Thankful for today
This is a long post, but the content is important to me …
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s been a countdown to Thanksgiving on OINKX (non-Piggers, that’s our company intranet). Here was the graphic today:
When the countdown wraps up and the big day is here … be thankful that you have that day. Here are a few recent reminders that you can’t take tomorrow, or even the next minute, for granted. These incidents hit close to home. One today, literally.
14 days before Thanksgiving, Sue Crostley, who cleans Building 1, suffered a heart attack, was pronounced dead and was revived. Jeannette Shannon (aka, Jet) of Systems has visited her in the hospital. I’m hoping to get there today.
13 days before Thanksgiving, Selesia Byrd (of Systems and one of our bloggers) was in a head-on collision. A car rounded a curve in her lane. Both vehicles were totaled. There appear to be no lasting injuries. The other driver hadn’t had her permit long.
7 days before Thanksgiving (yesterday), a group of Piggers driving to lunch came upon the aftermath of an accident in Tyrone. All they saw at first was an oil tanker and police directing traffic away from it. Then they saw a wheelchair lodged under the truck. This morning’s paper said that the 85-year-old owner of that chair died.
This morning, when snow was making the roads slick, there was a near-tragedy on our doorstep. Lisa Cassidy of Accounting was in an accident with her family rounding the last bend before you get to New Pig.
Everyone’s okay. Shaken up but okay. We’ll hear from Lisa soon. Her husband was dropping her off.
For now, I talked to Nino Vella (CEO) and Dustin Hess (Creative) because they were first on the scene. Here are their words as told to me. You’ll get an idea of what those moments were like.
DUSTIN
I was rounding the last bend in the road approaching New Pig. Nino was right ahead of me. Lisa (I learned later) was ahead of Nino. Everyone was going at what seemed a safe speed for the conditions.
Suddenly Lisa’s car spun completely around, flew into a tree and knocked it over. The car rolled down the bank and into the river on its roof. It was a smaller SUV. Nino and I pulled over.
NINO
At first, I took out my wallet and started to dial 911 like it was my phone. Then I realized that we couldn’t wait for that anyway.
I heard what I thought was a lady screaming. I realized there was probably more than one person in there.
It flashed through my mind: Do I want to open that door and find mangled bodies? Then I just acted.
DUSTIN
Nino was ahead of me going down the bank. He said to call 911. Anahi (Wigfield, of International Sales) was right behind me. I said to her to call 911 and followed Nino over the bank.
It’s about a 10-foot drop to the river. The bank is steep, about 60 or 70 degrees. The car was 2 or 3 feet underwater. People were screaming inside.
Nino was in the stream, knee deep. He said, “Oh, —-.” He got to the back passenger door and opened it.
NINO
When I opened the door, it was like they almost came flushing out with all the water. I don’t know if they acted fast and got their seatbelts off or what. They were panicked.
DUSTIN
There was a man and woman and two boys about 8 and 10.
I don’t think anyone was hanging from the upside-down seats. They may have already unstrapped. I think they were kind of on the floor, or actually the roof.
Nino was halfway in the car. I was standing at the open door. He pulled the kids out and handed them to me. I put them on the bank, which was basically a matter of pivoting to put them in place.
I stayed with the kids while Nino helped the mom out, then the dad. They both were understandably confused and dazed. Not sure what had just happened.
The kids were saying over and over, “What happened? We almost died. We wrecked.”
The mom and dad got to the bank. We asked if anyone else was in the car. There wasn’t.
We stood for a while at the bottom of bank, not really sure what to do.
NINO
After we knew they were all right, I got really still.
I called my wife Diane, a good while later, to tell her what happened.
I also called my son Mike, who’s in medical school and is an EMT and knows all the right things to do. He asked me if I “maintained proper spinal precautions.” Right.
DUSTIN
By the time we got them out, there was a crowd of people at the top of the bank looking down.
We weren’t sure whether to move anyone. They looked okay. The mom had some cuts and scrapes. We did move them to the top of the bank.
We had the older boy go up the bank first, and people helped him up and over. Selesia (Byrd, mentioned above) was one of the ones that helped, and the guy who plows the roads for the town.
I followed up the bank carrying the smaller boy. Then mom and dad came up.
Selesia had the kids get in her car to stay warm. Nino had the parents get in his car.
I called my wife, Shannon, later. We talked a little bit about being thankful and how precious life is.
I’m relieved that they weren’t seriously injured. I was glad that they weren’t trapped, unconscious or really bleeding. I wouldn’t have been sure what to do.
NINO
I changed into gym clothes that I had here. Wore them all day.
DUSTIN
My wet clothes are hanging on my guest chair. I’m wearing Dickies and work boots that I borrowed from the Photo Studio. I really didn’t feel like driving home right then to change clothes.
NINO
It was scary. I felt bad for the family, because the kids were crying and everything. But happy too because it could have been a lot worse.
(This is Keith again) Happy Thanksgiving, in five days. All best wishes to Lisa’s family.
Dustin’s clothes drying
The river after the accident
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