CCRRRAAASSSHHHHH!!!

...courtney and i had a little 'excitement' today...

after her dance lesson this morning, we were leaving to come home from her dance teachers house and just got to the end of chancellor drive and were stopped at a red light at the intersection at pembina hwy.

we were second from the front to go. perhaps a blessing today?

the light turned to our flashing green arrow to go ahead and turn onto pembina hwy and all of a sudden this car travelling north on pembina ran her red light and crashed into the vehicle in front of me right in the middle of the intersection and also hitting yet another car going south the other direction!!! it was an elderly lady driving by herself that ran the red light and hit the two cars. for some reason, the driver of the vehicle in front of us, the first one hit, just kinda swerved after being hit, then paused and then TOOK OFF!!!! ( no license? no insurance? man i wish i would have gotten that license plate...oh well, got a description of the car...) ...and the lady who caused the accident was then spun around and hit the second card ( an SUV ) going south in the other lane!!! WOW! I of course stopped in the middle of the intersection ( like everyone else ) until all the commotion settled and like in slow motion being right in the middle, i looked out to my right and saw this little old lady in her smashed up car, even though it was 100% her fault, she was in a mess...and then looked to my left and saw in disbelief as the first hit car just kept going south down pembina!!!! OMG!!! what is the matter with people??? I could have gone after the other car to get their license plate, as i'm sure that would have helped...but my instincts directed me to get to the lady in her car...

as i drove up right beside her, i could see she was conscious and no head injuries, i asked her if she could drive her car straight ahead into the Mr. Transmission parking lot ( aobut 25m in front of her ) and she said she could....i followed her in and got her to park her shattered mess of a car beside the building out of the way. i calmly told courtney 'do not get out of the van' and ran out to help the lady. a first scan of her miraculously ensured me that she had no life threatening injuries and she said she felt okay, just a little shook up...A LITTLE? i tried to open her driver's side door and it was jammed shut. i asked again if she was okay and then proceeded to quickly call 911 to report the accident. ( thank goodness for cell phones....never been so happy to have it with me ) while i was talking to the police a few more vehicles pulled in to help out. one of them being the driver ( a young lady ) of the SUV that was also hit. her back end of her vehicle was all smashed up and her knee was injured. Man, it was crazy!! the fire dept. and a police car where there within 4 minutes of my call. another witness and myself pryed open the older ladies jammed door and got her out. i walked her over to my van ( where courtney was glued to the window ) and sat her in the passenger seat to keep warm until help arrived! She is 73 years old, was on her way to visit her very ill husband at the Victoria Hospital, and i guess she was preoccupied in her thoughts and worry because she didn't even know she had ran the red light...

"I caused all this" she sobbed to me....heartbreaking really. I am just glad that once everything got all cleaned up and looked after that no one was badly injured. When i was on the phone with 911 less than 2 mins. after the accident, i gave them a description of the other car that was hit and left the scene. no plate number. just all i saw and which direction it was heading....i hope they found that driver.

the old ladies car was a wreck. both air bags had inflated. the windsheild on the passenger side had a whole the size of a ten pin bowling ball in it and was all cracked and smashed in pieces. the whole front end was totally smashed and lying in pieces all over pembina hwy...and the drivers door and front quarter panel were just smashed in....it is really a miracle that this little old lady walked out without a scratch on her head. she only said that her chest hurt a little from the impact of the air bag from the steering wheel.

WOW...one of God's miracles in action. it could have been so much worse and to think that all that i saw happened in like 10 seconds!!!

i hope everything works out for the best for her. i doubt she will get her driver's license anymore, and at 73 years old, maybe that's for the better....you know, after all my involvement and trying to offer her what comfort i could, i didn't even know her name? the paramedic's asked me to ask how old she was, but i never even got her name.

the police were taking her in their car to the hospital to have her examined and then to make a report. before they took her she came over and thanked me for "saving her life' and hugged me!!

i told her that it wasn't me who saved her life, but i believe with all my heart that SOMEBODY else surely did!!!

...that being lifted off my chest before i go to work now...i thought i'd shard just a couple pictures i recently took after a little 'VALENTINE' candy changing in our house...

i bought myself thse beautiful pink roses the other day...i saw them and they just looked so bright and cheerful, had to get them!! ( well, and of course they're pink...how could i not? )

{ GIGGLE }

thank you to all the ladies who came out for another fun hall crop friday night! i always appreciate your support and fun company!!!

Mike and I went for a drive yesterday afternoon out to Gimli to drop off some paperwork, check out the conference room for the getaway weekend ( SWEEEEET!!! ) and put up some posters in town for some crafty scrappin' gimli residents who may also want to attend with us and play!!!
hope so...
we enjoyed a nice quiet dinner in town before coming back home and it was nice to have some time alone for a bit and be able to chat and catch up on our household, activities, plans and each other!!!
life always seems so busy...make sure you take time to
'smell the roses'!!!!

:O)