Luke's red belt testing, November 2006I have a good friend, Laura, we've been friends for almost thirty years. Her mom's been through a lot: a bad marriage, she recently survived two cancers (breast cancer and melanoma) and Barb stayed fairly healthy and mobile through all the treatments and had recovered and was living a normal life.
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That is, UNTIL a week ago Sunday night when she rode with friends to an out-of-town destination for a Sunday afternoon stroll and dinner. On the way home, Laura's mom, who is not a driver herself, got into the back seat of the automobile and rode home. She almost made it home. It had started to snow, and the interstate apparently had black ice. A car in front the one that Barb was in lost control, and hit the out-of-control car. The two passengers in front were fine, and could walk away, except for Barb, who would have been fine IF SHE'D HAD HER SEAT BELT ON.
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This accident, and not the cancer, might be the thing that makes her permanently immobile. To survive two cancers and then be done in just because of NO SEAT BELT in the back seat, is so sad to me. She's in for a lot of surgeries, her right arm is still in bad shape, and her left knee and hip is also a mess.
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The sad thing is that she COULD HAVE WALKED AWAY. Instead, she's in for a very long hospitalization and recovery in a rehab center somewhere. She actually may never know what it is to walk on her own again. And that's too much for someone in her early seventies.
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And now, my friend Laura, her only daughter with a young family of her own, has more to worry about and more to care for than she ever dreamed possible. And one click and a couple of seconds could have prevented it all.
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So do us all a favor, and even if your state doesn't require back seat passengers to wear a seatbelt, DO IT ANYWAY. You won't be sorry.
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Thanks, and that is the end of my public service announcement for today. I'll be back with fun stuff tomorrow, I promise.
5 comments:
As much as I do not like gov't interference in our daily lives, I think the seat belt law is a good one. I am also in favor of going back to the "55 Saves Lives" slogan, and slowing everyone on that dang freeway down to a reasonable speed limit. Course, that's just me!
I remember the days... growing up where all of us rode unstrapped in the car... and I remember a horrible accident that happened right in front of us, where a vehicle full of kids was hit from the side and kids were thrown all over the place... inside and outside of the vehicle. I was 15 then, and it stuck... believe me.
So when seatbelts came along and the law was passed that everyone should wear them, (though I agree with Cyndy's comment above) I worked hard to get my own kids buckled in. They HATED wearing them... until one day... my car, with all 3 of my babies latched in, rolled and flipped on an icy road! Not a scratch on any of them...except a broken fingernail on my oldest who did it while grabbing to hold on. Thank God! They never complained again, always latched up on their own... and we've lived safely ever since. (of course seatbelts don't save in every situation... but they do save in many, if not most) (:
Vicki
Those stories are always so sad. I remember when I first married my husband, his cousin got in an accident and (not wearing a seat belt) flew out the front windshield. She was so injured, she died at the scene. We have never forgotten and I feel naked if I don't have mine on. Thanks for the reminder!! :) I am very sorry for your friend...
I agree with you. I have worn seat belts since they came on my automobile and always insist on passengers wearing them and many resist but they can't ride with me without one. It is so sad to see what happens to people who do not wear them. Sorry for your friend.
I so agree! I wear it every single time!
What a tragic story for your friend. God bless her in her recovery.
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