He had decided that since jumping out might hurt, he should save that as a last resort and try turning off the engine first.
Zeek told me later, "It's so weird, Grandma is treating my like I'm a hero or something. I wasn't a hero. When you said the brakes didn't work, I just knew exactly what to do. I had read that exact information the night before. It wasn't really a big deal. I'm just glad it worked and we didn't have to jump!"
I'm reminded of a favorite primary song:
Through a still, small voice
The Spirit speaks to me,
To guide,
To save me,
From the evils I may see.
If I try to do what's right,
He will lead me through the night,
Direct me,
Protect me,
And give my soul his light.
Listen, listen
The Holy Ghost will whisper.
Listen, listen
To the still, small voice.
(CS 106)
I'm thankful for a Father in Heaven who heard my plea and sent an answer which allowed my teenage son to feel the powerful promptings of the still, small voice and be an instrument in His hands!
Definitely a Hero!
And neither of our testimonies will never be the same!
Through a still, small voice
The Spirit speaks to me,
To guide,
To save me,
From the evils I may see.
If I try to do what's right,
He will lead me through the night,
Direct me,
Protect me,
And give my soul his light.
Listen, listen
The Holy Ghost will whisper.
Listen, listen
To the still, small voice.
(CS 106)
I'm thankful for a Father in Heaven who heard my plea and sent an answer which allowed my teenage son to feel the powerful promptings of the still, small voice and be an instrument in His hands!
Definitely a Hero!
And neither of our testimonies will never be the same!
