Tragic accident.............

As a cops writer, I always seemed to be out of town or off duty when bad things happened in my town. There was a fatal shooting and I was in Kansas City visiting family. There were several fatal car accidents at 3 a.m. and I wasn't notified until the next morning. I got lucky while I was writing the cops beat. When I was driving back to Missouri for Thanksgiving, however, I was not as lucky. We got stuck in traffic outside a major metro. Drove past the scene and there was a dead body still in the vehicle. No one was working real fast to get the person out of the car. It was probably one of the most disturbing moments I've ever had.

Until I started my current job and started hearing what some of the kids have gone through to get them to the residential facility they're in. Those stories are horrifying.

 

Early in my career, I was a volunteer fireman. Between that and covering the cop beat, I saw some pretty fucked-up shit.

Hang in there, Chef. You won't ever forget it, but you'll get over it.

 

I know of at least 3 people who got out of news shooting (TV and print) after 9/11.
How you news guys do it sometimes...you are much stronger than a lot of us.

 

We used to joke that I couldn't have a soul and work the cops beat because I saw some pretty horific things. Also, cops beat reporters get 99 percent of the angry phone calls (much like sports writers and/or editors) because we printed that someone got arrested for meth or had their children taken away for abuse. I got angry phone calls when I would print anyone getting a DUI. It's probably the best job to develop a thick skin, though.

 

Several years ago, I interviewed a smalltown funeral director for a feature story. He also operated an ambulance service, and I remember him saying that he could remember something terrible happening just about everywhere he went. He said he had transported someone from almost every house in town at some point.

Several months before that interview, I came into a small newspaper office in the morning. I was an intern, and I found a note on my desk asking me to do a story on a fatal auto crash. I walked over to the sheriff's office across the street and snagged the accident report. The officer that filled out the forms goofed and put two of the survivors in the wrong vehicle. It seemed sort of odd that the driver died in the crash while two passengers didn't suffer any injuries, so I asked around the office to see if anyone knew more. A guy from the pressroom said the car was awfully banged up for somebody to escape with no injuries. He said he saw photos and pointed me toward them. I picked up a stack of pics and started thumbing through them. When I hit about the sixth photo, I nearly vomited. The first several just showed the car. Then there was a photo of the driver from above his head. I only looked long enough to recognize that the femur on his right leg was jutting through his bloody jeans at about the midway point. That haunted me for days, and I still cringe when I think about it. I had to drive past the site of the accident that evening, and I had to grip the wall awfully tight. And the thing about it was that it didn't seem like the sort of thing that you could just explain to a friend. I mean, it's somebody I don't even know.

But I'll admit that I'm a bit of a wimp. I don't know how many times I just had to stop talking because I was about to cry during an interview. I recall it happening while interviewing a guy who had a kidney transplant. I think part of it is that I just don't prepare myself for the reality. It's just another story, just just more questions. When I actually start to ask the questions, though, it suddenly hits me that I'm talking to someone who was nearly dead, somebody who appreciates life so much more than other folks.

And I think that's really all you can do with a traumatic experience such as this one, Chef. You just file that memory away and try to remember that life is precious. It's something that we all need to be reminded of from time to time. I think it keeps us grounded between the trips to the riverboat casino and the marital spats over who forgot to record so-and-so television program. It's going to affect you, and it really should. But turn that negative energy into positive energy by re-dedicating yourself to living and spending time with those who mean the most to you. After all, that's what this season is all about.

 

Chef,
I can tell you from experience that it is tough to get an image like that out of your head but it will get better.

I covered a high school game one Friday night a few years ago and was supposed to go home after I was done with my story because I had to cover a college game on Saturday. But I had to help in the office because the SE didnt get a stringer to cover one of our flagship high schools I was trying to find any kind of info.

I was pissed when I left the office at midnight, as I started my hour-long commute home. When I was about halfway home I saw a line of cars on the side of the interstate. I thought there had been an accident, so I slowed down and was going to stop and help. When I glanced back to the road way I saw something in the road and ran over it. It was a woman that had already been hit by a car and an 18-wheeler. I was hoping it was a deer, but i knew it didnt look like it. I pulled over, and a college girl pulled over by me. She asked me if I saw the bodies. I said, ‘Yeah, I hit one.’ As you can figure, the site was gruesome. There was also a man that was knocked off the other shoulder. People were trying to give him CPR. Soon after the EMTS came and pronounced him dead. I couldnt believe I was seeing the put the white sheet over him like they do on TV.

I had to stick around for nearly two hours and give a statement. The trooper looked at my car to make sure it wasnt damaged and let me go. He told me to talk to a preacher or someone if I had any adverse affects from the experience. I drove the rest of the way home very paranoid and upset. My wife was there when I got home, and we sat up and talked. I had a couple of different nightmares. I had to cover the college game the next day, and I have never been less excited about a football game in my career. Plus, two jerkoffs went off on me in the press box for no reason. I restrained my self from ripping their heads off. That night I apprehensively drove the same road, and I was fine. A couple of days later I felt a lot better. I head on the news that the couple was in the middle of the interstate for some reason.

Hang in there Chef and happy holidays. PM me if you want to talk about it.

 

Wow ... I had to re-read that graf several times. Holy cow. You just ran over the woman and didn't realize it? Wow.

That graf alone will give me some nightmares. Man ... sorry you had to go through that.

And Chef ... sorry to hear about your experience. Go home and call your parents or a loved one and tell them you love 'em.

 

To everyone who responded on here.........Thank You all very much.........means more than you'll ever know.

It has been very interesting to me how various people deal with circumstances like this.

Now, if the night crew gives its permission, I will now attempt to get some sleep........but it probably won't happen.

Thanks again everybody.

 

Good night, Chef. Sorry for your experience.

 

I've seen more than my share of awful things.
My best advice is tomorrow, at some point, maybe a staff meeting, have everyone there talk about the experience. Don't keep it inside, let some of it out.
I wouldn't, for one, try to drown the memory with alcohol. Talk with your coworkers who were there, talk to friends about it as well. Posting here was a good idea as well.
You'll be fine.

 

Hang in there, Chef.

 

Chef...deep breath and hug somebody you care about.

Life is never fair and I have a hard time understanding why bad things happen to good people. It also reminds me that we learn so much more about the human psyche in times of tragedy. Too bad we can't seem to learn those same lessons in times of triumph.