Touching Story
I got off to an early start.
Before my first appointment, I took a friend to
I spoke to myself out loud saying,
"Why did you do that?" as I continued to drive along.
My white suit was perfect for this
beautiful summer day. Knowing my tendency to speed in good weather, I put
on my cruise control and enjoyed the scenery. I continued down the highway,
singing, when a voice in my head said, "Slow down." I looked at
my speedometer and saw I was only going sixty mph, so I thought, I'm fine, and
waved my hand dismissively.
I moment later, a voice that sounded
as if it came from the back seat yelled, "Slow down!"
Startled, I slammed on my brakes,
which brought me to a near stop. I had just enough time to utter, "What
was that all about?" when the little white car in front of me started
losing control.
I immediately moved to the side of
the highway, sensing a bad accident was about to happen. By the time the
white car crossed all three lanes and slammed into the guardrail, going about
seventy, I was at a stop.
The minute I jumped out of my car,
another car stopped beside me. A man rushed over and asked, "Why did
you slam on your brakes? Nothing had happened yet." I
answered, "I don't know." Then he said, "Thank you.
You saved my life!" I asked how, and he
went on to say, "I was speeding, going about eighty-five--I'm late and was
trying to make up time. I've had so many speeding tickets that when I saw
you slam on your brakes, I assumed you saw a cop. So I hit my brakes too.
I would have been directly beside that car when it started to lose
control."
Still stunned, he got into his car
and drove away.
As I approached the wrecked car in
the middle of the highway, I whispered to God, "Why me? What do I
know about first aid?"
The driver, a pregnant woman, and her
husband were sitting in the white car, both looking badly injured. Blood
was everywhere. His teeth were broken, and they were crying and
scared. I knew we needed help and an ambulance.
A car stopped, and a woman asked,
"What do you need?" I answered, "We need to call the
police and an ambulance. These two people are badly injured!" She
drove away to find a roadside phone.
As I walked back to the couple to
tell them help was on the way, someone yelled from a passing car "You've got to get them out. There's fluid
leaking under the car!"
I went to open the driver's crushed
door, when the woman told me it wouldn't budge. There was jagged glass in
her window, so I knew she had to exit by the door. Using all my strength,
I pulled on it. Unbelievably, the door gave way.
I helped the frightened woman out of
her car and set her down, then I ran back for her
husband. The passenger door was jammed against the guardrail, and an
obstruction blocked the front seat. He could not slide across to get out
the driver's side. I shouldered his weight while he hoisted himself up
and out of the window. I helped him lie down on the road next to his
wife.
He was bleeding so badly that I
thought to myself We desperately need two
towels. At that moment, a woman stopped her car and yelled, "What do
you need?" I told her, and she reached in the back seat for a Kmart
bag, which contained two towels she had just purchased. Returning to the
couple, I applied a towel tourniquet on the man's arm and placed the other
towel under his head.
They were going into shock, and I
knew they needed blankets to stay warm. Another woman pulled up and asked,
"What do you need?" I said I needed two blankets. She
walked to back of her van, pulled out two blankets from a laundry basket filled
with clean bedding, and said she had to leave.
As I covered the man and woman, I realized
I had done all I could do on my own. I thought I
need a medic--I need someone right now! I looked up and saw a man in a
white uniform on the side of the highway, running toward us. I didn't see
any vehicle; he seemed to have appeared out of thin air. He told me he
was an off-duty medic. I stepped back as he began to administer first aid
to the couple.
I'm sure I looked confused when the
police came and told me I could leave. My mind flooded with the grace of
the miracle. I had received everything I needed the moment I asked for
it. For the first time in my life, I comprehended how safe we really
are. Our angels are only a whisper away, to do God's work in our lives.
I realized I had just enough time to
get to my appointment. When I arrived, I suddenly remembered, starting
through the office door, that I was dressed completely in white. I looked
down in disbelief. After all I'd been through, my clothing was
spotless......
Diann Roche