Many of you know that I was in a car wreck this last Sunday, December 22. The events run through my head over and over. I wanted to share what happened so (hopefully) it won't be running through my head so much and I can start moving foward.
The begining of this story actually starts Thursday, November 21. Joseph had an eye exam the following day down in Salt Lake City. Our whole family was going to go down for this appointment and enjoy a long weekend. Well on that Thursday we received a large snow storm and all the roads were very icy. Jeremiah and I both felt strongly that we were not suppose to go on this trip for our family's safty. I called the Doctor's office and rescheduled for December 23. Right away I knew I didn't want to go on that trip. I was hoping Jeremiah could be the one to make the trip, but quickly relized that he would have to work and I would have to go. I mostly didn't want to go because it was 2 days before Christmas and I hated making "fast" trips.
For a whole month I was dreading this trip. I kept hoping and even prayed for another bad snow storm or something that would make it so we would have to reschedule. At one point I prayed that Jeremiah would have a strong impression that we should stay home. At this point I do need to point out that I have had strong impressions at times not to make trips. I have even cancelled appointments 1 hour before I was suppose to leave because I knew Heavenly Father was telling me not to go. This time I never once had that impression. I might have missed the promptings but I am pretty sure I never recieved a prompting to stay and I know Jeremiah never did.
So here we are Sunday December 22. I took a nap after church then got ready to hit the road. I decided to take Gwen this time. We had friends taking the rest of the kids on Monday since Jeremiah had to work and I thought it would just make it easier. We had a family prayer then Joseph, Gwen and I hit the road. About 20 minutes out of Casper the roads got slick. I was nervous but kept on driving. At one point I was so scared my whole body started shaking. I decided I would call Jeremiah and ask him if I should turn around. Lucky me, I was in a long stretch with no reception. At this point I was crying and shaking. I decided to say a prayer. I prayed to Heavenly Father that if I should turn around that I would have the prompting to do so. But if I was suppose to makethis trip SLC that night that I would feel calm and I would be able to keep driving. Right away my body stopped shaking and I felt calm. So I kept going. About and hour later I was able to get a hold of Jeremiah. I told him how the roads were and the impression I recieved. I told him I needed him to pray for me. Two hours into the trip the roads cleared up and I felt much more confident.
Once I entered Utah the road got slick in places again. I was about 20 minutes past Evanston, Wy and hour away from SLC when it all happened. Joseph was asleep and Gwen was watching the movie Joseph had left on. I was listen to a talk on CD when the car started slipping on the ice. I tried to correct it and I just swerved more and more. At one point I realized I was going to go off the road. I was in the left lane and was heading into the median (which luckily was a giant grassy area). As soon as I hit the edge I realized the car was going to roll. I remember looking out my window and seeing the snowy grass coming closer and thinking "oh my gosh I am really rolling, this is kinda of cool" (I know I'm crazy don't worry). I am not sure how many times the car rolled. I know it had to have been a full 360 and then another 180 because we landed on the roof. As we were rolling I felt my neck hit the top of the roof.
It took me a second to truly understand I was in a car accident and that I was upside down. Right then I heard Joseph from the back seat.
Joe "Mom were we just in a car accident?"
Me "Yeah honey"
Joe "Am I upside down"
Me " Yeah Honey" (Realizing more and more how crazy this is)
I heard Joseph undo his seat belt and drop to the ground as I was doing the same thing. I couldn't see anything in the car. I told Josph the only thing he needed to do right now was find Gwen. I couldn't hear her or see her. I was feeling around to try to figure out where I was in the car and where the kids were. Joseph yelled out "Mom I found her and she is alive" (even now the memory brings me to tears. I don't think I had even considered the idea that she might be dead. But those are some of the most glorious words I have ever heard). At that moment I could hear her screaming. I told Joseph to get her and hold her. He was having a really hard time with the buckles on the car seat. I was able to reach the car seat and lift it some so he could reach the buckles better but he was still having a hard time. At this point Joseph opened his door and light filled the car from the light on the roof that was actually on the ground at this point. I remember trying to open my doors but it was stuck on both sides. I accidently hit the horn a couple times so Joseph thought someone was right outside and starting rejoicing that there was someone here to help up us. I told him to go outside of the car to try to get a car to stop and help us. Some of the things I remember him yelling were -
"Help us Help us"
"We were in a wreck"
"Help us my mom is stuck"
"We need help please stop"
At this point I could see Gwen, still in her car seat, dangling down since it was still attached to the car with the seatbelt, screaming and kicking her chubbly little legs. *Let me tell you quickly my surroundings. The car roof had smashed down so much that it was touching the top of the seats. There was only a small gap between the two seats that I could reach my arms through to get to the kids. I was completely trapped in the car. I was however able to reach my arms through enough to unbuckle Gwen. I yelled for Joseph to come back into to car and had him grab Gwen from me. He put her in his lap and pulled a blanket on her. I started searching for my phone. I realized I was mostly sitting ontop of the windshield and as I was searching through things got my fingers cut up some. I finally found my phone and called 911. The operator came on and I told her that there was a wreck. She informed me that they had already received a call about it and thanks for calling. I quickly informed her that I was the one in the car wreck and was trapped in the car. She started asking me questions like, "how many are there in the the car?" "how old" "is anyone hurt" At that moment I starting realizing how much the back of my neck hurt. When I told her she told me to stay still and not to move. Now anyone who knows me well will not be surprise to hear I had been moving around my space that whole time but right then I held as still as I could.
Around this time a lady came to Joseph's door. She asked if everyone is okay and told me she had already called 911. She asked if she could take the kids out to keep them warm. She took both kids and a man showed up through the same door trying to see what I needed. I told him my neck hurt and I couldn't get out of the car. He soon had the front passenger door open and was trying to figure out how to get me out. The operator told me to tell him not to move me or touch my neck. The sweet lady who took the kids came back to let me know they were okay and warming up. I asked her to call Jeremiah to let him know what happened. I gave her his number and she made the call. Jeremiah said the conversation went something like this.
"Hi you don't know me but your wife and kids were in a car accident. The car rolled. They are all okay but your wife is trapped in the car" Poor Jeremiah...
She came back to let me know she made the call. I saw Joseph's spiderman blanket laying in the back seat. I asked her to bring it to him because it would help him stay calm. That is the last I saw of her. I want to see if I can find her number on Jeremiah's phone so I can thank her for taking care of my kids.
Soon after while this nice guy was trying to keep my comfortable while waiting I got disconnecting with the operator. I took this moment to call Jeremiah. I told him the kids were okay, my neck hurt and I was stuck in the car still. I also told him I was so sorry. I hated the idea that he was so worried and couldn't do anthing about it. I asked him to call our parents and tell them to start praying for us. I have a strong testimony of the power of prayer. We told each other we loved one another and then hung up so he could start calling the family.
A lot of this next part is kind of all muttled to me. I remember some paramedics coming into the car. They kept telling me not to move. But again its me. So I moved my legs around to get more comfortable and cut me feet up while doing it (I had taken my shoes off while driving and some how lost my sock when we wrecked). They tried getting at me at all angles. One guy took out the back window and climbed into the back seat. They tried lifting the car and pushing the roof down. They talked about cutting the car open just to get a neck brace on me before they tried moving me at all. I heard one guy say "she is moving around a lot (tee hee) I think we can drag her foward enought to put on a brace then drag her the rest of the way". So they dragged me enough to put on the brace. Then I had to wait for them to get a board into place to drag me ontop of. While waiting I started grabbing things I didn't want left in the car and stared stuffing them into my purse. I remember grabbing my car keys out of the ignition and throwing them into my purse but I still can't find them. As they dragged me by me feet out of the car and onto the board I made sure they knew to grab my purse and coat. When they put me on the board I realized how cold it was and started shaking. They got blankets on me and started strapping me down. They then lifted me onto a gurney. I tried turning my head so I could see what the car looked like but was unable to do so.
They then got me into the ambulence. I was informed that the kids were okay and were going to be riding in another ambulence. I asked them to let Joseph call Jeremiah so Jeremiah could let him know I was okay and everything would be alright. They said they would. I guess the tried once but coudn't get through. The rest of the trip was not too eventful. I kept almost throwing up and they gave me meds for that. I kept trying to have a conversation and joke around with the 3 men in the back of the ambulence, but they were not to good at it. Oh well.
The hospital was somewhat fun. They needed to get my clothes off for x-rays so they asked how attached I was with my sweater. The sweet nurse explained that the neck brace and IV were in the way. So I said "go on and cut it". Then I was asked how much I was attached to my bra. I said " I really need a new one" I got to keep both as souvenirs. I was given some morphine for the pain. That made me want to puke. The police officer came and aked me lots of questions. Then I had LOTS of x-rays done. While all this was going on Joseph was put up in a hospital bed to watch the Disney Channel and drink all the juice he could ask for. And sweet Gwen was being passed around and loved up by all the nurses. All the x-rays came back good and they took off my neck brace. They let me hug Gwen and had me walk to another room. Which made me very dizzy and sick to my stomach. After sometime I went and visited Joseph (he would not leave the comfort of his "hotel room"). He was a snug as a bug in a rug. Since everything was fine I was released from the hospital but I had nowhere to go. I ended up taking a taxi to my Aunt Bev and Uncle Les Clawson's house. I arrived there around 3 am. I felt so blessed to be there. They gave us some hot cocoa and sent us off to bed.
Some things I learned/realized after the wreck. Jeremiah's cousin Brad went and cleaned out our car and took pictures of the car for us. He is a Highway Patrol man in SLC and he told me he has seen many wrecks like ours and is suprised that I am alive. They way the roof is caved in on the driver side I should've had my head cracked open. After Brad told me this I remember when I hit the side of the road and realized I was about to roll I tucked down. Brad said that little action saved my life. I'm glad to be here.
Next is how proud I am of Joseph. He is such a brave kid. He was completely calm and collected durning the whole ordeal. Josph has had money eye exam, shots, eye drops, pills, and surgerys. He is a little Hero and Heavenly Father has sent him to this earth for some big work. I am very lucky to be his mother.
When you look at the pictures of the car you will notice the one spot in the back that is not caved in. That is where Joseph and Gwen were sitting. They both walked away from this wreck without a scratch or a bruise.
Heavenly Father had so many little tender mercy's that happened in this wreck. I tried talking some of the olders kids to make the trip with us. They all decided not to come and I am so glad they didn't because they would have been hurt. Joseph usually sits up front on these trips but because Gwen came he decided to sit back by her. I took my shoes off while driving. When I was getting out of my seat it was so tight that my one sock that was still on got pulled off when pulling my legs out. I am sure there are many more that I don't remember at this time and/or that I don't realize.
While at the hospital the Bishop of that area came and gave be a blessing. In the blessing he said we would be able to accomplish the task that we made the trip for. My unlce Les was kind enough to get us to Joseph's eye appointment. His eyes are making progress and doing better then they were last time.
My mom was so generous and got us plane tickets home. But we had many other family and friends offering us ways home. We got home late December 23rd. It is so good to be home.
***I forgot to add one very important thing. After the accident I got the best Christmas gift ever. LOVE. I felt so much love from my Family and Friends. I will always cherish that feeling
