On Tuesday morning me and Brad were one of the first people on scene a terrifying car accident... Luckily we were safe out of harm's way, but it was an eye opener and it rattled me down to the deepest parts of my soul.
It started sitting in the truck while Brad ran into a gas station about 30 miles out of town to purchase a registration sticker for the canoe. I heard a screeching sound I thought was a broke down motor on a truck pulling onto the highway. Then I saw a huge plume of smoke and dirt about a quarter mile up the highway... a wide open 2 lane highway with a high speed limit.
Brad got back to the truck and I asked him to pull out to see if it was an accident. As we pulled out of the gas station we could see the truck about 300 yards off the highway, laying on its passenger side. We got to where we could pull in near by and I jumped out running, all the while reviewing CPR and First-Aid in my head. There were already 3 or 4 trucks and men pulled in and either at the truck or running over. I started yelling to make sure someone had 911 on the line (they did!) and realized that two of the cowboys (we are in Wyoming and these ARE cowboys) had a crowbar to the windshield yanking it away while yelling inside.
The driver of the vehicle was yelling that he was alone and beginning to stand up inside the cab of his truck. They got the windshield open far enough for him to climb out and he stepped out...bloody, dazed but alive.
Brad came over with water and the man was inspected for major trauma, and though his bald head dripped with blood and shards of glass covered his left arm, he was miraculously otherwise unscathed. He refused to sit or drink water (or follow any other suggestion we gave him) so I wandered through the fields collecting his belongings. His Crossfit gear was covered in weeds and dirt and about 200 yards away from the truck along with other personal belongings.
I learned a few years ago it is very difficult to help someone that doesn't want help... so as the man was safely with 4 men with emergency response on the way, I told Brad we should probably leave. As we went about our day and put the canoe in the water, I realized I couldn't stop shaking and the adrenaline wouldn't stop.
As usual, I had stood up and faced crisis and then when the dust settled down... I lost it. I was so shaken by the fact that our reality can instantly change. That our lives are seconds from ending, our time here on earth so finite. I do not know what this man was doing when he lost control of his truck, but I am pretty certain he did not plan to get this close to death at 7am on a Tuesday morning.
Are we ever ready for such dramatic events? How do you prepare for a crisis you can't see coming? Is it fate or did you just not sleep the night before and try to drive home after work? Why do we fret about messy houses and whether or not our clothes match when eternity is constantly staring us in the face? Why eat healthy and deprive ourselves of our favorite dessert if we can just as easily die from a car accident or cancer? Am I prepared when its my time to go? Why do some of us get to live to see great grandchildren grow up while others don't get to make it to their college years, or even their first birthday? And if I believe in heaven, why am I so sad when a loved one dies?
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