Yesterday afternoon , I received a call from a friend of mine. She sounded distressed, she was not panicky but you could tell in her voice something had happened. She said someone had driven into the back of her car at the top of our lane. My daughter Phoebe was in the car with her when it happened..
I do a car share rota with Phoebe's best friend's Mother. Yesterday was my friend's turn to drop off Phoebe at home after school. My friend told me that Phoebe was OK but shaken up, crying and wanted Mummy.
After dialing 999, I ran the 1/4 mile up the lane to reach the main road, the car was not where I expected it to be. It had been pushed up the road by the another 20 metres due to the force of the impact from the car coming from behind. My friend was indicating to turn right in to the lane we live in when coming up from behind at great speed a car went right in to the back of them. It was a tremendous impact!
I saw the debris and state of the car, I realised that the accident was more serious than I had thought, this had been a big impact. It suddenly hit home seeing the scene. The police had not arrived arrived yet but some men who witnessed the accident took control of the traffic situation, They were so helpful!
As I approached, I saw Phoebe crying, you could tell she was shaken up. Poor thing, I was so very relieved to see her, I kissed and hugged her. My friend had blood on her face and hands, she was calm under the circumstances but also shaken up. The police and ambulance arrived. Phoebe was taken to hospital. Her arm is bandaged up as her wrist hurt. On impact, Phoebe put both hands out on the dashboard to try and hold on. My friend hurt her nose and also went to hospital. They needed to see if they had any other internal injuries.
Now something happened yesterday that stopped things being worse than they would have been...
Phoebe was meant to have been sitting in the back of the car as she usually did. But on this occasion, Phoebe's best friend had brought her bike in to school as it was bring a toy into school day. My friend decided that it would be best to drop off Phoebe first at my house then go back for her daughter and bike as it might have been a bit of a squeeze. This meant Phoebe sat in the front of the car on her booster seat. Had Phoebe been at the back as usual & with the bike there too, things could have been so much worse!! Someone was watching over and I am so thankful for that...
The car is a write off. The 2 men driving the car who caused the accident were arrested after being breathalysed on the scene. The police rang later to say that they had been over 3 times over the alcohol limit!
I wish to thank the men from Somerset White Lining Ltd who stopped and helped immediately, the police & ambulance crew who were all so good and reassuring with Phoebe. Also wish to thank my friend who despite being injured & shocked herself, reassured and comforted Phoebe throughout until I arrived.
As Phoebe was shaken up by what happened, she slept with me last night. We both talked about how lucky she was, she too realised that if she had been in the back it could have been a very different outcome. We both prayed and thanked her guardian angel.
Isabelle x
