A Car Accident- it Can Happen to You

When my daughter was in a near-catastrophic car accident, I realized that tragic accidents can alter your perception of what is important in life. Now I know that there is more to "The Secret" than all of us realize. Things that you casually wish for do materialize, sometimes negatively. So beware of what you hope for and what you joke about.

On a freezing March winter morning in St. Thomas, Ontario, Miriam and John set out for Bellville, an exquisite town in Ontario where Miriam had to attend a conference for two days. Renting a car was a last minute decision and the wisest that they made. Their Pontiac Sunfire would not have helped them survive what they were about to face. John had pointed out to a car for rent and Miriam still doesn't know why she had absent-mindedly filled in the forms for a bigger and sturdier car next to it. The weather forecast called for drifting snow and minus 25 degrees with the wind chill factor. There was a conference to attend to and at that point in time everything else did seem insignificant.

On highway 401, as they were nearing Ingersoll, a sudden white out had engulfed the vehicles in front of them and there were 18 cars that had come to a complete halt on the highway. As they approached the stopped vehicles John slowly stopped the car, way behind a white service truck. Unfortunately the car following him close behind did not stop. It rammed into the rear end of John's car pushing it into the next lane and turning it into the oncoming traffic. Miriam realizing that they are hit tried taking the safety belt out and john blocked her from taking it off. It was bedlam that followed. Miriam was hit over and over again three times by cars striking her passenger seat. The last car lodged into her. There were screams and screeching and metallic crashing sounds. Miriam braced for more hits. The seat belt had held her in place without throwing her out through the windshield to the oncoming traffic. A radio programme which they listened to a week ago had instructed them not to take the seatbelts off in the case of an accident. Glasses had shattered and blood stains were covering Miriam. She knew that she was hit below the hip. Strangers came out and started offering quilts and blankets to keep her warm. John just had bruises on his face.

Paramedics arrived in minutes and Miriam, fractured and bleeding was on her way to the hospital. The seat belt had saved her life.