The day started off well enough. Huck was dropped off at the trainer so mom and I had the day to go somewhere. We decided on Santa Cruz for our annual shopping day.
Yelp is my best friend. We found a seafood place on the wharf that was absolutely fantastic. I have only seen my mom eat that much once before in my life—it was quite impressive and frightening. Once we had adequately stuffed ourselves, we drove downtown for a good hour’s worth of shopping. The weather wasn’t perfect but, for the Northern California coast, it was a pretty day. We figured we would hit some traffic going back and we couldn’t be late to pick up Huck so after shopping we had just enough time to get candy. Taffy and truffles made the perfect afternoon snack.
We started making our way back and traffic was blissfully light until we were about thirty minutes away which was going to make us about ten minutes late. And the ten minutes was increasing proportionally with the brake lights in front of us. Thank goodness for GPS, we simply hit “detour” and took the scenic route.
One of my favorite routes in the area, actually, a two-lane highway surrounded with beautiful trees and running along a creek. Country music blasting, traffic behind us, we were having a great ride.
Suddenly the Jeep in front of us started creeping to the right. My first thought was, “How stupid to go off-roading here” my second was, “Oh my God, he’s not off-roading”. My mom pulled over instantly and ran out of the car while I called 911. I began to describe the situation and pulled the keys out of the ignition. Mom was running back towards me and I jumped out, fearing the worst. Indeed it was not the best (and thankfully, not the worst) news, the man was awake but not coherent, there was a large amount of smoke, and he was unreachable. I finished up with 911 and we got back in the car. We started to drive away, knowing we were going to be very late to pick up Huck, but we both knew we had to go back. Mom turned around (this is impressive in itself on this highway) and we parked again. We got out and the fire had become massive. I called 911 again to tell them they needed to bring more water. Now the car was enclosed in black smoke and there was no sign of the man. Mom was hailing down traffic and finally a man in a work truck stopped. No one had a fire extinguisher and I was beginning to really fear the worst. There was no way to get to the man and there was a big fire. Nothing looked promising.
Finally a county fire (pickup) truck arrived. The man who stopped grabbed the fireman’s extinguisher and ran over while we talked to the fireman. The extinguisher was pointless and thrown aside. Suddenly, he was screaming for help and honking the horn. Seconds (which felt like hours) later, the other (big) fire trucks arrived. We ran back and forth between the vehicles to communicate with all the new people on the scene. Finally, we got out of the way and watched. I was quite shaken up and realized I could not help. I realized my only power was prayer. I remember saying something like, “I know I only pray when I need something and I’m sorry. But I pray this man will be ok and that he is not burning. And for his family.” His license plate told us he was handicapped and a Naval officer. We told 911 and the men on scene that he may not be able to walk, we didn’t know. After the fire was tamed, they had a plastic stretcher and carried it down. This seemed like good news until it came back up and the man who had stopped first signaled to the men. The signal made our hearts skip—the signal with his hand across his neck.
I looked at Mom and she looked back. Suddenly, we saw a new guy. Supported by two firemen, the man was able to walk up the steep hill out of his car. He looked unscratched.
So many things could have been different about today. We almost didn’t take the shortcut; we almost got back on the freeway halfway down the road. We almost shopped longer, almost sat down to get coffee; Mom almost didn’t cut off a couple of trucks before the pass. The man could just as easily not have stopped and put out some of the fire by the driver’s door. God put us there, in that exact place at that moment in time, for a reason and the moment we saw the man all we could say was "thank God". There weren’t many cars around; in fact, none behind us when the accident happened. If we were not there, that man’s fate may have been different. The trees hid his location and the first indication of an accident would be the smoke. By the time the smoke hit the road, it may have been too late.
So, it’s not every day that a miracle jumps out at you with a parade and banner that says, “HEY! I’M A MIRACLE!” But those little diversions throughout the day, minor decisions we make, and actions that we take may just save someone’s life—whether we know it or not.
"Life ain't always beautiful, but it's a beautiful ride" --Gary Allan
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