3:30 in the Morning

A few years ago, Doug and I were woken up by frantic pounding on our door at about 1 o'clock in the morning. We opened the door to see (and feel) the vacant building across the street completely engulfed in flames. 911 was called, fire department came, the fire was put out, no one got hurt. We found out a few days later that it was set by a couple kids who had attempted the same thing on other abandoned buildings. Scary.

Well, this morning...more pounding on our door. I was woken up by the sound of someone honking and screaming. I woke Doug up and then came the pounding. He went to the door to see what was going on and I stayed in bed trying to listen because frankly, I was a little nervous, my heart pounding. When I couldn't hear his voice anymore I got up and went to the door. Doug wasn't there. He, along with our neighbor, were in the middle of the street flagging down a car. I could see the tail-lights of a car in the ditch across the street. They yelled for me to call 911. I gave the dispatcher all the details that I had. Doug and Joanie (the neighbor) told me that there was a body that had been been thrown from the car. I didn't realize at the time, that he was actually lying in the middle of the road. Doug and Joanie had been flagging down cars to keep him from getting run over. After being on the call for a little while and trying to locate a flashlight, I eventually went over to the body. I was so scared to see what I would find. There he was, lying face down, not moving. But then Joanie said that she had seen him move his foot...HE WAS ALIVE! I ran back inside to grab a blanket because when he got launched from the car, some of his clothes were not in place. When I came back, he had moved from his stomach to his side. We then noticed a large abrasion on his head and face. Doug, Joanie and a trucker whom they had stopped from hitting the man, were at his side. I bent over and tried to get him to respond, asking him his name and telling him that help was on the way. He probably didn't hear me, but to vocalize that, made me feel better. Unfortunately, I smelt alcohol. The paramedics arrived and it was out of our hands. We just sort of stood aside and let everyone do their work. It was like watching an episode of ER unfolding in front of our eyes. We talked to some deputies that were on the scene and slowly made our way back inside.

With things like this...you have to appreciate the timing of it all. Even the little insignificant things, like the fact that Doug fell asleep in his clothes last night, so when I woke him up, he was able to just run outside. That could have been the difference. And you have to understand how important it is to following promptings. You see, our neighbor heard this happen and almost didn't get out of bed. But something inside told her to go. She undoubtedly preserved his life.