Thursday, November 5, 2009

A walk in the park with a crashing end

I went for a walk today during my lunch break, down through the park, along the river, back up to Mill St, then back to the office. I did this walk the other day and it took me about 1/2 hour. Very nice, so I decided to go again today. Only a couple of blocks before reaching the office, there was a car accident right in front of me. An elderly couple either didn't stop for the stop sign or didn't see the pick up truck coming down the road. The truck couldn't stop in time and hit the passenger door. The car then got pushed into an SUV waiting on the other side of the intersection stop sign. So it was crunched on both sides. The elderly driver was at fault, their car got smashed, and the lady who was the passenger got hurt. She was bleeding fairly badly at the neck. I think it was from all of the broken glass. I was right there first. Several others were there but I was the only one with a phone. The lady was conscience and alert enough but needed medical attention so I called 911. I called into work as I thought I should wait for the police to arrive as I was the one who called. I called work to let them know I'd be late back from lunch.
The fortunate thing is that there was a CNA girl right there, an EMT was nearby too. The cops and paramedics were there with in minutes. So the injured lady had really good help really quick.
The guy in the pick up truck hurt his elbow but didn't want/need medical attention. His vehicle was badly damaged. He was a landscape guy pulling a trailer, the trailer got messed up too. And the guy was way shaken up.
I don't think I have ever witnessed an accident as a pedestrian on a residential street. It was rather scary. I talked to the police as a witness person. He took my full name, address, phone, birthday, description of what I saw, etc. After I talked with him, I had a full panic attack. I did real well talking with the elderly couple, 911, the guy in the truck, the cop, then had a panic attack. Hyperventilating, shaking. After it was all over. took me a while to calm down. I feel very sorry for the elderly couple. I would guess them to be in their mid 80s, or possibly older. For the landscape guy too, he probably needs his truck to get work.
Very sad ending to an otherwise lovely walk.
Fortunate for me though, there was some yummy pizza slices left over from the kids' lunch. I got a slice of it. Pizza! (say that like Homer Simpson, RRRR)
Food to make you feel better.
Did make my aqua aerobics class tonight so it's ok though. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.