A few weeks ago we hopped in the car on a Thursday afternoon to drive to California. I needed to be in San Diego for a work event on Friday, so we decided to take the whole family for the weekend.

Jill was driving so that I could get some work done. Suddenly, she screamed and started to swerve to the left. We were in the left lane on I-10 heading West, just outside of Quartzite. Jill had seen a car in front of us about 100 yards start to turn as if it were doing a u-turn and would be heading back towards us head-on. As I looked up, we saw the car (which turned out to be a truck) roll 3 times off the side of the road. Immediately I yelled at Jill to pull over. As soon as our car came to a stop I told Jill to call 911 as I ran toward the truck. A few steps from our car I heard crying in the bushes about 30 yards from the truck. It sounded like a baby crying. Since Jill is a pediatric nurse, I yelled back to her that there was a baby in the bushes. Once I got over there I realized that it wasn’t a baby at all, but a 24 year old woman who had been ejected from the truck. She was crying & writhing in pain. Blood was streaming from her head, from one ear, and various cuts on her arms and legs. I was concerned about a broken back or neck so I urged her to stay still. Once I determined that she was stable for the time being (and another passerby had stopped to help) I turned to the car where Jill was attending to the lady in the passenger’s seat. As Jill stepped away from the passenger-side window, my heart stopped as I looked into the lifeless face of the woman in the seat. Her eyes were fixed wide open and blood was dripping down her forehead. As I got closer, I realized that she was alive, but she was not aware of what was going on. She obviously had a major head injury and her right wrist was badly broken. After some time, she finally started to come to and was able to talk to us.

Heath was the name of the man driving. Other than some scrapes and bruises, he was fine. He explained to us that he was pulling over when he lost control and the car flipped. The lady in the front seat was his mother and the girl who was ejected was his girlfriends. They were both named Sarah.

After about 30 minutes, two Highway Patrolmen showed up. 10 minutes or so after that, an ambulance showed up and the paramedics began taking over medical care of the two Sarahs. A little while later, two helicopters showed up and the two ladies were airlifted back to Phoenix.

This experience was one of those times that makes you stop and realize that it could all be over in the blink of an eye. Take time today to let your family & friends know you love them. Give service today. Mend an old friendship. Ask for forgiveness. Make another’s day brighter.

You may not have another chance.