Thursday, June 11, 2009

2 years ago today

June 11, 2007

John & I had just arrived in Georgia to pick up some antiques and visit with his family. Tori was at Governor's school(in Conway) and Meg was in Conway having just finished her freshman year in college and had been shopping for her first house she moved into that May. Meg called me to talk about the baby shower we were throwing for her cousin in August....we chit chatted and were coming up with several ideas. We were going to have it at her house, she was telling me about the food she would prepare and then all of a sudden all I heard was.....



...her take a deep breath and say...."Oh" and then this LOUD crash and then all I could hear was the horn blowing......

.....I started screaming her name....
Meg, MEGAN....MEGAN!!!!! I didn't know if she could hear me or not....I kept saying how much I loved her and to hang on everything would be OK. God be with her I prayed!

.....I could hear people talking but it was faint. The sound of the horn was drowning everything out. It sounded like a lot of people.


.....I was helpless....all I could think about was I was listening to my child die and there was nothing I could do about it.

After 5 minutes the connection went dead. I was devastated...I couldn't hear anymore and my heart just sank deeper. I just held John and cried. Praying to God that my little girl would be alright.

My phone rang a few minutes later, I answered it and it was a man who had witnessed the accident. He said, Meg was alright, banged up and bloody but the paramedics were there and they were working on her. He told me that despite everyone saying stay put...she climbed her little body out of the car and said, My Mom...I was on the phone with my mom....please call her. That's when the man stepped in and called. He also said when she was half way out...she climbed back in to get her purse.

I could hear Meg in the background yelling, "Don't shave my head
....please don't cut my hair.....the paramedic was telling her to calm down it was all going to alright. I'm freaking out...wondering what is wrong with her head!!!?

The next 1/2 hour or so John was on his phone with the police officer and I was on mine with the paramedic....they both told us that it is a miracle she is alive...

Meg failed to stop at a 4 way stop
and was hit on the drivers side by a 2002 Ford F 250 that was going 40 mph.



When he hit her it pushed the car 30 feet and it hit a tree on the passenger side.


Here is the tree.



Although Meg was the only person in the car she DEFINITELY had a heavenly passenger with her. I believe it was my dad that was there and pulled her out of that seat belt. See, Meg was buckled up but somehow ended up out of the belt and wedged between the two front seats!! The seat belt was still buckled! The police officers told us they had no explanation for it.



Both Meg's car and the truck were totaled!!
While she was at the hospital her friend, Jody, stayed on the phone with me the entire time. Her roommate, Marianne was by her side. Jody told me what they were doing, x-rays, pulling glass out of her hair, Meg yelling "don't shave my head", etc. I heard the doctor come in and say "good news nothing is broken...you are one lucky young lady". I remember just crying again. John and I packed up and drove the 10 hours back home to be with Meg. All I wanted was to hold my daughter and see for myself that she was OK.

We had left our house at 5:45 am on June 11th....we returned home on June 12th at 5:45 am....it was a LONG night.

Gathering all her belongings from the car.

She was extremely sore the next day. She could barely walk. She received 6 staples in her head....she had chemical burn on her nose (which took some of the skin off) from the air bag...and she had over 50 small cuts on her face and arms from the windshield shattering.


One Lucky Girl

I thank God for keeping her safe and for having a guardian angel in the car with her that day. It has been two years and I still think of it often. I have a very hard time talking on the phone with her and her sister while they are driving. I have actually cried the entire time I have written this post. All those memories flooding back have been hard to relive.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I literally have goosebumps.

Putting the FUN in DysFUNctional said...

Woah! That is an incredible story. I've always had a fear of either being in an accident while on the phone or vice/versa. I'm SO glad she was ok! I can't imagine how terrifying that was.

Yankee Girl said...

I'm crying with you right now. I can't begin to imagine how scary that was for all of you.

Susie said...

How horrible for you!! I can't imagine!!

I would tell her, the next time I catch you driving and talking on your cell phone, I am taking a piece of that hyde off of you that I made!! Unbelievable!! (I make rules when I am terrified:-)

April said...

Oh, my goodness...I had no idea that something like this had happened! Bless all of your hearts! That must have been one of the most frightening times of your life! Praise God that Meg was alright! I have no doubt whatsoever that an angel was watching over her that day! She is a miracle!

Unknown said...

Wow. I stopped in from SITS to check out your blog but really wasn't expecting anything of this magnitude. She must have had a heavenly passenger because I don't see any other possible way....my brother had an accident almost 2 years ago in which he was lucky to be alive...(he swerved to miss a drunk man walking in the middle of the road and something broke, causing his tire to come off...the car flipped around 10 times and he came out of the sunroof...he's soooo blessed)...and I think of it often too. Those are life changing events!

Elisabeth said...

Wow...she is so lucky! I can only imagine how scary it was for you to be on the phone- not knowing.

The Wife O Riley said...

How terrifying!! I am so glad that she didn't get seriously hurt.

Kiki said...

Thank you for visiting my blog. My WW post pix are of Bora Bora. I would love to go there. I love your blog background and header. It's amazing. Your daughters are beautiful. So sorry to read of the accident. I can't imagine being on the phone at that moment. At least she walked away from the accident with minor injuries. Take care.
-Kiki

Heather said...

That gives me such an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach...

I doubt you will ever forget that day. And I agree with you; I'm sure she was being protected by a heavenly presence, and how comforting to think it was your dad.

Those photos give me goosebumps.

Becky said...

How very lucky you all are! How precious and vunerable are simple lives truely are...

What a gift you have to be given, not only her coming out unharmed, but the chance to gain the wisdom of how fleeting and quick life can come and go, and how sweet each moment is!

Melody said...

What a blessing that she was able to just walk away from that!

Betty said...

You just wrote my worst nightmare! How hard it must have been! Something I hope and pray will never happen to mine....
I´m so glad she was ok, and hope she hasn´t kept any lasting damages like nightmares or being afraid to drive.
What a miracle!

Ashley said...

Betty that is so scary! It reminds me of a major wreck I had. I was on a 2-lane road when an oncoming car veared off the road then over-corrected to hit me head on. My passenger called my mom and all she could hear was me screaming: 'my legs! my legs!'. My seat had gone into the steering wheel and legs were in the dash. I don't know how I didn't break anything. Just scratches and bruises. My mom still has nightmares from hearing me scream through the phone I think. Scary! I'm glad Megan was safe and had a guardian angel watching over her.

Mercedes said...

I am so glad that she is okay. That is so petrifying. I can not imagine the fear that you must of had. It made me cry just thinking of the fear that you had and the possibilities. Thank God that she is okay.

Aubrey said...

Oh Betty! My heart is pounding. I can't imagine what your were going through during that time.

An angel indeed was her passenger!

Joy said...

My eyes are full right now. Thank you God for keeping your hand on her.
An experience I know changed you all forever.


Joy

Jennifer said...

Oh man, what a powerful story! I'm so glad everything worked out so well. I love reading miracle stories!

I love the layout of your blog too, it's so heavenly! You have a beautiful family and if I might add, DON'T look old enough to have ADULT children!

I just found your blog through SITS!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness. I have goosebumps. What a scary/powerful story with a wonderful ending.

Rachael said...

How incredibly scary. I can't even imagine it. I'm so glad she was okay!

Anonymous said...

Wow this is so scary. I'm so glad she was fine. I would have freaked out if I were you.

Mrsbear said...

OMG I can't imagine what it must have been like to hear her get in to that accident. My heart stopped. How absolutely terrifying. Thank God she was alright, the shape the car was in, it really was miraculous that she came away from it with just scrapes and stitches. She was definitely being protected. Thank God. Powerful story.