What a day yesterday was. I was going to write last night, but after everything that happened all I could do after Jeff left my house was pass out. Ala and I left the house at 7:30 to go to Waterville Valley so I could teach her to ski. It had been snowing all night and was still snowing in the morning. The roads were snow covered but I figured the highways would be better. Anyway, driving in the snow didn't scare me, as long as you don't drive fast usually nothing bad happens. I was going to take my car (the Honda CRV) but the wipers were acting up so we took my dad's Acura Integra instead.
93 North was okay in terms of plowing until we hit New Hampshire. Then it hardly looked like they treated the roads at all. We had been going about 50 but slowed down to about 30-40 miles an hour as the visibility was getting worse. We were happily listening and singing along to the Beatles and passed bridge 9 near Derry. Suddenly the air cleared out a bit and a couple hundred feet in front of me I saw 10 or so cars piled up in front of me. I hit the brakes gently so I wouldn't spin out and pressed down harder as we got closer and closer to the cars, but it was no use, we couldn't stop completely in time. I was down to maybe 5 mph when I hit one car, then not even a second later we were hit from behind by another car, and then another until we were turned sideways facing the right guard rail. I looked around to get my bearings and for a split second i thought, maybe we'll be able to drive off still... But I looked over Ala's shoulder and saw a car coming straight for her door, seemingly full speed. Maybe it was just gut instinct, I don't know, but I slammed on the gas and drove into the guard rail and the oncoming car hit our back door instead of her and the windows shattered. That last hit really got us and Ala was starting to cry and I saw her reach for her handle (her door was facing the middle of the highway). I yelled at her and told her to stop because I saw the huge red truck that we passed earlier coming towards our cluster of cars, sliding out of control. "Take off your seatbelt!" and I grabbed her hand and we crawled out our door and jumped over the guard rail and ran into the woods; our car then suffered its fourth hit by the 18-wheeler.
I called 911 right away, then my parents, and then Jeff. It wasn't until I was on the phone with Jeff that it all started to hit me and I started crying but reiterated the fact that both Ala and I were okay. He offered to come get us but I told him to stay home because I knew it would be several hours until we could get out of that mess. After a few hours we went off in the ambulance to go to CMC in Manchester for X-rays, but luckily they turned out negative for any vertebrae damage. Overall I'm just glad that Ala and I are okay, and that no one died in this pile-up. It really was remarkable that nothing serious happened aside broken bones. Almost every car involved was damaged beyond repair, including ours. Even though it was a terrible situation, everything worked out okay and resolved itself. It reaffirmed my cliche belief that everything happens for a reason. Ala and I met so many great individuals and the hospitality that we encountered from people was unbelievable. Maybe my faith in humanity is restored? We met so many nice people and in those few hours learned countless life stories. Yesterday showed me how well people can work together in a very bad situation, and the selflessness of others and what they are willing to do for people. We made a friend from Harvard named Brian, and the quote from his interview perfectly describes how I feel. He was in the car next to ours.
"I see this big 18-wheeler coming at me, sliding," said Brian Milosavljevic, who dove down an embankment to avoid the truck bearing down upon him. "I can say that I'm going to have the image of an 18-wheeler coming at me full speed, out of control, for the rest of my life."
It was a haunting day, but I'm going to try to not let it affect my life. I'm still going to ski. I'm still going to drive in the snow. I'm still going to listen to the Beatles. I'm still going to drive on 93. After talking to Jeff last night (while I had a bit of a breakdown, as everything started settling down and I began to reflect) I realize now that I did everything I could, and I made the best of the situation. I can't keep thinking "what if" and just accept reality. Nothing matters other than me and Ala are all right, and I saved her from potentially very bad injuries. I'm just really thankful that my life didn't change in a major way, other than giving me a fresh perspective and a newfound thankfulness for those that love me.
Low quality picture, but if you look for the red hat and the white hat, that's me and Ala. I was on the phone at the time.
A very common sight.
This is near the back of the pile up, it looks like they had started to clear things out. We were up in front of the big red 18-wheeler.
One of the articles: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/18456869/detail.html?rss=bos&psp=news#
