Crash Site
Tow YardI'm posting this for informational purposes.
A lot of you have asked what happened. I don't really know. I was in the very back with my oldest son. I had just closed my eyes since everyone had settled in--watching a movie. I heard screeching, heard the impact of us hitting something and then the squeal of tires. I saw us turning in circles and then we were rolling...several times. F looked at the van yesterday at the tow yard. We think the rear of the van was airborn for awhile since the front sustained the most damage. I asked my Aunt later if she thought we rolled a lot and she agreed, saying she felt like it would never stop. As soon as the van came to rest of its side, I unclicked my kid's seat belts and gathered them into one area of the van and did a visual inventory. Lots of crying but no bleeding that I could see. I asked if my mom was alive and she said she was. She was stuck in her seat belt, suspended above my Aunt in the front. At that point I began frenetic prayers that some one would come because I couldn't reach either of them and couldn't get out of the van. A minute later the faces of some very startled men peered through the broken glass. They were able to cut mom loose and move her out of the van and then my Aunt. I handed my toddler through the window, then K and then J. One of the men on site was an off duty nurse so he got my Aunt on the ground, J too since he had a huge knot behind his ear and my mom taken care of. Mom, Auntie M and J were loaded into ambulances and the rest of us waited with some very nice firemen. It was a tense time since I'd really wanted to stay with my son, but one of the guys reassured me that if his injuries had appeared life-threatening, they would have flown in a helicopter. My toddler kept pointing at the mess and saying, "Mommy! Our van broken!"
Of all the scenarios I run through in my mind, none of them have us all surviving. There were so many things that could have been different. We were protected. Mom broke a rib. Auntie M is still in the hospital and is having surgery on her broken shoulder today. She also broke her leg. J had a CT scan at the hospital and was discharged that day. The rest of us have bruises where our seat belts restrained us. They are absolutely beautiful tattoos and I am grateful to have them.
Thanks to all of you for your offers of help, your prayers and for listening. The kids and I are all still rattled. F had to deal with a very emotional woman on the drive home yesterday. I didn't want to get into the truck...let alone drive. I did for maybe an hour before I burst into tears on some curvy roads. All I wanted was to be home and out of a moving vehicle. For a little while my excursions will be within city limits!
