Near my house is a huge turn that people seem to think is an adrenaline challenge. They tend to go through the stop sign instead of stopping, and speed through at 60+mph. One day, I was working from home and heard a loud crash, and then a woman's voice screaming, "Help us! Help! My god, my children! My Children! Someone, please!".
I have never ran so fast in my life. I didn't have time to grab my phone or put my shoes on. I ran through my yard, to the curve in the street. Then I saw the wreck. The woman was exiting her car, covered in blood. The car was still in the middle of the road, but turned facing opposite traffic, so it was a rush to get her children out before another car came around the bend. Her entire front and side of her car was unhinged and dangling. The huge truck that had hit her was in the ditch, but was upright. I was the first there, but immediately after, a man stopped his car to attend to the man in the truck, and I could hear him screaming, "Oh god, oh god, oh god".
I ran to the woman getting out of her car, as she grabbed me. She was shaking and crying for help, trying to pull her children out of the car on the driver's side. Her oldest children were wailing, but her baby was silent. She begged me to get him and look him over. I pulled him gingerly from his baby's seat, but his nose was pouring blood. His eyes were open wide, pupils huge, and he wasn't making a sound. I checked for a pulse, and breath sounds. He was alive, but in complete shock. I held him gently against my chest on his side, to keep the blood from choking him. His sister had cuts and bruises forming all over her arms, legs and head, but gladly she didn't look to have any broken bones. The brother's arm looked broken, and was twisted, and his head was covered in blood. He wouldn't stop screaming.
There is a donut shop nearby, so I told another onlooker to go grab ice and clean towels for the children. Another person was already on the phone with 911. Holding the baby, I helped them across the street into the grass to get out of the road until the ambulance came. More people stopped to help, looking over the woman and little girl, as I wrapped the children's wounds in the clean towels to try to stop the bleeding. The mother was in so much shock, she was just sitting there stroking her daughter's hair sobbing, while I stood next to her holding her baby. Her son was burying his face into my side sobbing and screaming in pain. Thankfully, the ambulances and fire truck weren't long. They took the baby from me and looked the children over, then looked over the mom. They placed them on stretchers, and drove away. The man in the large truck didn't seem to be hurt, but was visibly shaken. He was crouched down in the grass throwing up and sobbing. He didn't look older than 20. The police officer, questioned me, but sent me home when he found that I didn't witness the wreck itself.
I still have no idea if that woman or her children were okay, or what happened to them once they left. I went home covered in their blood, and wept in the shower. I think about them every time I hear someone's tires screech around the corner, and I wince.
