Miracle Stories

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A Terrible Accident
By Dan Blankenship


It is a horrible thing to witness a bad car accident. I’ve only seen a few happen right in front of me. I’ve only seen one that tested me beyond what I thought I could handle.

They call it getting T-boned, when a car smashes its front-end into the side of another car. Funny thing is the guys who usually caused the accident by pulling out in front of another vehicle’s pathway like to say they “got T-boned". They should say they “caused” a T-bone.

This particular T-boning, which I was the unfortunate witness to, occurred in the strip mall capital of America: Merrillville, Indiana. U.S. Route 30 sees its fair share of fender benders, up there with the best accident causing highways I’d bet.

You never expect to see a metal to metal – or these days, fiberglass to plastic – crash happen. It just does. And when it does, it can really turn a person’s stomach upside down. This particular accident was about to turn my world upside down.

It was mid-afternoon. I was on my way home from a quick shopping spree. The driver of one car didn’t see the car that ended up slamming into her driver’s side door. The noise sounded faked, like in a movie. The resulting collision seemed to take place in slow motion, like in a movie. But this was no movie. This was real life.

Within seconds I was out of my car and approaching the T-boned car. The woman driver was in shock. I told her not to move. She had no visible marks to her face. Her young son, crying in the backseat, was not so lucky. I estimated his age around eight; maybe nine. Somehow his face had been peppered with glass from the collision, and the pieces of glass protruded from his young cheeks. As I looked into his eyes I could tell he was afraid. I was too. In fact, fear barely even scratches the surface when describing what I was feeling at that moment.

Of course it is in times like these when we call out to God for a hint of wisdom, for on my own I would have been useless at this moment. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us that God promises, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (NIV). God has given man the ability to deal with situations and circumstances we believe should be beyond our ability. And regardless of whether God sent an angel to help me act with confidence and wisdom, or whether I simply used talents that God implanted in my genetic composition, He had to be responsible for the things that happened next.

I gently stopped the child’s hands from feeling his face and discovering the protruding glass, at the same time explaining that an ambulance would soon be arriving. I explained how the people in the ambulance would take care of his face, and that he would be just fine. I shocked myself with how confident and calming my voice seemed to be. He asked questions about his mother, to which I quickly explained that it was best for her to remain still and calm until the paramedics could have a look at her. He seemed to be happy that I wanted what was best for his mother. I heard someone say an ambulance had been called.

I talked with that boy until the paramedics arrived. I remember that day so vividly because God had given me the strength to do something at a moments notice, something I did not think I was capable of, something I was not trained to do. The boy and his mother were okay. I’m glad I was there to help. But most of all, I’m glad God has given humans the ability to understand tragedy, to intervene when it is present, and to learn from its grief. I believe sometimes our emotions are tested just to remind us we have them.

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