The Story of Defying Death
Well, as promised, here's the full story of what happened on Friday night, and I'm not going to hold back.. so if you get queasy easily.. I'm just letting you know now.
Well, as most of you know, I went down to Wildwood on Friday afternoon with Laura. We were hoping to get down there in time to catch the guard's performance. Unfortunately, we missed it by about 2 hours, but we spent the rest of the day down there anyways, by chilling on the boardwalk with our friends, and then watched the open and world colorguard prelims. So it was around 11 by the time we had said our good byes to everyone, and C basically kicked us out of there lol.
Leaving there, I felt fine. I absolutely love driving at night time, and especially on highways. I wasn't really speeding out of control like I did on the way down to try to catch the guard (about 80 the whole way). I was chillin at about 70 on the Parkway, and around 60 on 322. Nothing to be like "OMG, that's too fast."
So normally, whenever I'm down at the shore, we usually stop at a Wawa (the one right passed Storybook Land). I didn't this time for 2 reasons: Laura had SAT's early the next morning, and I felt good enough to just keep on moving home. I also believe that Laura was asleep by the time we hit this area.
The way I look at it, 322 is divided into 3 main parts, divided by 2 highways: 50 and 54, 54 being the one closer to home. There's from the parkway to 50, 50 to 54, and then 54 to twp. I had passed 54 not too long ago, when I started to get a little sleepy, amd me being dumb and stupid, thought I could make it home with no problem.
Sure enough, about 10 minutes later I suppose, I fell asleep, and I woke up to me holding to dear life to anything I could grab on to. Everything happened so fast, and all I remember is that I woke up to a huge jolt, hearing glass being crushed, and the feeling like I had done a few 360's.
I looked back, and very concerned, I checked to make sure that Laura was ok. All she did was say my name, and she didn't move... Scared shitless, I got my seatbelt off, opened my car door, got out, and frantically tried to get her door open. I think that it was this time that I realized that I was covered in blood, that my neck hurt really bad, and that I had banged my knee. I guess at this point I sat down on the ground, even though I thought I had gotten Laura out of the car, but apparently, that was the last remaining locked door in my car, and she unlocked it, got out and walked to the area that I had gone off too. I saw a man who had pulled over, come out of his car, calling 911, and then the woman who lived at the house closest to where I crashed.
I then pulled out Laura's cell phone, which she had me hold onto all day. I called my parents first, then Laura's house, and then, because I felt everyone should know, I called Brow and told him to spread the word down there..
A few minutes later, 3 cops had arrived on the scene, and both me and Laura had to give them our information about 4 or 5 times. About 5 mintues later, 2 ambulances came, and Laura and I were put onto stretchers and taken to JFK hospital. After a lot of hours of waiting, we found out what damaged we had did. Laura had abrasions all up and down her back, along with a swollen right eye that is now colored up pretty well, along with a few cuts here and there. I have a broken nose, an abrasion from my seatbelt on my neck, and a few mild chest pains when I take deep breaths. She was released around 4ish, and I around 5. It was a really long night for the both of us, along with my parents, her mom, and tony.
Now, I left a few wholes in the story, because, in all honesty, I'm still learning about what actually happened. Without even realizing it, this is what the car did. As I fell asleep, I crossed over into opposite traffic (fortunately, it being around midnight, there were hardly any cars on the road and I didn't hit anything moving). After crossing over, I hit a telephone pole, went through it, which then rolled the car about 3 or 4 times onto the roof of the car hit another telephone pole, and then came to a stop, very forunately, on the wheels. Just thinking about it about a half hour ago, I was wondering how I got my broken nose, and bumps on my head. And because I don't remember rolling, I came to a conclusion that I must have hit my head on the steering wheel, probably nose first and then top of my head, was knocked out by that for a while, and then came back to, being spun around and then stopping.
Laura wasn't wearing her seatbelt. She had reclined the seat and was thrown back into the back seat. Her reclining the seat probably saved her in the end because if she hadn't, she probably gone through the windshield.
I told this comparison to Brow tonight, and I feel that it is pretty accurate. Think about one of the cars that is shown outside school before senior prom to scare you. Now think of it with a secure interior, and you have the look of my car afterwards. I honestly do not know how I was able to get out of that car, or even do it under my own power. Everything happened so fast, and it seems like it was a blur, but sure enough, even the slightest jolt of the Neon because of it bad shocks, and a rough spot in the road, gave me chills and a mental picture of the event.
I view this in a way by saying that God said it wasn't time for me to go. There were a lot of things going for me and Laura that in the end saved us.
-My car was made of metal. The roof would not have stayed the way my car's roof did, seeing how it isn't as tough. I always told everyone that my car was a beast, and it gave it's life to save me.. I will definitley miss it as it is gone...
-We rolled over 3 or 4 times... we could have very easily landed on the roof the car, most likely making it impossible for us to get out.
-No cars were coming in the opposite direction. Everyone knows that hitting a car coming in the opposite direction results in a much more serious accident then hitting a nonmoving object.
-Laura not wearing her seatbelt and having her seat reclined was the most unlikely, yet so forunate since she was thrown into the backseat.
-I can't honestly get off the fact that my car was made the way it was. The hood and trunk were both crushed beyond belief, yet, nothing was crushed inside the car.
Ya know, if anything positive comes through this, I hope that me going through this helps someone else out there who's reading this. If it does, and I somehow saved someone's life because of it, I won't exactly feel accomplished, but I would much rather have gone through this than someone else lose their life.
But to tell the truth, I have this little voice inside of me saying that I could have prevented this. I know I could have. I know I could have stopped off at that Wawa and gotten a huge soda like I always do. I know I could have pulled off to the side of the road becuase I could feel myself getting tired, and I thought that I could make it home anyway. The worst part of it is that I not only endangered my own life by being stupid, I put Laura's life in danger, and seeing her abrasions, her swollen eye and just the way she has to live right now is a constant reminder of that. Everyone keeps on telling me that it happens to everyone and that I couldn't have prevented it, plus the fact that they're happy that I'm alive. Yes, I'm very happy, fortunate, and lucky that I'm alive, but if I can't help but think that if I had taken the necessary precautions, I wouldn't have people telling me that they're happy I'm alive... I wouldn't have people almost ready to cry just because they're still able to hug me.. I wouldn't have to look at myself in the mirror and say omg... I wouldn't have to worry about what Debbie and Tony and my parents were thinking when I called them.. I wouldn't have had to worry about if Monica was ok, not knowing how I was after I had called Brow.. I wouldn't have to worry that I probably just ruined Michelle's prom pictures.. and I would still have Fuel Injection sitting outside my house, being the best car an owner could ever have.
So to answer any questions you have about me right now, I feel incredibly guily, I feel incredibly lucky to be alive, I feel incredibly fortunate to have tons of people who care about me, and I feel incredibly stupid, all at the same time.
But it puts every small detail into perspective... it makes every thing that has been in past entries seem like nothing, and it makes me enjoy life more.
I think I'm going to wrap this up there, seeing how it took me over an hour to type it all.. Please, if you have any questions about what happened that I forgot to mention in here, or just plain and simply wanna talk about it, call, IM, give me an email (narf1107@hotmail.com), leave a comment.. whatever.. I'll answer to the best of my ability about anything...
I'm just happy that in time, both Laura and I will be back to our normal selves... and I have no one but the man running the show upstairs to thank for that...
Well, as most of you know, I went down to Wildwood on Friday afternoon with Laura. We were hoping to get down there in time to catch the guard's performance. Unfortunately, we missed it by about 2 hours, but we spent the rest of the day down there anyways, by chilling on the boardwalk with our friends, and then watched the open and world colorguard prelims. So it was around 11 by the time we had said our good byes to everyone, and C basically kicked us out of there lol.
Leaving there, I felt fine. I absolutely love driving at night time, and especially on highways. I wasn't really speeding out of control like I did on the way down to try to catch the guard (about 80 the whole way). I was chillin at about 70 on the Parkway, and around 60 on 322. Nothing to be like "OMG, that's too fast."
So normally, whenever I'm down at the shore, we usually stop at a Wawa (the one right passed Storybook Land). I didn't this time for 2 reasons: Laura had SAT's early the next morning, and I felt good enough to just keep on moving home. I also believe that Laura was asleep by the time we hit this area.
The way I look at it, 322 is divided into 3 main parts, divided by 2 highways: 50 and 54, 54 being the one closer to home. There's from the parkway to 50, 50 to 54, and then 54 to twp. I had passed 54 not too long ago, when I started to get a little sleepy, amd me being dumb and stupid, thought I could make it home with no problem.
Sure enough, about 10 minutes later I suppose, I fell asleep, and I woke up to me holding to dear life to anything I could grab on to. Everything happened so fast, and all I remember is that I woke up to a huge jolt, hearing glass being crushed, and the feeling like I had done a few 360's.
I looked back, and very concerned, I checked to make sure that Laura was ok. All she did was say my name, and she didn't move... Scared shitless, I got my seatbelt off, opened my car door, got out, and frantically tried to get her door open. I think that it was this time that I realized that I was covered in blood, that my neck hurt really bad, and that I had banged my knee. I guess at this point I sat down on the ground, even though I thought I had gotten Laura out of the car, but apparently, that was the last remaining locked door in my car, and she unlocked it, got out and walked to the area that I had gone off too. I saw a man who had pulled over, come out of his car, calling 911, and then the woman who lived at the house closest to where I crashed.
I then pulled out Laura's cell phone, which she had me hold onto all day. I called my parents first, then Laura's house, and then, because I felt everyone should know, I called Brow and told him to spread the word down there..
A few minutes later, 3 cops had arrived on the scene, and both me and Laura had to give them our information about 4 or 5 times. About 5 mintues later, 2 ambulances came, and Laura and I were put onto stretchers and taken to JFK hospital. After a lot of hours of waiting, we found out what damaged we had did. Laura had abrasions all up and down her back, along with a swollen right eye that is now colored up pretty well, along with a few cuts here and there. I have a broken nose, an abrasion from my seatbelt on my neck, and a few mild chest pains when I take deep breaths. She was released around 4ish, and I around 5. It was a really long night for the both of us, along with my parents, her mom, and tony.
Now, I left a few wholes in the story, because, in all honesty, I'm still learning about what actually happened. Without even realizing it, this is what the car did. As I fell asleep, I crossed over into opposite traffic (fortunately, it being around midnight, there were hardly any cars on the road and I didn't hit anything moving). After crossing over, I hit a telephone pole, went through it, which then rolled the car about 3 or 4 times onto the roof of the car hit another telephone pole, and then came to a stop, very forunately, on the wheels. Just thinking about it about a half hour ago, I was wondering how I got my broken nose, and bumps on my head. And because I don't remember rolling, I came to a conclusion that I must have hit my head on the steering wheel, probably nose first and then top of my head, was knocked out by that for a while, and then came back to, being spun around and then stopping.
Laura wasn't wearing her seatbelt. She had reclined the seat and was thrown back into the back seat. Her reclining the seat probably saved her in the end because if she hadn't, she probably gone through the windshield.
I told this comparison to Brow tonight, and I feel that it is pretty accurate. Think about one of the cars that is shown outside school before senior prom to scare you. Now think of it with a secure interior, and you have the look of my car afterwards. I honestly do not know how I was able to get out of that car, or even do it under my own power. Everything happened so fast, and it seems like it was a blur, but sure enough, even the slightest jolt of the Neon because of it bad shocks, and a rough spot in the road, gave me chills and a mental picture of the event.
I view this in a way by saying that God said it wasn't time for me to go. There were a lot of things going for me and Laura that in the end saved us.
-My car was made of metal. The roof would not have stayed the way my car's roof did, seeing how it isn't as tough. I always told everyone that my car was a beast, and it gave it's life to save me.. I will definitley miss it as it is gone...
-We rolled over 3 or 4 times... we could have very easily landed on the roof the car, most likely making it impossible for us to get out.
-No cars were coming in the opposite direction. Everyone knows that hitting a car coming in the opposite direction results in a much more serious accident then hitting a nonmoving object.
-Laura not wearing her seatbelt and having her seat reclined was the most unlikely, yet so forunate since she was thrown into the backseat.
-I can't honestly get off the fact that my car was made the way it was. The hood and trunk were both crushed beyond belief, yet, nothing was crushed inside the car.
Ya know, if anything positive comes through this, I hope that me going through this helps someone else out there who's reading this. If it does, and I somehow saved someone's life because of it, I won't exactly feel accomplished, but I would much rather have gone through this than someone else lose their life.
But to tell the truth, I have this little voice inside of me saying that I could have prevented this. I know I could have. I know I could have stopped off at that Wawa and gotten a huge soda like I always do. I know I could have pulled off to the side of the road becuase I could feel myself getting tired, and I thought that I could make it home anyway. The worst part of it is that I not only endangered my own life by being stupid, I put Laura's life in danger, and seeing her abrasions, her swollen eye and just the way she has to live right now is a constant reminder of that. Everyone keeps on telling me that it happens to everyone and that I couldn't have prevented it, plus the fact that they're happy that I'm alive. Yes, I'm very happy, fortunate, and lucky that I'm alive, but if I can't help but think that if I had taken the necessary precautions, I wouldn't have people telling me that they're happy I'm alive... I wouldn't have people almost ready to cry just because they're still able to hug me.. I wouldn't have to look at myself in the mirror and say omg... I wouldn't have to worry about what Debbie and Tony and my parents were thinking when I called them.. I wouldn't have had to worry about if Monica was ok, not knowing how I was after I had called Brow.. I wouldn't have to worry that I probably just ruined Michelle's prom pictures.. and I would still have Fuel Injection sitting outside my house, being the best car an owner could ever have.
So to answer any questions you have about me right now, I feel incredibly guily, I feel incredibly lucky to be alive, I feel incredibly fortunate to have tons of people who care about me, and I feel incredibly stupid, all at the same time.
But it puts every small detail into perspective... it makes every thing that has been in past entries seem like nothing, and it makes me enjoy life more.
I think I'm going to wrap this up there, seeing how it took me over an hour to type it all.. Please, if you have any questions about what happened that I forgot to mention in here, or just plain and simply wanna talk about it, call, IM, give me an email (narf1107@hotmail.com), leave a comment.. whatever.. I'll answer to the best of my ability about anything...
I'm just happy that in time, both Laura and I will be back to our normal selves... and I have no one but the man running the show upstairs to thank for that...