The other end of my day
I left work feeling really good. Had a half hard on thinking about what the future may hold. On the way home I travel I-75. I could see traffic slowing down. As I came to a stop I saw smoke across the median. Traffic was stopped on both sides, it must have just happened. I saw two folks standing by the car that was smoking. It was upside down and was the projectile in a head on collision. There was a guy suspended in his seat, all the windows were broken. His legs were pinned in. The door was crushed shut. His face had blood running into his nose. He was screaming for help. No one moved. The car was on fire in the rear. A nurse came running up and tried to yank him free, to no avail. She put all her weight on him, he just screamed. I went and got fire extenguishers from semi truckers across the expressway as they went by. I got three of them. When I got back to the car, the nurse hadn't made any progress, the fire was spreading. He was screaming to get the fire off of him. Another guy got a long pry bar and was trying to force the door open. To no avail he had to quit, the fire pushed him back. I used the fire extinguishers to try to keep him free from fire, but they were largely ineffective. A truck driver had a crane mounted on the back of his truck. They hooked it up to the door and tried to pull the door off. It just dragged the car and his head along the pavement. He quit screaming then. For everytime I put the extinguisher on him, gasoline drained right where he was and recaught on fire. There was nothing we could do. The tires popped around us, he was screaming. I am sure he died while I went to try to get another fire extinguisher. After the car was completely engulfed a cop showed up. Ten minutes later the fire truck showed up. It never occured to me to go in the other side of the car to see if the ignition was still on, or to see if he was being held in by a seat belt. I keep seeing that nurse trying to pull him out. What a hero. I am in shock. On the radio, it was reduced to a quick 15 second announcement that there was a wreck on I-75 with fatalities. Last week I buried my Aunt. It wasn't a complete surprise. It was impersonal. I didn't have to listen to the death rattle, the body was prepared and put in a nice coffin, words were read and she was buried. To see that wreck, I will never be the same. Can you imagine the horror that soldiers live with everyday. The horror in the church balcony scene of Saving Private Ryan is as close as I can describe of the helpless feeling.