The Accident

I've told the story so many times, and yet there are still so many people anxious to hear what happened this past Friday night. So I've decided to write it out and post it here. I feel I should warn you... I have trouble believing the following story, myself. But I promise I couldn't make this up if I tried.

Last Friday night I went to Fort Worth to see Fleet Foxes at Lola's. [P.S. If you have time, listen to "White Winter Hymnal" ... if it doesn't blow your mind, there might be something wrong with you.] Anyway... the show was absolutely incredible, and I even got to meet lead singer Robin Pecknold [what an incredibly humble, nice human being... I wish we could be friends]. I left the bar soon after, high on the thrill of experiencing truly great live music. About ten minutes after I left, I noticed a car ahead of me on I-30 driving pretty erratically and decided I should be wary. I hung back for a few minutes and then decided I really wanted to just get past the guy. I waited for him to move over so that there would be at least one lane between us, and then I decided it was time.

I was in the far left lane and started speeding up cautiously. Even now I don't know whether the guy was drunk or just being obnoxious. As soon as I started to pass him (I assume it was a him... although I honestly don't know), he swerved across both lanes, I laid on my horn and tried to dodge him. But somehow he either swiped me or clipped the back end of my car, sending me into a spin. I spun at least four times hitting the concrete barrier lining the highway each time I spun. I know I hit the wall four times, but I'm not sure of much else. Eventually my car came to a screeching hault, and I realized my passenger side airbag had deployed and the car was filled with smoke and powder.

I got out of the car in hysterics and started pacing back and forth trying to get a grip. Then I went back to the car and dumped my purse out to find my cell phone. I first called my friend Curtis who had been at the show with me, but knowing he had already worked an insanely long day and was on his way back to Dallas to work even more, I told him not to worry... that I would find a friend who lived in Fort Worth to come pick me up. After talking to a few people, I finally sat down on the side of the road and tried to catch my breath and face the fact that apparently no one was going to stop and help me [yes the erratic driver who ran me off the road just kept going, as did everyone else who passed by for the next ten minutes].

After a few minutes, it dawned on me that I should probably move away from my car because it was still sticking out into the left lane, and I knew it would be bad news if it were to go unnoticed by other drivers. After realizing this, I took a couple of steps and then heard the most terrifying sound I've ever heard. The crash of the other driver going 75mph plowing into my stationary car was deafening. Somehow in that split second, I managed to look up and see my car hurtling towards me. Next thing I knew, my car had slammed into me, and I was thrown into the cement barrier before falling forward painfully onto my knees.

After being stabilized in a neck collar, strapped down to a gurney, and answering a barrage of questions from firemen, EMT paramedics and a very nice policeman... I was rushed to the JPS Trauma One unit. I spent the next 8 hours being stuck with needles, CAT scanned and X-rayed before I was finally released with a concussion, several contusions (deep bruises) and a possible knee injury (I'll have to go to an orthopedic doctor in a few weeks). The doctor and several others have also warned me that it is likely I'll have other injuries, which will not reveal themselves until my body recovers from some of the trauma. But to the amazement of the hospital staff, my family, friends and me... I'm alive and well, for the most part.

I can't even begin to describe how terrifying this experience was or how utterly awed I am that I not only survived, but that I came out relatively unharmed. I'm hesitant to look at it this way because it just seems so illogical in my mind; but in truth, I can't deny that clearly, for whatever reason, God wants me alive. And that is an exciting while also frightening thought.