By: Conner Williams Editor in Chief
I had an interesting start to my winter break. I decided to go and spend some time with one of my good friends whom lives just south of Seattle, as well as my older sister whom is in the same area.
I packed up some stuff to last me about a week and took off early in the morning so as to try and avoid traffic on I-5. It was a particularly nasty rainy Sunday as I made my way up the interstate and into Washington state.
Just as I passed Kelso, my Ford Ranger hit a deep patch of standing water in the middle lane and began to hydroplane. I had experienced the feeling before, so I let off the gas and attempted to slowly steer out of the water.
As I did so, my truck began to turn sideways, eventually coming to the edge of the roadway, where it caught the lip of the grass and forced all of the momentum forward as my truck flipped twice. I landed upright in the center medium between the north and southbound lanes in a squishy patch of deep grass and mud, which probably softened the impact significantly.
My truck was ruined; the entire passenger side was caved in, and I am thankful that I did not have someone with me, for this story would be told with a much more somber tone.
My backpack containing my computer and many of my work and school supplies was thrown from the vehicle, but miraculously, it was all unharmed.
As I came to my senses, I flexed all of my muscles and felt around my body: I was unscathed. Literally, I did not have a scratch on me, nor was anything broken or strained or bruised. I somehow managed to keep my body in a tight position and stop my head from crashing into my window, probably thanks to years of training that have given me a strong neck and torso.
I was able to open my door and get out, at which point I could feel myself going into shock. It’s a strange, uncontrollable human reflex, and I hope none of you reading this ever have to experience it if you haven’t before. The paramedics and police arrived shortly, at which point I refused an ambulance ride due to the fact that I can’t really afford a $1,000 bill for it.
When it all happened, a woman in a Ford F-350 truck had stopped in the emergency lane to check on me.
This was probably one of the kindest, most thoughtful and selfless person I have ever met in my life. After I had dealt with the patrol officer and was given my citation (that was just the cherry on top of an already perfect morning), this woman offered to take me back to town so that I could wait for my parents to come and get me.
She had willingly missed more than half of her church’s service, so I told her that I would be more than happy to wait at her church so that she could be there for at least some of mass.
The people that I met were extremely generous and kind to me; I was greeted with a hot meal, coffee, and given a giant fruit basket to take home. I did all I could to say thank you by moving in about a dozen hay bails that were to be used for a nativity scene.
The woman then took me into town where we waited at a McDonald’s until my parents arrived shortly after.
While this incident was one of the most unfortunate experiences I’ve gone through, I did learn something about the human race. I met one of the most thoughtful people that I had ever known. She could have simply kept driving and said, “That sucks, not my problem,” but she decided to stop and help out someone in need.
I will be forever grateful for her sense of generosity and good nature that day. She made a bad situation a little bit better by showing me some basic compassion, something that if more people gave to one another, we might be living in a better world.
In the future, if I ever see something like that happen or if I come across someone on the side of the road, I will stop and show them the same courtesy that I was shown earlier in my life. A little bit of kindness goes a long way.
