mid-life crisis; non automobile related (in a fun way at least)

As a few of you are aware of, I'm fortunate enough to work in a field that I'm passionate and love, motorsports. I'm incredibly blessed for the opportunity to do so. I am, as are all others that strap into a car and take to a hot track, fully aware of the risk and dangers associated with 185mph, even in a controlled track environment.

Yesterday morning commuting into the office there was an accident that occurred about 175 yards in front of me in the adjacent left lane of I95 (I was traveling southbound in the left lane, the accident occurred in the left most northbound lane) between I695 and I195. Roads were icy as we had received freezing rain in a hours prior and the driver of the car was attempting to get into the left hand lane as a left exit to merge onto I695 west (inner loop) was approaching. Hard impact was made with the guardrail and impact from the car behind was made. Both to the front and left of the vehicle. I pulled off the road to assist until emergency crews could arrive, something that I normally don't do, unless impact is hard enough that I can't foresee the driver being able to locate their phone. The driver had, for some unknown reason, slipped the shoulder strap of their seat belt behind their back opposed to across their chest, their burger king breakfast sandwich had launched itself into the smashed windshield and down onto the mangled dash. The driver's side A pillar had collapsed. Another motorist stopped to assist and we removed the conscience, but heavily bleeding driver out the passenger side door using a canvas dropcloth that I had in my hatch. The driver lost consciousness during extraction. We checked vitals... and began administrating CPR. I noticed an empty car seat in the back of the car. I throw up. I resumed CPR. The dropcloth was now being held by others who had stopped to shield the scene from onlookers. I continued resuscitative efforts. EMTs arrived. Police arrived. EMT's, many of whom are volunteers with one of the most difficult jobs in the world took over and cleaned me up, only now upon seeing my wedding ring, now stained dark reddish brown, do I cry. I give a statement to police and provide my contact information to the EMTs and police for their use and to provide to the family as well.

This morning I awoke to several mobile alerts that a pedestrian was struck and killed less then 2 miles from my house at 2:18am last night. And on the drive into work, less then a mile from work, another fatal accident. My mind racing I cried upon pulling into the work parking lot and seeing all the cars that should be there in place.

I know that we keep our cars in better operating condition then 99% percent of the population and I know that our situational awareness and car control exceeds the training and abilities of the vast majority of the population. But I urge everyone, be safe out there, hug a loved one and forgot to remind them how much they mean to you.

Thanks,

David

I can only say "thank you" for sharing that.

I'm at a loss for words, that would be tough to deal with. It might not hurt to find someone to talk to.

I second the stay safe request.

Thank you for stopping, good job.

I will only add if this is your first time with such an incident, talk, talk, and talk about it. Do not try and keep it all in.

Find someone you know and trust and talk to them.

Thanks again

"Be safe, and hug a loved one, and remind them how much they mean to you"

Amen, David. Thanks for sharing, and thanks for doing what you did. It's inspiring.

You are the true 1% sir. The people who stop to help.

I will just echo everyone else's comments. Thank you.

Damn, that's rough. Thank you for stopping, you did the right thing.

You didn't say if the person you helped survived, but you did your best to aid their survival where they likely wouldn't have had help otherwise, and that's all that should matter from your perspective.

This kinda stuff haunts me.

I'm a young guy, I do my best to take care of myself, but I like having fun and experiencing new things and new places.

I can't help but think that in a completely random event I could be dead tomorrow. While I appreciate my family and friends, I sometimes become selfish and say "if I died tomorrow, would I feel like I've experienced everything I've wanted to?"

After my father died from complications of a heart attack, I started really thinking about "what is a risky life?" And really starting to prepare to take a leap into the unknown. I moved on a whim to a new town 6 hours away. Committed to a girl I had no idea at the time would become my wife. I made great friends and had good experiences. I've come home and got a good job, and now I feel trapped again, but by my own actions.

We can't stop death, it's a fact of life, but we also shouldn't ignore our mortality.

So... the thread title reads "mid-life crisis". Does this incident have you pondering your own mortality? The mortality of loved ones? Or now that the shock of the thing has had time to wane a bit things have returned to normal... or at least "in perspective"?

In reply to captdownshift:

You are a model citizen. Valiant effort. Few would do what you did.