I'm OK! Praise God.
Just a short news break.
First, the good news: The girls and I are fine. Ruggy was at work, and is, therefore, fine.
Now, the bad news (Are you sitting down?): I rolled the van on the way to church this morning. The roads were really bad, very snow-covered, and the plows hadn't been out yet. Anyhoo.. I was driving along in the tracks on the road, staying under the speed limit and being generally careful. There was a car coming towards me, riding the center line. I moved over slightly (towards the shoulder) to avoid a collision. Even as I moved, I entertained the thought that maybe this wasn't the brightest idea under the circumstances. On my way back to the tracks, my back wheels fishtailed, we went sideways for a second... then into the ditch. Since the ditch is rather deep, we flipped over, rolled completely, then a half-roll again, skidding about 10 feet upside-down. The windshield shattered and the snow rushed in, packing around my face, pinning me in my seat. Praise God, the airbag didn't go off. It could have broken my neck.
I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. For all I knew, no one was coming to help, and I could hear my babies crying. Pinnie was yelling something at me, but everything was muffled and I couldn't make out the words. I know I was hyperventilating - I'm claustrophobic at the best of times, and this was hardly the best of times. It may have been twenty seconds before I gave myself a mental slap and forced myself to calm down. I spit my gum out. (In retrospect, having my gum hit my /nose/ should have clued me in to the fact that we were upside-down.)
I couldn't move my seat back, I couldn't get at my cell phone (and wouldn't have been able to call 9-1-1 if I /could/ reach it, I still couldn't see!) and I think I turned off the ignition. Then, I unbuckled my seat belt and started blindly moving the snow off the mountain around my face... I heard someone yell "Are you all right?" Pinnie yelled back "Yes" while crying, I yelled "I can't breathe" but I'm not sure he heard me. I'm still not sure if someone reached in through the window and moved snow, or if I moved enough snow... Either way, the snow loosened enough for me to get out... and I crawled around the seats to the back. The girls were hanging from the 'ceiling,' still strapped into their carseats, crying, but fine.
Before I even tried to move them, I prayed and thanked God for keeping us all safe. By now, I could hear people trying to open the van door (where the roof should have been). I unlocked it and turned my attention back to Pinnie. Since she's hanging from the seat, still in her booster, I warned her that when I undid the seat belt, she was going to drop, but not to worry, I would catch her. She was ok with that, and remarkably calm for a four-year-old. She didn't make a sound when she dropped, or when I maneuvered her seat so she could get out. Then I passed her up to the waiting arms of our helpers.
Beanie was going to be more of a challenge. She's in a carseat and would be much harder to cushion her landing. My problem was solved when hands reached in to hold the top of her seat. I undid her seatbelt and held on to the bottom of her seat, passing the baby (car-seat and all) out the door.
My turn. I know shock when I see it. I was in shock. I was shaking so badly I had to be carried out of the van and up the embankment. Once on the road, I could walk, although I had to be supported on one side. All three of us (baby still in her car-seat) waited in someone's car until the ambulance came. I called Ruggy from the car. There probably isn't a good way to break the news to someone. I said, "Are you sitting down?" When he said yes, I said, "I rolled the van." I'm sure there was more to the conversation, but most of it's pretty foggy. I think I told him they would probably send us to the hospital to be checked out and if he didn't make it to the accident scene, he could meet us at the hospital.
This whole time, I'm sitting in someone's car, the girls are sitting with me, perfectly calm and fine. Everyone kept asking me if I was ok. I said I thought I was fine. I know the effects of shock and adrenaline: you can be moderately injured and not know until later, when the crisis has passed. So far, I was fine.
Ruggy got to the scene before we left in the ambulance, and I know he felt better. He saw with his own eyes that we were were fine. Then he followed us to the hospital.
The ambulance attendants were surprised how calm we were. No one was crying or screaming, my blood pressure was a little low, but completely normal under the circumstances, and my pulse was only ~100pbm. By the time we got to the hospital, my vitals were more normal.
The nurse commented on how calm the girls were. Usually, children who've been in accidents cry, scream or are hard to keep quiet. My girls sat where they were asked, answered questions, and Pinnie even said, "Our van went into the ditch. God kept us safe." The one nurse was blown away. I was so proud of my daughter. She really does listen. :)
The ER doctor checked us all out, the OPP officer took my statement, and we went home. On the way home, we stopped off at the church to let them know we were all ok. We're home now, calming down and thanking God our family is still intact and healthy.
The girls are fine, I have a scratch on my face and I bruised up my shins crawling around the van getting the girls out. The van didn't fare so well, and may well be a write-off.
We don't seem to be doing well with vehicles this year. First the moose and the car, now the ditch and the van.
THE DITCH! Bounce, the DITCH!
First, the good news: The girls and I are fine. Ruggy was at work, and is, therefore, fine.
Now, the bad news (Are you sitting down?): I rolled the van on the way to church this morning. The roads were really bad, very snow-covered, and the plows hadn't been out yet. Anyhoo.. I was driving along in the tracks on the road, staying under the speed limit and being generally careful. There was a car coming towards me, riding the center line. I moved over slightly (towards the shoulder) to avoid a collision. Even as I moved, I entertained the thought that maybe this wasn't the brightest idea under the circumstances. On my way back to the tracks, my back wheels fishtailed, we went sideways for a second... then into the ditch. Since the ditch is rather deep, we flipped over, rolled completely, then a half-roll again, skidding about 10 feet upside-down. The windshield shattered and the snow rushed in, packing around my face, pinning me in my seat. Praise God, the airbag didn't go off. It could have broken my neck.
I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. For all I knew, no one was coming to help, and I could hear my babies crying. Pinnie was yelling something at me, but everything was muffled and I couldn't make out the words. I know I was hyperventilating - I'm claustrophobic at the best of times, and this was hardly the best of times. It may have been twenty seconds before I gave myself a mental slap and forced myself to calm down. I spit my gum out. (In retrospect, having my gum hit my /nose/ should have clued me in to the fact that we were upside-down.)
I couldn't move my seat back, I couldn't get at my cell phone (and wouldn't have been able to call 9-1-1 if I /could/ reach it, I still couldn't see!) and I think I turned off the ignition. Then, I unbuckled my seat belt and started blindly moving the snow off the mountain around my face... I heard someone yell "Are you all right?" Pinnie yelled back "Yes" while crying, I yelled "I can't breathe" but I'm not sure he heard me. I'm still not sure if someone reached in through the window and moved snow, or if I moved enough snow... Either way, the snow loosened enough for me to get out... and I crawled around the seats to the back. The girls were hanging from the 'ceiling,' still strapped into their carseats, crying, but fine.
Before I even tried to move them, I prayed and thanked God for keeping us all safe. By now, I could hear people trying to open the van door (where the roof should have been). I unlocked it and turned my attention back to Pinnie. Since she's hanging from the seat, still in her booster, I warned her that when I undid the seat belt, she was going to drop, but not to worry, I would catch her. She was ok with that, and remarkably calm for a four-year-old. She didn't make a sound when she dropped, or when I maneuvered her seat so she could get out. Then I passed her up to the waiting arms of our helpers.
Beanie was going to be more of a challenge. She's in a carseat and would be much harder to cushion her landing. My problem was solved when hands reached in to hold the top of her seat. I undid her seatbelt and held on to the bottom of her seat, passing the baby (car-seat and all) out the door.
My turn. I know shock when I see it. I was in shock. I was shaking so badly I had to be carried out of the van and up the embankment. Once on the road, I could walk, although I had to be supported on one side. All three of us (baby still in her car-seat) waited in someone's car until the ambulance came. I called Ruggy from the car. There probably isn't a good way to break the news to someone. I said, "Are you sitting down?" When he said yes, I said, "I rolled the van." I'm sure there was more to the conversation, but most of it's pretty foggy. I think I told him they would probably send us to the hospital to be checked out and if he didn't make it to the accident scene, he could meet us at the hospital.
This whole time, I'm sitting in someone's car, the girls are sitting with me, perfectly calm and fine. Everyone kept asking me if I was ok. I said I thought I was fine. I know the effects of shock and adrenaline: you can be moderately injured and not know until later, when the crisis has passed. So far, I was fine.
Ruggy got to the scene before we left in the ambulance, and I know he felt better. He saw with his own eyes that we were were fine. Then he followed us to the hospital.
The ambulance attendants were surprised how calm we were. No one was crying or screaming, my blood pressure was a little low, but completely normal under the circumstances, and my pulse was only ~100pbm. By the time we got to the hospital, my vitals were more normal.
The nurse commented on how calm the girls were. Usually, children who've been in accidents cry, scream or are hard to keep quiet. My girls sat where they were asked, answered questions, and Pinnie even said, "Our van went into the ditch. God kept us safe." The one nurse was blown away. I was so proud of my daughter. She really does listen. :)
The ER doctor checked us all out, the OPP officer took my statement, and we went home. On the way home, we stopped off at the church to let them know we were all ok. We're home now, calming down and thanking God our family is still intact and healthy.
The girls are fine, I have a scratch on my face and I bruised up my shins crawling around the van getting the girls out. The van didn't fare so well, and may well be a write-off.
We don't seem to be doing well with vehicles this year. First the moose and the car, now the ditch and the van.
THE DITCH! Bounce, the DITCH!