I saw a man die today. in Important Things

WARNING! I SAW A FATAL ACCIDENT TODAY AND THIS IS MY WAY TO COPE WITH WHAT I WENT THROUGH. THERE ARE GRAPHIC PARTS SO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ, THIS IS YOUR WARNING.

It’s the third Thursday of the month. The day I go a few towns over to the County Food Pantry and pick up groceries (I tell my son) for the month.

It’s been going on for a while now, so it’s a regular task. Go pick up the food and get home in time to put it away and pick up my son from school.

Today, was not a regular day, and I will never be able to go to the pantry without reliving what I did today.

On the way there, I watched an accident happen in front of me on the highway. Two SUV’s, one red and one white, hit one another. It seemed as if the red car overcorrected in the left lane (we have grass medians here and very narrow shoulders on that side) and his passenger side hit the front panel of the white car. Look up PITT maneuver.

The red one flew through the air and flipped on it’s roof, the driver ejected from the car, through the windshield. I could tell by the trajectory of his flight and fall, he was going to die.

The white one careened off to the right side of the road and stopped, the speed limit is 65, so I was past it before I could react or do anything.

I called 911 while other drivers stopped to help. I reported the accident, telling the dispatcher that there were four people in the red vehicle, three walking, one injured after ejection. I could not see the passengers of the white vehicle as there were cars stopping on the right side in between my car and that one. I told her that the passengers of the red vehicle covered the man with one of their coats and sat down, obviously in shock.

I could tell the man was dead. His neck was in an unnatural position, his limbs, broken and bent. There was so much blood on his face from where he went through the windshield.

Yet, there were cars still driving though the scene, not aware of the severity of the situation.

The First Responders were there within 3 minutes.

They cleared the three other passengers from the scene and went to the man on the ground.

The shaking of their heads after checking for pulse and responsiveness told me what I suspected.

He didn’t make it.

Then the scream started. Like glass cutting skin. A shrill, shrieking, agonizing cry. Someone had just lost someone they loved or cared about. It’s nothing like you see on TV. It shakes you to the core, like an earthquake under your feet, the ground shifting. I still hear the scream 4 hours later. I’m still sick to my stomach. It never changes, that feeling, when you hear that pain ripping through someone’s lungs.

I have been a First Responder when I was a Sheriff’s Deputy so I have been on scene after an accident or incident. Never have I witnessed a fatality happening in front of me. I was always called after the local PD was already on scene since I was with the County. The urge to stop and help and control the scene was overwhelming, but today, I was just a witness. I had to give a statement to the Sheriff’s department and they will follow up with me tomorrow after they do the investigation.

Then the yellow and blue tarps came out. One to cover the man, the others to be held up while the coroner was moving the man. I know they do that out of respect for the deceased and also so there will be no photos being taken that are not official crime/investigation documentation. Also, when a fatality like this one has to be moved, it is quite unpleasant when they have to untangle limbs and put pieces back together to transport them. I’ve worked accidents, falls and suicides in my LEO days and I can still hear the crunching of bones like walking on stones as the victim is moved. I’m thankful I wasn’t that close to hear that.

I’m thanking the Goddess that my son was not with me, did not see this death and destruction and was still safely in school.

I know I will be holding my son closer and tighter tonight, for someone out there, just lost their son, a child may have lost their father, a sister may have lost her brother.

Hold your loved ones too.

Last updated March 24, 2016