(This is not the actual accident)I am not even sure why I am blogging about this. Probably because I have seen this so many damn times it makes me so angry and breaks my heart all at the same time.
We were running late for school this morning. Which, for us, is still 15 minutes early for the school bell. While crossing with the guard we heard a car accident. A small screech of tires and a huge BANG! All my kids looked right to me and I said, "yeah, that was an accident, not the near misses we always hear!"
I took the kiddos to school and started to walk home. I saw the wreck right at the main entrance to our sub-divison and my neighbor was already there. I walked over because there were way too many kids there for it to not be chaotic. When I got there I saw one of the women from our school and knew she had been involved. She came up to me so I asked if she needed anything, and if she was alright. Typical things. That was when I saw her son. She told me he was not belted in and was sitting in the front seat at the time of the accident. Then she asked me if she had to tell the police that. Damn it! Her air bags had deployed and he had basically become a projectile at what looked like, a 40 mile per hour impact.
This poor little guy was crying and walking in cricles, aimlessly. I laid him down and started whispering to him so he would slow his breathing down. He was bleeding from his little mouth and scared to death. We talked about his teacher and the firemen that were coming to help him and his kindergarten class. My heart hurt for this little guy.
I am sure his arm is broken and his sternum crushed, if not crushed, he at least has broken ribs. I prayed right there it was not worse, he was going into shock as I laid with him and tried to calm him down.
SIX. He is SIX! He was lucky he did not go through the windshield. He was whispering to me how bad his little tummy hurt and when I raised up his shirt I saw the black bruises that had already formed. The paramedic that was sitting beside me told me right there how worried he was about the pain and markings. I knew the minute I saw them he was a level 1 trauma by injury, and that is not good. Hopefully no internal bleeding. I had to hold back tears for this little guy. That was when I got mad and had to leave the scene. I took their backpacks to school so I wouldn't say something incredibly horrible right there. The female cop on scene was already angry. I heard it in her voice as she kept asking about seatbelts.
They had to life-flight this sweet little guy outta there.
Come on people........ Put your friggen seatbelts on yourself and your children. At the very least, your children....... and put your kids in the backseat. I am sorry but children do not belong on your lap as you go and get the mail, or just running over to your friends three streets over, or if you are on your way to school and it is only a few minutes in the car.........and......... they don't belong in the front seat if they are under the proper age and weight ... if you don't know those numbers... your kids are too little to sit up front.
Two seconds of clicking the seatbelts could have spared this little guy a lot of pain.
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6 Lightbulb moments:
Oh, man! I just would rather not know who this was. Ever. I doubt that will be a luxury that I get to keep, but still... I never heard the crash (1/2 deaf, remember), but I heard the sirens. Even with the sirens, I didn't know this was in my backyard until the choppers showed up. By then, there was a tow truck... so it wasn't that fast that I figured it out. To be honest, we are so used to hearing sirens (since we back up to Higley) that they don't even phase me anymore. This is so sad...
Until they are 4'9" tall they need to be in a booster seat. It's not the law just recommendation by NHTSA. Follow these guidelines and your kids will more than likely survive any crash. All kids under 12 unless the are bigger than a 12 year old should ride in the back seat. Everything in the back seat and forward is soft. Everything in the front seat and forward is hard...common sense!!!! Think of it this way if you love your kids follow these guidelines.....people always think "that'll never happen to me" guess what....it happens to everyone!!!! I've heard people say "my kid doesn't like riding in a car seat or seatbelt" Hello who is the parent??? REALLY!!!! Once they are in the habit of doing it, it becomes second nature and they actually don't like not being in their seat once they are old enough not to ride in one anymore. I know this is long winded but one last thing about the front seat example-(you are traveling at 30mph and the airbag comes out of the dash at 200-250mph and is rock hard and burning hot from the gun powder used to deploy it, not to mention it's canvass like surface (very abrasive) That is a 230-280 mph impact if not wearing a seatbelt..most adults don't escape serious injury if they are not seatbelted in these impacts why would one think a child would fair any better.....You are your childs best example "BUCKLE UP" It's not only the law but it will save your life........
Sad! That must of been so hard and scary to see! Thank you for the reminder! As a Parent I need to hear things like this so it can help me get better, and be more strict with my children cause I love them to DEATH!
ps. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY DEANNA! You really are the best mom! I am so lucky to know you! Love ya girly
I had heard there was an accident, but had heard NO details. What a scary and very sad lesson to learn. Hopefully he is ok, have you heard??
I saw that accident scene that morning when I was on my way to the gym...praying nobody got hurt. That's why I'm so strict about my kids always being in seatbelts, carseats, etc...even when our destination is only a few streets down. My kids know right when they get in that they buckle up and I'll never change my mind. My other pet peeve- people riding on the street in the back of trucks...that really gets me going.
Man, that makes me mad too. And very sad. I'm a seatbelt freak wit my kids. Even if we are just crossing the street I make them buckle. When I was a teen, I had a firefighter friend show me his textbooks with all the horrific accidents and injuries and from then on I've always been serious about seatbelts. It sounds like you were just the right person to show up and help that little boy calm down. I'm glad he's okay now.
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