Being an eyewitness to a fatality

[Drip]

Last night, I saw a two-car accident that killed one driver. I actually turned off the dead guy's engine and called for help.
To make a long story short, I had just passed the intersection only seconds before the accident. For some reason, I was looking at my rear-view mirror and saw the whole thing. The dead guy ran a red light.
The thought of seeing another human being mangled in a car haunted me all evening. And to give a statement to the police was also difficult. There was one other witness to the accident.
The whole ordeal put a lot of things in perspective for me. Love each other. Take the time to make a positive difference in someone's life. Pray, it does work.
Ordinarily, I joke around along the threads and put up with a lot of personal attacks. And I'm sure the usual ass clowns will come out in full force. That's cool. I just wanted to pass this sobering experience on to others.

 

[forever_town]

I came pretty close to seeing something like that happen myself. Someone just couldn't wait for a bus and drove smack into someone else.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but I suggest you go for some counseling. It may help you sort through some of the swirl of emotions I'm sure you're feeling.

 

[Drip]

I came pretty close to seeing something like that happen myself. Someone just couldn't wait for a bus and drove smack into someone else.

I'm not saying this to be mean, but I suggest you go for some counseling. It may help you sort through some of the swirl of emotions I'm sure you're feeling.

F_T Your suggestion isn't mean. I think I'll be all right. It is very unsettling because I could've been involved with the accident. God, a few seconds, and a green light separated me from tragedy.

 

[Small Town Guy]

My sister had a similar experience, a guy in front of her got drilled and killed. She ended up fine, but, well, I sometimes wonder about her so it's not necessarily a normal reaction. Counseling would definitely be something you should consider.

Two nights ago on the subway I saw a guy who'd been run over by the subway. But, somehow, he lived. Not sure if he jumped or fell, but was under the first car. About 100 firemen down there and I heard on one of the radios that he had severe trauma and heavy bleeding but was conscious and they were talking to him. I'm sure the people who saw him fall are probably dealing with some tough emotions.

 

[WolvEagle]

Drip - This isn't something to clown around about. I hope that others on this board don't. I'm so sorry you went through that.

 

[BYH]

This will end soon, but not well.

 

[93Devil]

Go get help.

Talk it out. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Trunkmonkey]

Saw a woman get hit while walking in a crosswalk on the eve of the Seattle-Pittsburgh Super Bowl. She was going shopping for Super Bowl food the night before the game and some guy wasn't paying attention. Two lanes in each direction, and he was in the far right lane. Car to his left was stopped for her. I was a the next car in back of the guy who hit her. She flew into the air and landed on her head. Huge pool of blood. We checked her and called 911. She was dead before they arrived. I remember picking up her groceries and putting them on the curb. Horrible experience. The idiot in me wants to say at least she didn't have to witness the hideous calls that went against the Seahawks the next day, but I won't go there.

I "talked" to somebody three times about it and it DEFINITELY helped.

 

[User 1019]

While driving a rural back road in central Alabama in 1995 I came across an accident in which a former girlfriend was killed. She and the guy she was with (she'd taken up with a rough crowd after we dated) were high and drunk off no-telling what. He was ejected into a tree and it broke his back and neck. She was pinned beneath the steering column and pretty much folded up in the floorboard area.

It was a gruesome scene, no doubt, and I was shaken for quite some time.

 

[Drip]

I just wanted to give an update. I talked to a few people who are close to me and I'm feeling much better. I just want to thank those at SportsJournalists.com for their advice. It was very much welcomed.

 

[BYH]

While driving a rural back road in central Alabama in 1995 I came across an accident in which a former girlfriend was killed. She and the guy she was with (she'd taken up with a rough crowd after we dated) were high and drunk off no-telling what. He was ejected into a tree and it broke his back and neck. She was pinned beneath the steering column and pretty much folded up in the floorboard area.

It was a gruesome scene, no doubt, and I was shaken for quite some time.

God, that was brutal to read. My condolences that you had to go thru it.

 

[fishhack2009]

Drip:

Glad you are doing okay with this. I saw my share of fatalities early in my career when I was a police/fire reporter. I grew to dread 2 a.m. pages/phone calls. I knew people who had done that kind of work for years and it didn't faze them. I reached my "seen one too many bodies" threshold VERY early. It made the decision to move over to sports an easy one.

Never feel ashamed to talk about it.

 

[murphyc]

Drip--Sorry to hear about what you witnessed. I pray for your healing, as well as for the family of the deceased.
I'm lucky in that I've never witnessed a fatal accident, either on the street or at a race track, but I have witnessed many accidents at tracks.
I second the suggestions from others about talking about the trauma, and I'm glad to hear you already have been doing that. Probably about 2001 or so my dad was stopped in traffic in the Seattle area. Pickup came along and didn't bother even slowing down, rammed into my dad. My dad was fine physically, but all these years later he still often sees that truck when he looks in the mirror. He's told us (i.e. his family) about this but to the best of my knowledge no one else. My wife and I are worried he's starting to lose it mentally (he's 66) because of this and other things.

 

[EStreetJoe]

Drip -- sorry to hear what you witnessed and glad that you're ok.
However continue talking it out when you need to in order to make sure it doesn't haunt you down the line.

 

[EStreetJoe]

WRECK ON THE HIGHWAY
by Bruce Springsteen

Last night I was out driving
Coming home at the end of the working day
I was riding alone through the drizzling rain
On a deserted stretch of a county two-lane
When I came upon a wreck on the highway

There was blood and glass all over
And there was nobody there but me
As the rain tumbled down hard and cold
I seen a young man lying by the side of the road
He cried Mister, won't you help me please

An ambulance finally came and took him to Riverside
I watched as they drove him away
And I thought of a girlfriend or a young wife
And a state trooper knocking in the middle of the night
To say your baby died in a wreck on the highway

Sometimes I sit up in the darkness
And I watch my baby as she sleeps
Then I climb in bed and I hold her tight
I just lay there awake in the middle of the night
Thinking 'bout the wreck on the highway

 

[poindexter]

Go get help.

Talk it out. There is nothing wrong with that.

You're talking about his compulsive lying on message boards, of course.

 

[TigerVols]

I once covered an accident where a high schooler was killed. I heard his last words; I wrote a column about it. The basic gist of the column was that I was worried about how my news article would affect his family.

After the column ran, his mother wrote me a letter. In it, she said the boy had a big family and she put together a scrapbook full of memories of his life, and gave a copy to each of his brothers and sisters. She said my column was the last page.

That still makes me choke up 20 years later; it's without a doubt my finest moment in journalism.

 

[ArnoldBabar]

Go get help.

Talk it out. There is nothing wrong with that.

You're talking about his compulsive lying on message boards, of course.

It's to the point where, even if this did happen to him, he's the boy who cried wolf. He's put out so much bull**** around here that he's lost the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Drip]

Go get help.

Talk it out. There is nothing wrong with that.

You're talking about his compulsive lying on message boards, of course.

It's to the point where, even if this did happen to him, he's the boy who cried wolf. He's put out so much bull**** around here that he's lost the benefit of the doubt.

Posters please excuse me but this truly needs to be said.
There are too many ass clowns on here. You need to seriously grow the **** up. Not everything posted on this message board is a ****ing joke and what I witnessed is something that has had a profound affect on me. I pray that you NEVER have to see something like that in your lifetime.
To the many others who have PM'd me with advice, prayers, and sharing their similar stories. Thank you and may God continue to bless you.