Finding I have a different attitude

I was driving on a service road of the highway the other day when I approached an intersection where there had just been a two car accident.  I saw there was a woman still sitting in the driver's seat and about five men had gotten out of their cars to help.  I pulled over and went back to offer my support as well.  I have no medical background and typically do not feel I need or should get involved in a situation like this. It is not that I don't care, it's just that I think the best thing for me to do is stay out of the way.  But after I had my car accident last November, I recognized how I was so grateful to the people that came up to help me and the woman who held my hand. I wanted to do the same for this young woman. It is a scary, helpless feeling.

Her car was absolutely totaled since she had been t-boned by a utility truck, spun around and hit a large utility box.  Glass was everywhere but she had relatively few injuries.  Thank goodness for her seatbelt!  Problem was she was 3 months pregnant and was naturally upset. I told her I was just there to hold her hand until the ambulance arrived and I asked if she needed me to call anyone.  She had me call her husband and I reassured him she appeared basically okay - just scared more than anything.  I offered words of comfort, reminding her the worst was over, telling her the ambulance was on its way and so was her husband.  She had me call him back to ask if he was coming on his motorcycle (he wasn't) and to be careful (he was trying).

I saw a pair of glasses in the middle of the intersection and sure enough, they were hers so I retrieved them for her. A guy had climbed into the back seat of her car and was holding her head immobile and asking her medical questions. He seemed to know what he was doing and gave all the details to the EMTs when they arrived.  I moved out of the way, held her purse and started gathering the CDs that were scattered from one end to the other.  I knew her car was headed to a towing lot so I put as many things in her purse as I could that looked important. 

When her husband arrived they were already loading her into the ambulance so I gave him her purse, asked what else I could do and started back to my own car. 

I don't really notice the grass on the side of these roads.  It's either mowed or in need of mowing and this area appeared mowed.  Imagine my shock when I am walking along the grassy shoulder back to my car and stepped into a crevice up to my knee.  Guess it is to be expected in hot, dry Texas where the ground expands and contracts on a daily basis. Luckily, I was wearing my ankle brace but I lost my balance and sat down in the grass with a thud.  I wasn't hurt but my bad foot was stuck in the hole. I said out loud but to myself, "Oh, that's just great!" I started laughing and was rocking back and forth trying to  extricate myself. That was all the EMTs needed.  The casual bystander now part of "the scene."   'scuse me.  Got room for me in that ambulance??  I seem to have rebroken something. LOL

A second later two of the firemen approached, offered a hand and pulled me loose. They were concerned I was hurt but I assured them only my pride was a bit bruised. I got in my car and drove on, grateful things had not been more serious with the driver and thinking how we are all in this together.

Tags: accident, helping others, EMT