They say all good things must come to an end…and this weekend a five year friendship ended in one fatal moment.
It started off as a beautiful overcast Sat. I had headed out to the Uni to help with freshman move in. A bit later I went to meet one of my dearest friends for some thrift shopping and lunch.
We found an awesome table for her new house and hauled it home to my dad’s workshop so we can start restoring it this week :) thank you to Lowe’s for a great new colored stain for the top.
After dropping the table off we were making our way back to L’s house when a taxi, not paying attention, almost side swiped us into a telephone pole. After much eeeeking and wheeeeewing, we careful made it the rest of the way to her house.
I left L’s house on my way home. I was a little over halfway home when a lady decided to pull out in front of me turning left. Unfortunately, there was no option to pull right or left because there were vehicles in both lanes and we collided. In that moment, I lost my best friend.
Koda has been my girl for 5 1/2 years. This was the second time she saved my life but unfortunately it cost us hers. I’d like to pause briefly and say thank you to the men and women who work at Dodge and built her. Your craftsmanship saved my life. If I had been driving my sister’s car, I would have been most certainly hurt worse than I am. I remembering thinking oh no, I’m going to hit her and then the world went black. I woke up to smoke and paralyzing fear because I couldn’t move. Both air bags deployed correctly and saved me from hitting the steering wheel. I must admit that while I am thankful for them, deploying air bags are quite scary and hot. My arm and neck were singed by the air bag. When I finally looked up all I saw was the underside of her car. I couldn’t breathe and I knew there was the possibility my truck could be on fire. I pushed and pushed on the driver door until it opened and I fell out.
I fell on the ground where I sat to catch my breath. My leg was on fire and I was screaming in pain. All I could see was broken glass and toys scattered everywhere. My heart stopped and I prayed a child hadn’t been injured. I managed to crawl over to the other vehicle and ask if the children were hurt. They were safe someone said and I tried to get back to my truck to get my phone. I desperately tried to call 9-1-1 but my fingers and brain weren’t working together. My ears were ringing which threw me off a bit. I called the accident in & took me three tries to get it dialed. After talking with dispatch, I resumed sitting on the ground as I was still a bit dazed and shaking. I’m always amazed at how God works in my life. I hadn’t been sitting there two minutes when a coworker and dear friend ran up. She took my phone and called my parents for me as I still was in shock and couldn’t really verbalize my thoughts. She found my license and registration for the officer and didn’t leave my side until my parents arrived. You have no idea how comforting that was. I am terrified of paramedics. I had a bad experience with one as a sophomore in college and ever since then it’s been a bit challenging to not get freaked out by them. She talked to me, rubbed my back and checked my arm. She was so encouraging and helpful. I’m so thankful she choose to stop. I began to cry and she realized something was wrong. The paramedic tried to examine me but I was terrified of him. I remember asking him to get me an ice pack because my arm was on fire and thankfully a nurse who had stopped walked over and bandaged my arm for me.
I sustained a sever injury to my left ankle and a tear in my IT band, laceration to my arm, air bag singe and a good little whiplash. My mom took me to the ER to get checked out (she was concerned about a concussion) and I must say I received fabulous care at McLeod Hospital. They have quite the reputation for being a caring hospital and they showed it Sat. I was warmly greeted and within 6 minutes I was taken back to be seen. The FNP who treated me was amazing. She put me right at ease and genuinely listened to me. She wasn’t in a hurry and thoroughly checked my injuries. The nurse, Tyler, that took my vitals is a soon to be a grad at my Alma Matter and I recognized him right away. He did a great job Dr. W-P! My attending nurse was hilarious :) It hurt to laugh but she kept me smiling the entire time I was there. She even got me wheeled to the bathroom so I didn’t have to hop :)
It hurt my heart to walk/hop outside today and not see my faithful friend sitting in the driveway. We have been so many cool places, helped every best friend move this summer, and had plans to get her all geared up for winter. But all good trails come to an end. So to the best truck I ever had…thanks for keeping me safe Koda :) RIP
Adventures with Kat 