The weird things you remember

“"Oh thank you," she said.. wrapping her arms around my neck. The smell of blood as her cheek brushed mine, and then a warm hug, and again the words of thanks.

It was by far, the strangest hug I have ever had.”

“are you trying to tell us something?”

“Been reading lots of Anne Rice, lately?”

“shards of glass and metal.. skid marks on the pavement, all four tires pulled completely off their rims from making two complete 360's in the middle of the Interstate.”

“she thatnked you for running over her?”

“Come on TD if you were a hero for a day you can brag about here.Out with it.”

“you wuld not believe it.. if I told you.. but trust me.. getting a hug from a woman who just hit the windshield hard.. you dont forget it right away.”

“So spill already. The suspense is kill--ing me!”

“TD, I think we need a trip post.”

“her dog was thrown from the vehicle.. and I had to go rescue it.. it was scared.. and took off thru the field.. and was hurt.. so hid where no one could find it.”

“An Afghani cave?”

“lol.. not THAT far.. just in a huge briar path that I had to make me way thru to rescue the dog.. and i should mention SNARLING dog.. cos she never bothered to tell me that the dog doesn't trust anyone.”

“"My dog.. that dog means EVERYthing to me," she said.

"How about your husband, is he going to be all right?"

I looked over at a man, his face nearly covered in blood.. shock evident.. dazed.. not speaking.”

“Unoh, Towndog is having flashbacks. Was the dog's name Charlie?”

“It's good to see she had her priorities straight.”

“deathmarch99: I do wish you guys wuld spell my name right dethmarks99.”

“That's your real name?”

“ya.. first name Town, last name Dawg, no middle initial.”

“sorry 'bout that Dawg.”

“"Oh him? He will be fine, I am just so glad you found my dog for me. I told the police that I was not going on any trip to the hospital until someone found my dog!"”

“I am convinced it was hit and run.. there is no way that car could have been tore up THAT bad without something hitting it.. and I saw the whole thing.. but there were some cars in front of me on the Interstate blocking my view.”

“I had a simular experience and there is even a dog in the story.

OK, so I?m in the back seat on the way home from Talladega and it?s lightly raining. All of a sudden all the cars lock up and split the interstate in two because of stopped traffic. One of the big, big U-hauls towing a car locks them up and is sliding straight towards all the stopped traffic until the car in tow swings the a@@ end around and it?s now sliding down the interstate sideways. It hits the back end of a Bronco and flips over on it?s side. We go down in the ditch to avoid hitting anyone and before the car even stops I?m yelling, ?Oh my G-d! Oh my G-d, we gotta get up there!?. I jump out in my bare feet and run up to the truck, running through broken glass.

I go around to the front of the truck and look into the windshield and all I can see is bodies and eyes as big as plates. I run around to the undercarriage of the truck and begin climbing up on top. Of course I step right on the tail pipe and get a 4? blister on my heal. I didn?t even feel it at the time. I get up on top. There?s oil, water and anti freeze all over the manifold making a lot of smoke and steam and all I can hear is, ?Get us out! It?s on fire! Don?t let us burn up!?

I bend over and open the door to find a mother, two kids and a dog standing up in the cab scared sh!tless yelling, ?Help us! Help us!?. So what?s the first thing the mother does? She hands me the DOG! THE DOG! The thing was bleeding from the mouth and was hurt so I just let it run around on top of the truck while I pulled the people out. Everyone was OK. The strangest thing that stuck in my mind was how bad I felt for the dog and that I was concerned for it. Weird stuff. I got them out while the ambulance was pulling up and just got back in the car and we left.

Talk about a loooong ride home from Alabama! I was paranoid and had so much adrenalin pumping I was shaking like dog sh!tting razor blades for three days. So that is my one good wreck story.

TD I'm glad there are folks like you will stop to help people in need when they need it.”

“I was on my way to the Tennessee-Memphis football game at Knoxville.. and was almost late cos I stopped.. but you know?.. when you SEE the accident.. you feel like you HAVE to stop and do whatever is necessary... at least I do.

It was so weird.. seeing that car COMPLETELY tore all to hell.. and stuff slung all over the Interstate.. and me picking it up.. and going after her danged dog.. which was bound determined to bite me.”

“I was driving on the freeway a couple years back. I saw a Ford Bronco flipping end over end sideways down the median. I glanced back to the road and the air was glittering with broken glass. Traffic came to a stop and a small Hyundai was spinning sideways to the far right lane.

I got out of the car, called 911 on my cell phone and ran to the Bronco. Some guy was crawling out the passenger door which was now facing up. He said he was Ok so I walked across the freeway to the Hyundai. A woman was lying sideways in her seat, looking like she was asleep.

I hung up with 911. As others were trying to get her attention and ask if she was Ok, I reached through the broken window and felt her neck for a pulse. She was overweight and I've never had to take someone's pulse before so it was difficult to find a heartbeat. Eventually I did find the vein and I felt her already weak pulse get weaker with each beat.

The other people helping threw a jacket over thewoman's face and smashed the passenger window to get better access to her. At this point, a woman wearing latex gloves came running over yelling that she was a nurse's assistant and to get out of the way.

Once the nurse's asst. showed up, I couldn't do anything else to help. The paramedics showed up and after trying to resuscitate her for 10 minutes, declared her dead.

It turned out the Hyundai had a tire blow out, which drove her into the Bronco, sending him on his uncontrolled spin onto the median. She bounced toward the middle of the freeway where she was side swiped by a semi which is what killed her. She was a single mom with a 10 year old girl.”

“There was no blood . Just the smell of transmission fluid, anitifreeze and gasoline.”

“Its kinda weird but I always feel worse when an animal is hurt, unless it is kids then I lose it at the station. I can distance myself from adults for some reason but not kids or animals. Glad you all stop, its hard to find good help on an accident scene anymore.”

“Note to BaSO4: Do not drive or ride in a Ford Bronco.”

“about 7 years ago, i was hit by a drunk lady, doing about 70mph. she spilled her beer and her kid was scared sh!tless.

dumb f#ckin' b!tch.”

“BaSO4 -- just to highlight your note to self, a Bronco almost got my brother. He was one of four in the thing on their way to BP in Big Bend NP when the Bronco flipped and rolled out in the middle of Texas nowhereland. All the camping gear got thrown around the interior on top of your usual dangers. As a former Navy corpsman, he scrambled around taking care of the other three while waiting for EMS. When they showed up they told him to sit down so they could treat the gash that ran from his scalp line diagonally across forehead, nose and cheek -- which he hadn't much noticed to that point. Even after several plastic surgeries, he still has a scar, though much fainter than before. Seeing an old Bronco on the highway makes me twitchy.”

“Bob Marshall Wilderness
1984

The weather was nice and the night was warm so I didn't set up a tent, just slept under the stars and full moon.

I awoke in the middle of the night looking up at a large furry belly. I quickly realized an adult cow elk had straddled my sleeping bag and was browsing contentedly next to my head. I laid there quietly for a long time (OK, maybe paralyzed with fear!) and she slowly moved off into the night.”

“Good thing she didn't pizzle on ya.”