OMG! I thought I killed a kid yesterday!

Yesterday was both the worst day of my life as well as the luckiest! 

I was driving to pick up my son, Alex, from school, when a Grade 12 student ran out from between a line of stalled traffic - right in front of me! I slammed on my brakes, but wasn't able to stop in time before I hit him with my car. He hit the front passenger side of the car before being bounced up into the windscreen. He then bounced off onto the road in front of me. By this time the car was stopped, so I put it into Park and got out and ran to the boy. He was up on his feet and standing there, holding his head, and said to me, "Am I hurt?"

I remember thinking to myself "Thank God he's not dead", but at the same time I'm thinking, "Of course you're hurt, you bloody idiot, you've just been hit by my car!" But I told him he was hurt and he had to stay still while I phoned the ambulance. He then tried to move away, saying, "No I'm alright. I've got to go." Talk about a "hit and run" incident. (Please don't think I'm being flippant - it's just a reaction to the fact that he didn't appear to be seriously injured and, even now, more than 12 hours later, I feel like crying and still have the shakes.)

Next I know people have come from everywhere to take the boy to safety in one of the shops across from where he was hit, another man came and phoned the police and ambulance for me, another helped me move my car to a safer park, someone else gave me a cup of lovely cold water and found a seat for me to sit in, some girls from the school phoned the school to tell them what had happened, someone else had phoned the boy's mother, one of the girls from the barber shop came out with a wad of toilet paper for me to wipe my tears (because she didn't have any tissues) and then the ambos came and started looking after the boy. I'm blown away by the selfless actions of so many. They were all wonderful.

Next came along the principal and one of the deputies from the boy's school. (Did I mention it is also the school where Alex goes to school and where I taught for many years before I left to have Alex?) The principal asked the deputy if he knew who belonged to the car, and I told him it was mine. His eyes just about popped out of his head. I wonder why he didn't guess just from looking at me, from my red face, swollen eyes and tears streaming down my face?

Anyway, the police came next and were also the most lovely men possible. After getting my statement and talking to the witnesses, they told me that there's nothing that I could have done to prevent the accident and they wouldn't be charging me with anything. The paramedic in charge then came to tell me that they were taking the boy to hospital to be checked out, but as far as they could see he only had minor abrasions and bruising. (I hope they didn't find anything more serious once they did the xrays etc.)

After everyone left and I was left waiting for my husband to come and get me (Mind you, Alex was still at the school waiting for me to pick him up) and I finally went to have a look at the damage to the car (I hadn't paid any attention to it before - I had been more concerned with the damage to the boy), the enormity of the situation finally hit me and I really started crying. Once again some ladies from the hairdressing salon came to my rescue and took me inside, gave me some more water and made me wait with them until Darryl arrived.

I won't go into all of the rigmarole that followed concerning moving the car to a safer place, phoning the insurance company and the windscreen repairer etc. Suffice to say, we went to pick up Alex who had been cared for by the deputy (even to the extent that when we arrived they were on the hunt for something for Alex to snack on!) and then went home.

As I said it was the worst day (I can't stop feeling guilty for hurting someone, even though it was an accident) as well as the luckiest day. Lucky that he wasn't hurt too seriously (he so easily could have died), but also lucky to realise that there are so many lovely people in the world ready and willing to help in times of difficulty, and that they work and live in my area. How lucky is that???

Anyway, bye for now.

All of my love.

Janelle  :)

P.S. I thought about showing you a photo of my damaged car, but thought it was just a little gratuitous, but also luckily for me, there's really not that much damage to see. Just the smashed windscreen and some damage to the bonnet.

PPS. This is gratuitous, but I totally freaked out when I found tufts of hair stuck in the smashed windscreen. It still makes me feel sick to think of it.