![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
My phone buzzed as I was on my way home from class. I glanced at the screen; it was Devon. "What's up?" I asked.
"Dad, I've been in a wreck."
It's the call every parent hates to get -- and which every parent generally will eventually receive. Your throat closes, your heart rate accelerates, you feel the pusle pounding in your temples. "You OK?"
"Banged up a little. My back's sore. But I'm all right."
The pulse backs down a few digits, The temple pounding recedes, The heart decides it's going to stay in the ribcage for the time being...
Devon had been on his way to visit his grilfriend at Earlham College, on 27 heading into Oxford, OH -- 27 is a two lane state highway, with a speed limit of 50. He was about 30 minutes from home when a school bus two vehicles ahead stopped to let out kids. The car behind the bus stopped, Devon stopped.
The car behind Devon, driven by a Miami student, didn't. She plowed into Devon with her SUV, pushing his Jetta into the car in front. The bus, thankfully, wasn't hit in turn.
I stopped at home for a minute to drop off my school stuff and computer, then headed off to pick up Devon, since the car wasn't drivable. I called Devon back to see how things were going; he said his neck and shoulder were hurting; he'd been planning to drive back down here with the tow truck operator. I told him no; he needed to get to an ER and get checked out. So the Butler County sheriff transported him to the hospital in Oxford, and I headed up there.
I'll skip the details. The bottom line is that the X-rays were fine; he's bruised and will probably feel worse today than he did last night. The car's still up there -- the tow truck guy told Devon he thinks the frame's bent and the car's probably totaled, so towing it all the way down here is a waste of money -- we'll have the insurance people go up there and make the assessment.
In the end, the car doesn't matter. It's just metal and plastic. What matters is Devon.
And I hope it's a long time before we have that phone call again... "Never" would be acceptable.
"Dad, I've been in a wreck."
It's the call every parent hates to get -- and which every parent generally will eventually receive. Your throat closes, your heart rate accelerates, you feel the pusle pounding in your temples. "You OK?"
"Banged up a little. My back's sore. But I'm all right."
The pulse backs down a few digits, The temple pounding recedes, The heart decides it's going to stay in the ribcage for the time being...
Devon had been on his way to visit his grilfriend at Earlham College, on 27 heading into Oxford, OH -- 27 is a two lane state highway, with a speed limit of 50. He was about 30 minutes from home when a school bus two vehicles ahead stopped to let out kids. The car behind the bus stopped, Devon stopped.
The car behind Devon, driven by a Miami student, didn't. She plowed into Devon with her SUV, pushing his Jetta into the car in front. The bus, thankfully, wasn't hit in turn.
I stopped at home for a minute to drop off my school stuff and computer, then headed off to pick up Devon, since the car wasn't drivable. I called Devon back to see how things were going; he said his neck and shoulder were hurting; he'd been planning to drive back down here with the tow truck operator. I told him no; he needed to get to an ER and get checked out. So the Butler County sheriff transported him to the hospital in Oxford, and I headed up there.
I'll skip the details. The bottom line is that the X-rays were fine; he's bruised and will probably feel worse today than he did last night. The car's still up there -- the tow truck guy told Devon he thinks the frame's bent and the car's probably totaled, so towing it all the way down here is a waste of money -- we'll have the insurance people go up there and make the assessment.
In the end, the car doesn't matter. It's just metal and plastic. What matters is Devon.
And I hope it's a long time before we have that phone call again... "Never" would be acceptable.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
From:
no subject
Trusting man.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
Glad
From:
no subject
Earlham and Miami are both in my neck of the woods.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Kari
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
(I've had to *make* that call a couple of times. It went like this, "Mum? Hi. I'm completely fine - totally great - but I crashed my motorbike." I have no idea whether saying that I was fine first helped, but I figured it couldn't hurt. The next words out of her mouth were, of course, "Are you okay? No wait, you just said you were. All right. How are you?")
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Yeah. You don't realize just how OMG you can get until you have a kid get in peril. VERY glad to hear that he's OK.
From:
no subject
Please do get him into a chiropractor so that he doesn't end up with long-term damage from this. The insurance ought to pay for it.
K.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
John
From:
no subject
When Leslie had her car accident, I was working a contract job and I had left my phone in the car that morning. *sigh* I worked on a system where the Subject of an incoming E-mail popped into status line. The message from Jim was "Leslie's been in a car accident - she's OK"
She's had some problem with dizziness since the accident though (Jan 07). Sometimes, they can shake you up in ways you don't expect. The hospital was very nice, but they kept her on a back board for nearly two solid hours.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
But we'll have to face it sooner or later. I remember one of my coworkers saying once years ago that the worst part of parenthood is when your kids start to drive. I've known that this stage of my life is coming for years but that doesn't help.
I'm so glad he's okay.
From:
oh, boy.
Next time you see him, give him a big hug from us. (carefully, please)
We haven't had 'this' call yet, but oh, boy.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
From:
no subject