Hit by a Car

It was a beautiful spring morning when my sister and I woke up to get ready for school.  We were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves.  Mom had bought us each a new outfit to wear that day as we would be going to the Augsburg Zoo that day on a fieldtrip.  Mom had my little brother in the high chair and my younger sister was still asleep.  While Mom fixed breakfast for us we busied ourselves by betting who would get to the bus stop and in line first.

This getting to the bus stop first was a big deal for Martie as I always happened to beat her to it.  From the third floor picture window one could see the bus stop which was across the street on the cul de sac.  We had our breakfasts and bid our Mother adieu and scurried down the three flights of stairs.  We looked both ways and as Martie stepped out off of the curb a car coming driving in our direction came out of nowhere.  Before I knew it, I heard a screech and my sister was flown into the air and had landed with a thud and blood was everywhere.  I started screaming bloody murder and as loud as I could, I don't know what I felt then but I think now recalling this that I might have lost part of my mind.

My Mother heard the screaming and thought it was probably Martie screaming frightened by some dog (she and my other little sister were deathly afraid of dogs at that time).  She quickly ran to the window and saw what all of the commotion was about and ran down as fast as her legs would take her to get outside.  My sister was lying there at my feet full of blood covering her beautiful face and the little lavender dress that she was wearing.  Suffice it to say that I too had blood on my dress.  As my Mother had almost reached us the man who had been driving this car attempted to pick Martie up.  My Mom got there just as he was about to do this and yelled at him to please not to do this.

A large crowd gathered and the ambulance finally arrived.  My Mom had me go to our neighbors and had other friends go to mind the house, my baby brother and little sister while she left to go in the ambulance with Martie.  As Dad was being called he had just happened to fly past our neighborhood in his helicopter.

The day seemed to drag on forever and all I could think of was the blood that had puddled on the pavement around my sisters head, body and covering her dress.  Later on in the evening my Dad came to pick me up from the sitters and told me little about Martie.  As fate would have it, she had been struck only inches from her temple and had been saved from death instantly upon being hit but was in a coma.

Days and months passed in what seemed to be an eternity for a young girl like myself.  I was only six but felt like far too much had happened already in this short span of life that I had lived.  I felt then as I feel now what kind of pain it must have been to suffer not really knowing what was going to happen to Martie and wondering whether I would or we would ever see her at home again.  I suffered daily at the thought that I was responsible for her accident because of my unwillingness to let her beat me at his stupid game of getting to the bus stop first. 

My sister came out of her coma and the doctors told my Parents that they felt like she had every chance in the world of recovering from this accident.  The day finally came when my Dad came home and told me that Martie would be coming home that afternoon.  He told me that she was going to be alright but that I should not let on that she looked different.  I couldn't imagine what in the world to expect but what I had imagined was not what I discovered and certainly not how I had expected to see her.

My sisters face was black and blue.  Her eye sockets were swollen and had big black circles all around.  Shortly after the accident her entire body had been black and blue but thank God that I had been spared this sight.  My father had also asked me not to be frightened and to give her a big hug welcoming her home.  It took weeks for the bruises to heal and for her face to get back to normal.  Martie had had to have a wire put in on the upper part of her right eye.  I still don't know what the wire was for, but all I cared about was that she was home with me and us and alive.

To this day Martie still has this wire in her face and suffered some hearing loss and no brain damage and is quite well.  She is currently a Psychotherapist and going to school to be a child Psychiatrist. 

As for the man who hit Martie, he testified in court under oath that he had "ONLY" been driving 20 miles per hour.  Witnesses testified that he had been driving at least 40 in the cul de sac and had been heavy with the scent of alcohol when they had neared the scene.  Needless to say he got off with a slap on the wrist and was fined and given probation.

This type of accident occurs everyday and alot more often than one would imagine.  Please friends, always have your children look both ways and hesitate for a second before crossing the street.  It could save you from a lot of heartache.  I know.