October 8, 2010

On Star You are amazing!!!

Saturday October 2 my amazing sister threw me a baby shower. Only three of my friends came, and my brother in laws family, whom I consider my family as well. ;0) We ate some really good food that my sis made (I really don't think there is anything she can't do!!) She decorated outside so cute, and everything was perfect. We got to visit with everyone, and the weather was perfect!! I got to see my friend Sarah whom I hadn't seen since I was a little girl, and another friend whom I hadn't seen since Middle school. It was a good day and we had some fun. After everyone left, Chuck came over, and we got to spend some time with my sister and her family. After a little while, we had to leave to go see Chuck's mom since it was her birthday. We drove down the road from my sister's place, and were about to turn onto highway 91 in Hyrum/Wellsville, when we saw a bad car wreck. It happened so fast it took a moment for my brain to make sense of what I was seeing, and what all the dust was. We saw a van and a pickup truck wreck in the middle of the intersection, and debris was everywhere....then the van was hurtling out of control after the impact across the intersection and off the road and up an embankment. We thought the van was going to roll over, but it came to a stop without tipping.

For some reason Chuck and I seem to witness a lot of accidents. We both react well in these situations, and we never panic. We are always calm and collected, and can think clearly through the chaos. Chuck immediately swerved off the road, and jumped out to assist. He is a trained first responder, and by law he is supposed to assist in an emergency. Of course no one would know if he did or not...but we would know. And since we both know what to do, why not stop and help. I would hope someone would do the same for me.

Chuck was the first to the van, and yanked on the door. It wouldn't come open due to the impact. He yanked again, and yanked so hard he pulled the door handle off. He ended up hurting his shoulder a little from this, but he got the door open. He got the mom out, and handed her off to someone. He could smell something burning and knew he needed to get everyone out of the car. He opened the back of the van and discovered 6 children in the back. Not all of them were in booster seats, and we can't figure out where one of them was sitting because there weren't enough seats in the back.

I flung open my door, and had hitt the emergency OnStar button in our Yukon. Someone brought me a little girl who was one of the worst off in the accident because she was not in a booster seat. She had been in a seat belt, but she flew forward, and her little face smacked the hard plastic backing of the seat in front of her. While I held this little girl, I spoke to OnStar and 911 at the same time and held this little girl in my arms as she bled down the front of me. Someone brought me a rag to help stop her face from bleeding. I told OnStar that they would need at least 5 squad cars, and two ambulances because of the amount of people who were hurt, and hot large the accident area was on the freeway. And they did just that. They even brought a third ambulance in the end.

I learned this little girls name was Lexy. I felt awful for her. Her face was starting to bulge on the left side. She clung to me, and complained that she couldn't see out of her eye. Someone else opened the back door of our Yukon and placed more children in the back trying to help them. Lexy and I sat there and within 3 minutes the first squad car arrived. I could see Chuck helping the other children and Lexy and I just stayed in the car. Eventually the paramedics came over to help Lexy, and she wouldn't let go of me. She wouldn't go to her mom, and it took 4 EMT's to try and get her to pull her head up that she had buried in my shoulder so they could get a neck brace on. We played games with her where we had her wiggle her toes, and count as high as she could go. Finally we got her to lift her head a little, and got the neck brace on her. Then they wanted to put her on a back board, but she wouldn't let go of me. I was the only one who could calm her down, and had earned her trust. As each person came up to help her out I would tell her that they were my friend Amy, and gary. I made up a few things about them so they didn't seem like such strangers to her. I felt so bad for her though. She was in so much pain, and trying to be so brave about it. I finally got her to calm down and we got her on the board and strapped her down. They took her to the ambulance, and she just started freaking out again. So the EMT's had me get in with her to get her to calm down so they could get the oxygen mask on her, and find out where it was hurting the most on her. She was such a brave girl.

Eventually everyone was taken care of and we were no longer needed. We looked at the time and realised that we had been helping out for over an hour. It didn't seem like it had been that long...but I guess with all the adrenaline...it passed pretty fast.

Chuck and I decided not to go shopping since the kids had accidentally urinated on us since they were so scared and in shock. So we ran over to where his mom's birthday party had already ended said hi to everyone ate a little cake and then we headed back to my parents for a much needed shower.

I know it sounds weird, but I enjoy helping in that type of situation. I don't get scared or panicky. I feel level headed the whole time. But that night as I came down from my adrenalin rush...I kept thinking about that little girl Lexy, and how she clung to me. She ended up scratching my arms up when the EMT's tried to take her, and I think my new mommy heart was just aching to know if she was okay. It took a little bit for me to fall asleep that night.

After all was said and done.....I was very impressed with OnStar and how fast the Logan City Police department and emergency services were to respond. I hope everyone turned out to be okay in the accident, and am thankful that I was able to help.

Well that is all for now....More later
XoXo-Andrea Carla

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