Monday morning of August 22, 2016, only two weeks after starting my first day of
highschool. I opened my eyes to the opening ringtone of my 5:30 a.m. alarm and immediately silenced it because I thought I could take a quick power nap before my real alarm went off. I told myself, “just a couple more minutes wouldn’t hurt” as I shut my eyes again to sleep. What felt like just a couple seconds before I opened my eyes again to check my phone was actually an hour. I slept through three more alarms, my 5:45a.m. to warn me that my real alarm is coming up, my real alarm at 6:00a.m. and my emergency 6:15a.m. alarm just in case I didn’t wake up to the other three. It was already 6:30 when I rushed out of bed to pick out my outfit for the day and set it on my desk. I then headed to the shower to hopefully start my day feeling refreshed and clean. I got out of the shower 10 minutes before 7:00, brushed my teeth, got dressed and managed to finish at about 7:00.
I rushed into my parents room to wake up my dad and tell him it was just about time to take me to school because my dad was usually the one to give me rides to school in the mornings. However, this morning he told me to ask my older brother if he would take me to school instead because he was feeling too tired and it is never a good idea to drive when you are feeling sleepy. So I did what my dad asked, rushed into my brother's room, woke him up and told
him he had to take me to school today because dad was too tired today. Little did I know, my
brother had just got back home at 6:00a.m. from a long night of partying and had only got about
an hour of sleep. Since he got home so late, he didn’t want to admit to my dad that he’d been out
all night so he agreed to take me to school despite having little to no sleep whatsoever.
We then got in my brother’s brand new 2016 Honda civic, buckled our seatbelts and started our journey to school. I sat there in my brother's car, plugged my headphones into my headphone jack, opened Spotify, and began listening to music to try and ease my mind and body from the stressful start of my morning. I was scrolling through music to try and find the perfect song on our drive as I often looked up to see how far we were from school. We were on Walnut st. going approximately 40mph while approaching a stop sign at Cherry ave. I assumed we would start slowing down because that is usually what you do when you start approaching a stop sign, so I looked back at my phone to find that song again.
A couple seconds later, I looked up again and we were closer to this stop sign and still no slowing down but even then I still wasn’t worried because I trusted that my brother would keep us safe. Looking down at my phone once again I began to realize that we should have started slowing down already so I immediately looked up at the road ahead one last time, looked at my brother and saw him with his head down because he had fallen asleep behind the wheel. My heart sank as I began to realize what was about to happen as we approached this oncoming traffic on a busy Monday morning and I braced for impact. Those few seconds before our car hit the other car, were the longest few seconds of my life. Within those few seconds, my entire life flashed before my eyes just like in the movies. Every good memory of my life from the moment I could remember was in the forefront of my mind as I could literally see in slow motion what
We then got in my brother’s brand new 2016 Honda civic, buckled our seatbelts and started our journey to school. I sat there in my brother's car, plugged my headphones into my headphone jack, opened Spotify, and began listening to music to try and ease my mind and body from the stressful start of my morning. I was scrolling through music to try and find the perfect song on our drive as I often looked up to see how far we were from school. We were on Walnut st. going approximately 40mph while approaching a stop sign at Cherry ave. I assumed we would start slowing down because that is usually what you do when you start approaching a stop sign, so I looked back at my phone to find that song again.
A couple seconds later, I looked up again and we were closer to this stop sign and still no slowing down but even then I still wasn’t worried because I trusted that my brother would keep us safe. Looking down at my phone once again I began to realize that we should have started slowing down already so I immediately looked up at the road ahead one last time, looked at my brother and saw him with his head down because he had fallen asleep behind the wheel. My heart sank as I began to realize what was about to happen as we approached this oncoming traffic on a busy Monday morning and I braced for impact. Those few seconds before our car hit the other car, were the longest few seconds of my life. Within those few seconds, my entire life flashed before my eyes just like in the movies. Every good memory of my life from the moment I could remember was in the forefront of my mind as I could literally see in slow motion what
was about to happen in front of me. All I remember thinking at that moment was “This is it. It’s
over for me”. Then at the very moment that our cars collided, the slow motion stopped, I heard
the loudest crash, and then everything went dark. That moment was only a couple seconds long,
but it felt like an eternity. I started to come to my senses but my vision was blurry and all I heard
was this constant ringing. Once my vision started to clear up, it was blurred again by the smoke
that started filling up the car and my lungs which made it hard to breathe. I immediately tried to
open my door to get out the car not even thinking that our car was sitting in the middle of a busy
street but my door was stuck and I couldn’t get out. I then tried to reach for my phone but my
phone had flown across the car and unplugged from my headphones when we crashed. People
who had stopped on the side of the road came to help me out the car and told me the police were
on their way. The police and ambulance arrived on the scene within a few minutes of me getting
out of the car and asked “Are you ok? Do you have any injuries?”. However the adrenaline that
coursed through my blood made it so I couldn’t feel the injuries that I had obtained from the
crash so I responded “No I think I’m ok”.
Thankfully me and the other individuals involved in the crash had only minor injuries and all walked out of the accident okay. I thank God everyday for protecting me in what I thought were my final moments. This event gave me a wake up call to realize the importance of life and how fast it can be taken away. I still remember the crash like it was yesterday and now that I drive myself, it has taught me not only to be safe when I drive but to make sure others are safe when they drive as well. To this day I still feel my heart sink into my stomach as I drive past that intersection but I will forever be grateful and blessed to be where I am today and to have been given the opportunity to grow into the person that I am today.
Thankfully me and the other individuals involved in the crash had only minor injuries and all walked out of the accident okay. I thank God everyday for protecting me in what I thought were my final moments. This event gave me a wake up call to realize the importance of life and how fast it can be taken away. I still remember the crash like it was yesterday and now that I drive myself, it has taught me not only to be safe when I drive but to make sure others are safe when they drive as well. To this day I still feel my heart sink into my stomach as I drive past that intersection but I will forever be grateful and blessed to be where I am today and to have been given the opportunity to grow into the person that I am today.
19 comments:
Car accidents are always scary and I personally have seen too many accidents wiping away entire families within seconds. They are valuable lessons to show the importance of being careful and vigilant while also demonstrating the fragility of life.
Including each detail about your morning before the accident really implemented a sense of normality. It made it seem like a normal "Monday morning", when in the horrible reality, it turned out to be one of your most unusual days. It's sad how something terrible has to happen to us as humans in our society to, as you wrote, give us a "wake up call" of how precious each day is. It's great how you turned a tragic and traumatizing event into something positive, something you use to be thankful for every moment you are given to live.
This is a really critical subject that sadly is true life is so fragile and millions take this fro-granted and just live as if they are never gonna lose some one or they them self lose their life thank you for talking about this subject.
I can totally relate to that feeling of your heart sinking whenever you drive to the scene of the incident because that's how I felt when I got into one. I like how you look into the bright side of this unfortunate event, that instead of being traumatized in driving, you took it as a wake up call to always be careful.
The entire incident is actually pretty scary. The way you detailed the entire scene and all occurrences is simply amazing. This also teaches you about how important life is and it is actually inspirational.
I never knew this about you and I am so sorry you had to go through this. The way you described the crash lasting only a few seconds but feeling like eternity made it easy to not only visualize but feel how it must have felt.
You explained the event so vividly I felt as if I was in your shoes. Car accidents are always frightening, especially for those involved in them. Your story is a reminder to everyone, not just drivers, that life is short and can come to a stop very suddenly. Thank you for sharing! - Aaron P
When you were describing the approach to the stop sign I felt your reliance and trust you had within your brother and that is what made this piece so captivating. My feeling of anxiety increased which each time you put your head down to your phone because I only figured the worst was coming. I am so glad you are safe and I am relieved to hear that you didn't take this as a reason to fear driving but rather be extra safe.
This story had me on the edge of my seat while reading! I honestly did not expect for the story to take a turn like that and I am very sorry for your scary experience! Car crashes are very traumatizing events and being able to share your story may be able to help others feel better about their similar situations as well. Great job!
This is a perfect example where the audience is able to figure out what is going to happen before the characters know it themselves. I could tell that this story was not going to be ordinary, and it really was not. The emotion you show when describing the events of that day really shows that you truly remember every second of that experience because it stayed in your mind like a flashbulb memory. Great story, and I'm sorry you had to go through such a traumatic experience! -Sofia Riccobelli
Reading this piece made me so nervous! The way you described in such vivid detail all the events that led up to the car crash as well as the way you felt your life flash before your eyes made me feel as if I were in your shoes. I love how even though this event was no doubt traumatizing, you turned it into a life lesson for not only yourself but to others on how important life truly is. Great job! - Isabel Quintanilla
Wow, I am so sorry that you had to go through such a traumatic event. I praise you for the strength and maturity that it must have taken to walk out of such a car accident. Your light-hearted tone kept me drawn to your story, and helped to make the plot twist even more impactful. It helps me to remind myself of the exact same thing that you learned, that every day is not promised, and our lives can be taken away from us so quickly. I also loved your use of diction, detail, imagery, especially at the time of the accident, which made the entire story very vivid, almost as if I was walking in your shoes. Overall, wonderful yet impactful piece.
-Julia Lozano
Car crashes are terrifying, I should know. It's honestly astounding that you were able to walk away from that with only minor injuries. The description of the event, especially the details, are really moving and show the total effect of the situation. Car crashes, especially one like this, are honestly scaring and it is amazing that you were able to overcome that trauma and pain when you started driving.
Car crashes are terrifying, I should know. It's honestly astounding that you were able to walk away from that with only minor injuries. The description of the event, especially the details, are really moving and show the total effect of the situation. Car crashes, especially one like this, are honestly scaring and it is amazing that you were able to overcome that trauma and pain when you started driving.
Dang dude that is honestly crazy and I'm glad to hear you are okay. Even from the start of the story it felt like it was going to turn out to be a baddddd morning bud. You wrote really well, weaving details into the story, allowing for the reader to be there with you, thinking the thoughts you did as your brother drove you to school
-Justin Lim
Dang dude that is honestly crazy and I'm glad to hear you are okay. Even from the start of the story it felt like it was going to turn out to be a baddddd morning bud. You wrote really well, weaving details into the story, allowing for the reader to be there with you, thinking the thoughts you did as your brother drove you to school
-Justin Lim
Truly amazing. The way you told your story from start to finish provided a feel of different emotions which helped make a connection to your piece. I also like how in the end you took away something positive from this horrible incident, learning to not take your life for granted. Overall, great piece and thank you for sharing your story.
This story left me chills, I already commented and it didn't show up so I'm rewriting it, but I've actually been thinking about this story for the past 2 days since. I think that it's these kind of moments that really shape us as people, and the writing is sooo well done. I don't know how, but before the crash, I knew it was going to happen. Excellent blog <3 ~Nathan Sandoval
This was very descriptive and I really felt like I was there. I am sorry you had to go through that but thank you for sharing. I hope you are always safe, great work keep it up - jaeyeon romero
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