Triumphs and Tragedies

For UEA weekend, we decided to return to our new favorite spot, Lava Hot Springs. We went up Thursday and spent the night, returning home on Friday.

We went with our good friends, the Williams and celebrated Matt W.'s 41'st birthday while we were there. We spent as much time in the hot pools as we could stand and spent the rest of the time just chillin' and watching movies and eating, eating, eating. (Take note: Indiana Jones was barely worth the dollar I spent to rent it! How sad is that? But it was good for a pathetic chuckle or two.)

On Friday, the Williams left around 11am to get the boys home for a scout camp out. We stayed a little longer and decided to challenge ourselves to a hike up to the L on the mountain. I've never hiked the Y or the G or any of the numerous letters on the mountains in Utah, but now I've hiked two letters in Idaho! (We also hiked M Mountain at our family reunion in July). Let me tell you, it was nearly straight up at times. But the kids were just going for it and never complained once. When we reached it, we sat just inside the bottom right corner of the L and took in the view. (If you click on the mountain picture to enlarge it, you can see the L). It was

(counting train cars as they passed)

breathtaking and we felt downright triumphant having made it all the way. However, we now had the dilemma of how to get back down! There was no way we could go down the same way we came up. We finally decided to scale around the side of the mountain and hope for a less steep decline. We indeed found one on the other side and safely made it down.

Unfortunately, about a 1/2 hour into to our trip home, we witnessed a terrible tragedy. I had just laid my head down to nap. Matt was on his cell phone, when I heard him take in a quick sharp breath and step on the brakes. I popped up just in time to see a moose crossing right in front of us as Matt brought the car to a stop, pulling onto the left shoulder at the same time. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief at our close call when I realized the moose still had another lane to cross before he made it all the way across. I was just about to check for another car coming up on our right when a small sedan came speeding past (the speed limit is 75 in this area). My heart sunk as I realized was was happening. The driver did not even have time to apply her brakes when she slammed directly into the moose. The moose ripped right through the car, peeling off the top of the car, flying over the top and skidding another 30 or 40 feet. I screamed and immediately jumped out of the car. Matt started yelling at me, afraid that I was going to get hit as I crossed. I assured him I was watching and yelled back for him to call 911. All I could think was that I had to get there and help! I didn't see how anyone had survived it, and yet I couldn't stop from hoping they had. As I approached the vehicle, I could see that the driver was alive. She was covered in blood and was looking at the passenger and screaming hysterically, "Rachael! Rachael!" I looked at the passenger and knew immediately that she was gone. I will spare you the details, but I pray that I will never see anything that devastating again. I couldn't get the driver door open, so I just reached in and tried to hold the driver's head and told her we'd help her.

Matt, meanwhile finished with 911 and pulled our car over to the right shoulder and up far enough away that the kids couldn't see the worst of it. He began to get towels and blankets out of the car to bring them back. I looked over at the passenger again, and saw someone was there, checking for a pulse. I looked up and saw it was a man sobbing, his face just wet with tears. Someone else had yanked open the driver's door by now and the man then came around to the driver and told her he was a doctor and he wanted to check her. He checked her chest and neck. I then heard him softly tell her, "It's okay, sweetheart. My daughter died the same way." My heart just broke as I realized he was reliving his own tragedy.

We eventually got the driver out of the car, wrapped her in the blanket and found out her name was Lisa. Matt covered up Rachael's body with a towel, while we waited for emergency vehicles. We asked her if we could call someone for her and then I remembered seeing her cell phone on the bottom of the car floor. I went and dug it out and she called her mom in Minnesota. I've never heard anything sadder than her having to tell her mom what happened and that her cousin was dead. She had to keep repeating it because I'm sure her mom just wasn't taking it all in. We found out they were students at BYU Idaho. She then called her bishop from school and told him what happened. He told her he would drive to Pocatello and meet her at the hospital. The emergency crews finally arrived and began to prep her for transport. Before they took her, I told her, "Lisa, I need you to know, I saw the whole thing, and there wasn't anything you could have done differently. This wasn't your fault in any way." About 45 minutes later, when Matt and I finally made it back to our vehicle, our children were visibly upset. I wasn't sure if they had actually witnessed the event because I bailed out of the car so fast, but unfortunately, they had. We said a family prayer of gratitude for our safety and for a blessing of comfort and peace for Lisa and Rachael's families. We then finished our journey home.

Part of me wonders why we had to be there to witness this horrific event. And part of me is so glad we were there to offer any help or comfort that we could. It seems like our family has been reminded so many times over the last couple of years of the fragility of life. It takes just a split second for a tragedy to occur. I just pray these incidences remind us to cherish our relationships and to value each moment of our lives and to have a heart full of thanksgiving to our Father in Heaven for the bounty of blessings we have been given.

(The pictures of the accident were from the news story posted that evening.)
http://www.localnews8.com/Global/story.asp?S=9196810&nav=menu554_2_2