I woke up this morning to mild snow fall but freezing temperatures and news reports of extremely slick roads. It’s 0600, an hour before I normally wake my kids up for school. We commute about 20 minutes north to a better school district than the one in our area. I take the highway every morning which on normal days is still chaotic due to over rushed motorists. I debate whether the risk is worth it or not. I decide to take them anyway.
Traffic is heavy as usual and big trucks whiz by me as if they are invincible. SUV’s, vans, small cars are all over the place from sliding off the roads. There is a ditch dividing the highway all the way to our destination. From about 3 miles up I can see two headlights clearly on their side. I begin to slow, expecting the worst and preparing to stop. My heart starts pounding, I’m nervous. I think to myself, am I able to handle this on my own? I pull up and see an explorer on its side, clearly having slid off the north bound lane. There is a young man in red walking around the wreckage. I run up to him asking if he is ok, assuming he was the driver and see no one else around. “I’m fine. There is a mother and son stuck in the vehicle.” Confused I ask him if he was inside. I see no other car stopped nearby. He says “No, my car is way up there but I did witness it.” His car is parked in the north bound lane ¼ mile away.
I look inside through the windshield and see a middle aged woman and teenage son basically hanging inside by their seat belts. I ask if they are ok. I get a thumbs up. I tell them not to move and wish I could hold their hands. The mother’s eyes are teary and the son looks frightened.
The young man in red is Steve, a police officer for our University College campus. I introduce myself and tell him I am an EMT. He tells me I am the only person who stopped despite the fact there are hundreds of passing cars around us. He looks relieved and begins telling me there is no bleeding and there are only two people in the vehicle. I’m relieved to hear they are ok.
Steve had already called for help and about 5 minutes later two fire trucks pull up on scene. They immediately pull out their stabilizing equipment, a metal rod to hold the vehicle in place so it won’t roll over. Then they pull out a hand held hatchet and tell the woman inside to cover their faces, they will be breaking the windshield. He also asks them if they are ok or if they would like to go to the hospital. The woman says they are fine.
“It might be quite a while until law arrives.” The firefighter Chief tells Steve and I. “You are ok to leave now thanks!” I shake the chiefs hand as well as Steve’s and head on my way.
