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Author
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Topic: Sobering Morning
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted October 24, 2005 11:05 AM
I had a sobering morning yesterday. Seems that sometimes we take alot of things for granted and get caught up in the hustle of everyday life and forget how much the basics actually mean. Im guilty as anyone of road rage. Some SOB cuts you off and, well, I would say most of us have been there.
We were coming home from a wedding yesterday morning on I-44. Traffic was moving along about normal, 75mph or so. It began to rain and with the dust and things on the road, it was kinda greasy at first, just like every other time it rains for the first time in a while.
A guy in a mini van and a girl in a Firebird got into a little of what looked like road rage tussle, up ahead of us. Next thing I knew, there were cars spinning everywhere. The van and car were both rolling down the interstate. Myself and two other guys were out of our vehicles and there almost instantly. The van was smoking and laying on its side, looking like it may be on fire. We began trying to get the door open and finally got the back hatch open.
The guy seemed ok, considering. He was bleeding some from cuts on his head but said he wasnt hurting too bad. I ran over to the car and found a bad site. The car had T-tops and the girl looked like a contortionist in it. Her eyes were rolled back in her head and she was gasping for short breaths. She had a rib sticking out of her chest and it was clear her collar bone was broken.
I felt helpless. In a few minutes, seemed like an eternity, the fire department showed up and I motioned them over. One of the first responders felt her artery in her neck and said "shit" and shook his head.
I got out of the way and havent heard what ended up happening. It does make you think a little about what really is important when you see something like that. I know we drove pretty careful the rest of the way home. I hadnt seen anything quite like that in years, since I was on the local fire department.
Andy
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted October 24, 2005 11:30 AM
Update. I guess I was wrong. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. I guess he died after I talked to him. The girl was airlifted.
Andy
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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Leonard
HMFIC
Member # 2
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posted October 24, 2005 11:36 AM
Yeah, you never forget stuff like that.
I remember approaching a Circle K late one night, on a hunting trip. A guy was exiting as I approached, and held the door for me. The only thing I noticed is that he had a pack of ZigZag papers in his hand. When I left the store, I saw that an eighteen wheeler had run over a guy crossing the street, half way down the block. There was something about the way our eyes met, at the door. Couldn't get it out of my head, and it was (indeed) a bad omen. We didn't kill too many coyotes, that weekend.
Every time I drive past that spot, middle of the night, I think of that guy. Gila Bend, Hwy 85.
Good hunting. LB
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EL BEE Knows It All and Done It All.
Don't piss me off!
Posts: 32371 | From: Upland, CA | Registered: Jan 2003
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NASA
Knows what it's all about
Member # 177
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posted October 24, 2005 12:40 PM
There's one I'll never forget. Years ago, I’m coming home late, on the freeway. It’s dark and raining. This was in the days before concrete center dividers. Back then it was metal posts and chain link fencing. I’m in the #1 lane and a motorcycle passes me on the right. About 3-4 car lengths ahead he pulls into the #1 lane also. He lost it and went down in front of me. The bike went one way and he went another. He slid toward the fence and then went under it into the oncoming traffic. Two or three cars ran over him. As I crept forward in my lane I could see his helmet on my side next to the fence. His head was still in it.
Posts: 1168 | From: Typical White Person | Registered: Apr 2003
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Cdog911
"There are some ideas so absurd only an intellectual could believe them."--George Orwell.
Member # 7
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posted October 24, 2005 12:59 PM
Too many "there was this one time"'s to even begin to talk about. Everything from SIDS babies to best friends in cardiac arrest, decapitations, burns, suicides (8 in two months once). Just as soon put it behind me, but like Andy, I remember every time I drive by "that" house. And yes, for 15 years, I was reminded on a regular basis that people die unexpectedly, even though they had appointments tomorrow, or were thinking about a great joke they just heard and couldn't wait to share it with a friend. Next time they saw them. And, next time never came. They were all, like you saw, tragic accidents that were, by and by, senseless. But then again, it made you think. Let it make a little sense by preventing you from being careless next time around. Then, maybe, it was for some good.
Ther last major accident I worked was as a First Responder coming home from Home Depot. Head on collision on the interstate. (Something you don't see everyday.) Eyeballs and teeth everywhere. Two cars, a hundred yards apart, two extremely critical patients and I was the only trained medic there. Had to do a lot of laypeople training on the spot, but we managed. Afterwards,. I was visiting with a buddy who was one of the responding paramedics and told him that I quickly determined I was lacking one important piece of equipment. He asked me what that was. I told him... A freakin' ambulance!!!
EMS was a great job, and I changed a lot of lives. The three babies I delivered in the field kinda make up for all the bad, but I would never want to go back to that again. I've seen enough of what people can do to themslevs and others around them for one lifetime. And my son wonders why I'm so adament about him walking his bike across the damned highway.
Glad to hear that you were only a witness rather than a victim.
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I am only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something; and, because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.
Posts: 5440 | From: The gun-lovin', gun-friendly wild, wild west | Registered: Jan 2003
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2dogs
Knows what it's all about
Member # 649
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posted October 24, 2005 07:46 PM
Yup life can be brutal. Atleast you stopped to render aid, Andy. That say's something to me, about your humanity. Many don't bother. What a shame.
Posts: 1034 | From: central Iowa | Registered: Apr 2005
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Merle
Knows what it's all about
Member # 45
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posted October 24, 2005 10:23 PM
This post brought back memories I didn't wish to remember. About 20 years ago I worked for the sheriff's office, I went to a lot of bad things.
The worst was a gremlin that had a ruptured gas tank and had burst into flames. The Gremlin was full of several children and we could not get them out. My light hearted signature below does not represent the feeling I feel remembering these things.
[ October 24, 2005, 10:25 PM: Message edited by: Merle ]
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Good Hunting To Ya ! !
Merle
Posts: 13 | From: Oregon City, Oregon | Registered: Jan 2003
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Andy L
HI, I'M THE NEW MODERATOR OF THE CENTRAL MISSOURI FORUM, PULL MY FINGER!
Member # 642
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posted October 25, 2005 03:13 AM
Merle, thats awful. Cant imagine.
Twenty odd years ago, when I was on the fire department, we got called to a wreck. It was two guys I knew coming home from a night of heavy drinkin. They were crossing the Tavern Creek on Hwy U, and hit the concrete bridge head on. The car burst into flames and when I and another guy got there, first two, they were still alive.
We were in our personal vehicles and by the time we got our suits on, it was too late. We drug them out and Ill never forget the sight, sounds, feel or smell. The smell was so bad, I had to get a new suit, pants, coat and gloves, because that smell would not come out.
Not a good memory. But, I do think about it every time I cross that bridge.
Andy
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Andy
Posts: 2645 | From: Central Missouri | Registered: Apr 2005
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Merle
Knows what it's all about
Member # 45
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posted October 25, 2005 04:00 PM
Andy,
Every time I think about it, I break down weeping
because I was not able to save those children.
I am lucky because I am able to put it away back in my mind and I don't have to think about it much.
Also Andy when you said you worked for the fire dept. I want to tell you how much I am impressed by the work done at accident and rescue scenes by you fireman and paramedics. WOW, what a job they do. I've watched those guys doing some brave and amazing things and the teamwork, like I said impressive!
[ October 25, 2005, 06:02 PM: Message edited by: Merle ]
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Good Hunting To Ya ! !
Merle
Posts: 13 | From: Oregon City, Oregon | Registered: Jan 2003
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