(Disclaimer: This is my perspective of our accident, there were some discussions during and after with each other, but I do not claim that these were the thoughts or views of any of my party.)
I love going to our stake's (Church) sport's activity night on Thursdays to play volleyball. I'm not nearly as good as most of the people that play, but I love it and I think I get better each time. I usually get to carpool with my friend Sue, who is a great volleyball player -she's even coached the sport once upon a time. The games start at 9pm and we usually end up staying the whole time until around 11/11:30pm or whenever everyone has had enough. (I know it's pretty late, but Dan encourages it because he also enjoys the quiet time to himself.)
On this particular night, being the week before Christmas, Sue's older children were home from college for the holidays and wanted to go with us. Sue chose to drive us in her 15-passenger van, Clifford, while I was shotgun with Tiffany and Ben in the next row back.
When volleyball was over, we left the stake center around 11:30pm and it was cold! All day long the weather couldn't make up it's mind between rain and snow, but it had pretty much stopped once we were through with volleyball. I wasn't thinking much about the cold, I was just grateful that I would be in a warm vehicle on the drive home - I usually wear shorts to v.b. because it gets too warm while playing, but I still bring a jacket.
On our drive home on the freeway, we drove in a loop (if you've driven in MI, they're everywhere!) to merge onto the freeway that leads to home. While on a section of overpass in the loop, the van hit a patch of black ice (all the roads had been looking really clear up till now). Sue was very expertly trying to correct our back and forth sliding while Ben was calm and reassuring Sue that all was ok and that she was doing great. There were no other cars directly around us at this moment. I was a bit frozen in my place (not the cold kind); I had never slid this much in a car before, especially on an overpass. I was a little nervous, but I wasn't afraid. It seemed as though Sue had corrected the sliding and then I think the tires must have hit another patch of black ice because all at once the huge van started turning circles. In my head I remember shouting/screaming - but I don't think there were any noises going on vocally. All of a sudden, Clifford (the big red van) thwumpped the whole driver's side of the van against the cement guard railing on the right lane shoulder, which stopped us instantly. Being in a top-heavy van, I am very grateful that we didn't roll over which apparently is common in vans of this size. The only problem was that now we were facing oncoming traffic. Everything was going in slow motion! I saw several other cars hit the black ice, one in particular. A larger car (one of those older, non-compact, sturdy metal bumper kind of cars) starting turning circles heading our way. It was crazy scary now. I kept thinking that we had to get out of there or they were going to smash into us. We seemed to be sitting ducks. Thankfully those cars were able to correct their spinning and there were no more cars coming. We decided to try to get out of our current predicament. We were at the end of the overpass by now and there were grass ditches behind us on the sides. Since there were no cars coming, we thought it best to try to make a sort of u-turn to get back on the freeway going the correct way. But we were in a large 15-passenger van! There are no easy u-turns. We were able to drive the front part of the van into the grassy area, but the rear was still sticking a bit into the left lane of traffic. That's when we saw a lone car coming. I knew to get out of this new predicament we would have to go in reverse and then we could line up with the road again. We would have to wait until the car passed us to move though. So we waited. The right lane of traffic was open and it looked as if the oncoming car was in that lane and would proceed to pass us. Then the lights kept pointing at us as the new car (an Impala I think) started to slide, right for us. At this point I knew we were going to get hit. Even now I still feel that anxious feeling when I think about it. There was nothing for us to do, nowhere to go, but sit and wait for the impact, and of course it was all in slow-motion (it seemed). I know that I grabbed the door rest and shouted something that I won't repeat (in my head I was going to shout "NO" but I heard my lips shout something else that I had to apologize for later - I promise I really don't speak like that normally!). And then the impact came. It was a tremendous jolt that really shook us! The whole passenger's broad side of the other car rammed into the broad side of our driver's side. Again, we were very blessed that the whole van didn't get rolled over. I think I was in a little bit of shock because it took a moment to catch my wits and look around and make sure everyone else was ok. We seemed ok. No unconscious people or bloody gashes that we could see and we could all respond. The only think that stood out on me was a burning by my knee. Upon investigation, it appeared as if a water bottle flew at my leg and scraped the side of my knee. Sue tried rolling her window down and made sure the woman in the other car was ok, she was. We sat there a moment before someone had the thought that we should call 911. My pockets were empty, I left my phone at home (it seems the 2 accidents I've been in where a phone would have been helpful were the times that I forgot mine). Tiffany had her phone and called 911 to tell them what happened, then I used her phone to call Dan to tell him what happened and that I'd be home later than planned. By this time several cars stopped ahead and were coming to check if everyone was ok. At this moment I realized that windows had been broken along the driver's side too and there was glass everywhere. We were just sitting there in shock, I think. A man asked if we were ok and then suggested that we get out of the van and into the grass ditch behind the guard rail to be safer. We were kind of like, ya, I guess that would be safer in case another car decided to hit us. By this time there was more traffic. We got out and went to a safe spot on the frozen tall grass. By then, a cop had come and Sue was busy with him and the other driver taking care of details. Tiffany, Ben, and I were standing, shivering (remember I'm in shorts), and talking about what happened. All of a sudden Tiffany got a confused look on her face and asked, "What are we doing here? What just happened?" I thought she was joking around at first to lighten the mood, but she really couldn't remember. She remembered volleyball and leaving, but she couldn't remember any part of the accident and kept asking what happened. I thought that was weird because she made the 911 call and I remember her telling them exactly what happened. Ben and I got Sue and told her what was going on. Sue took Tiffany into the newly arrived ambulance to get checked out. Nothing seemed wrong, no cuts to the head, a concussion or anything. They let her go because she didn't need further medical attention. To this day she can't really remember the specifics, just what we retold her. Although, she remembers me apologizing for swearing and herself calling 911. Weird. When I later saw the van, I think she must have hit her head on the window. That window wasn't completely knocked out like the one behind it, there was just a circular hole bowing outward where her head level would have been. I'm glad she wasn't hurt more seriously. I'm grateful all of us weren't hurt more seriously!
The cop that was sent to us could see how improperly dressed we were for the weather and told Ben and I (Sue and Tiffany were in the back of the ambulance) that we could get warm in the squad car that was parked in the left lane of traffic. I was glad to go. Until I realized how in the way his car was. As we climbed into the tiny back seat (which was so small I compared it with a coffin and was made of HORRIBLY uncomfortable plastic!) I told Ben that I hoped we didn't get hit while in the cop car too. To my relief a fire service truck parked behind us making it a little harder for a direct hit. Then the cop stated that there are so many accounts of cop cars getting hit while stopped for accidents. Great! Thanks for the comforting words! After a bit, Ben waited outside with a blanket while Sue, Tiffany, and I squished into the backseat. It was a relief when Pres. Draut (Sue's husband and my Branch President - church leader) showed up to take us home, we weren't sure if the squad car could take all of us.
I was so grateful to get home. I just hugged Dan and cried. I was so grateful that we were all in one piece and that our families didn't have to go through the upcoming Christmas or life without us.
As the days unfolded, we saw many miracles the Lord was giving to us. I guess while Pres. Draut was talking to the cop, the cop told him that this kind of impact should have killed or seriously injured us. Because we were in the van, we were higher up than normal cars and with a steel frame that protected us enormously. I hate to think that if I drove either of our cars, or if Sue chose to drive their pick-up that we could have all died or been seriously injured. Another tender mercy was that Dan and I have felt that another child is ready to come to our family, but I kept having the feeling that the time wasn't right just yet. Now I know why. I'm glad that we didn't have a possible complication with pregnancy either.
The results:
-The van was totalled. The insurance company couldn't even get the key in the ignition to find out how many miles were on it because the steering column was too bent.
-There is a Clifford sized red mark on the overpass concrete guard rail from the 127 heading to the 69.
-We all walked away with sore bodies and muscles ( I really know the expression "I feel like I've been hit by a truck" now!), a wrenched back, sore heads (Tiffany and Ben crashed heads as well), and lots of bruises. But the miracle is that we walked away!
My nice bruise from the seatbelt buckle. It looked worse at one time, but this is the only picture I took.
Poor Clifford!
There is a time and reason for everything. The Lord has a plan for us. I don't know why we had that accident but I know it was supposed to happen. I'm so grateful that Sue was driving and that she chose the van to drive in this night. She drove with a confidence that will take me years to gain. She helped us to be survivors. I will be forever grateful. I'm sorry that her van had suffer. Hopefully her family will be blessed with another car that can meet their needs. If anything, I've learned to be grateful for all that I have, especially my family and friends.
