By Cheryl Carlson
Jordan and Bailey |
On a bitterly cold morning in January 2013, I was on my way to
work deep in my own thoughts about what the day would have in store for me.
Little did I know that tragedy had already struck our family. My cell phone
rang and my grandson, Wyatt, was calling to tell me that his sisters had just
had a bad accident on their way to school. He was panicked and crying and I
could barely understand what he was telling me. He said, “Grandma it’s bad,
really bad.”
I drove directly to the accident site where other family members, police, ambulance and EMS had already arrived. As I approached the mangled remains of their Jeep Liberty I experienced the most intense fear I had ever known. I saw our two sons and Wyatt all standing together and crying. Our Sheriff, Greg Riat, came over to me and gave me a big hug and encouraged me not to worry, that they would get the girls out. At that point I really didn’t even know if they were alive.
They had been wearing their seat belts but they didn’t end up in them. The force of the accident must have pulled them up and out of their seats because their seat covers had also been pulled off. But hopefully that’s what kept them in the vehicle. They had both been thrown into the back storage area of the Jeep and Jordan (age 15) was wedged into that small area on top of her sister, Bailey (age 9). There was no movement as the EMS personnel and other emergency workers frantically worked to free them. The “Jaws of Life” finally succeeded in getting the roof cut through enough to get Jordan out. She wasn’t fully conscious but thankfully was alive and in a great deal of pain.
Bailey in a body shell brace |
Oh my, What a touching story! Thanks for sharing and thank goodness your granddaughters are doing well!
ReplyDeleteWhat a frightening thing to experience in person. I can't imagine that. So glad they are doing great.
ReplyDelete