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Arkansas Adventures

if you're friends with me on facebook, then you may have heard, but....here's what happened to me lately So this was an interesting weekend, to say the least! First of all, friday was amazing! Mom and I drove up to Pine Bluff that morning after I overslept, of course, and spoke with Ms Frankie at Meadowbrook apartments. They look very nice, and are definitely where I will be if Tatum can't get out of wherever they put her. Anyway, we went on to meet Clint at Entergy, and he gave me a tour and such. It was very fun, and I had a terrific time meeting everyone and getting to know pine bluff and little rock. Mom and I wandered around Little Rock and toured the old state house and walked along the river. We all met back up and ate an amazing supper, before going back to our wonderful hotel. I mean, I felt very spoiled, lol. Well, Saturday, we woke up to rain. Rain rain and more rain. I mean, some of the hardest downpour I've experienced in a long time. We went to the mall, since it was too wet for much else, and I spent too much money and had a lot of fun. I also went and ate at Lilly's DimSum Then Some, which was amazing. Well, we weren't sure what to do after that. I mean, the weather was horrid, there were tornado watches to the south of us, just a mess. So we finally decided we'd go for it, and the drive was very scary. The roads were so wallered out, it would have been very easy to hydroplane. And in a lot of places, there was no shoulder, just huge ditches full of water, if you'd gone off the road it would have been a week before anyone found you! We were about 10 miles outside of Fordyce, in the middle of nowhere, when we saw 2 18wheelers on the side of the road going opposite of us. There was also a truck pulled over going where we were headed. We got up closer and saw a nice white suv crumpled into a tree in the woods on the side of the road. Well, I still had towels in my car from a pool party a while back that got rained out, so we pulled over and I ripped my belt off in case they needed it and ran down the hill with a towel. I went back up for a second one and about that time the truck drivers were pulling a 5 year old girl out of the car. I handed the towel to someone and took the girl and put her in my front seat, wrapped her up and told her it would all be ok. As I was doing that my mom gasped and I looked back and saw them carry a limp 2 year old girl out of the car. I don't know how they got her out of there, the car was destroyed, but they managed. Her car seat had flown off of the back seat, and she did not look in good shape. We laid her down in my back seat and mom jumped out and got back there to support her head. We tried to keep her breathing, mom was blowing in her face and rubbing her sternum, but here eyes were rolled back in her head. She eventually started whimpering, so that was good. About that time a nurse pulled over and got in with mom and kept the baby awake. There was no cell signal, and the ambulance was taking forever. The husband (who was driving), was frantic, as could be expected, and was screaming "I think I've lost my wife!". The nurse decided that if we didn't get that girl to the hospital right away, we'd lose her, so we decided to drive. It was still pouring down rain, mom drove and I got in the back with the baby. I kept having to wake her back up and make sure she was breathing, and it was very scary. About the time we got to the Podunk hospital, she was really scaring us and not waking up easily at all. They came to get her, and started to pick her up before mom yelled at them to go get a board, and don't they dare pick her up without one. So they got a papoose board and put her on it and got her inside. All the attention went to the 2 year old. I went inside and the dad was holding the 5 year old as the administrator took him to fill out paperwork. He was so broken up, mom took the girl from him and we went to sit with him while he frantically tried to get everything signed so that he could see his family. His wife was put in a wheelchair, which was dumb, because she got the brunt of the accident, and she was complaining she couldn't breathe and her neck hurt, and her collarbone was obviously broken. They had no phones, so they used ours to call their family. We sat in the room with the 5 year old and the wife, who were both very upset, while the husband looked after the 2 year old. Eventually, the 2 year old was shipped to Children's in little rock, the dad went with her, and the family arrived soon after to look after the wife and other daughter. We warned them that neither had been looked at, and they needed attention. The wife went to another hospital, and ended up having a broken collar bone, broken every rib on that side, and a punctured lung. They are all going to make it, thank God. It was very scary though! We were there for a long time though, because we couldn't just leave them there alone. We got on the road again at about 7:30, and when we got to El Dorado we had to pull over because the rain was so horrid. I called laurie and she checked the weather for us and said to go hunker down for an hour or so because there were tornadoes and bad bad weather. So we went and ate dinner. Our server was obviously shaken, so we asked what was wrong. It turned out she had gotten in a wreck at 4 that day, when a truck hydroplaned and ran into her. She had to go to the hospital to get checked out, which made her late for work. She had to come in, because they said they'd fire her if she didn't. So we told her what had just happened to us, and she ended up giving us free dessert, which was nice of her. We gave her a big hug before we left, and made it home with no further scares. But yeah, that's what happened to me this weekend. I don't have anymore blood in my car, but my backseat is stained a little. I guess it's a badge of honor, lol. Just please, if you're driving in the rain, be careful!!! I would hate for that to happen to any one of yall!

Krickette Sun, 05/03/2009 - 23:08

It was so weird! Like, my heart was going 90 to nothing, but mom said she was really impressed with how calm I was. I tried to help the 5 year old as much as I could, and talked to her about her friends and if she had any pets (she had one fish and it died, and I told her not to worry, it happens to the best of us, lol!)
I kept checking in on the dad, who was starting to crash from the adrenaline, and convinced him to put on a dry shirt. One of the pastors that had come to visit asked if they needed anything, and I told him clothes, because they were all shivering and soaked to the bone. I was impressed, the mayor of Fordyce came out to check on them. That hospital was the pits though, there might have been 4 people working there.

lipigirl Mon, 05/04/2009 - 08:14

Well done you !!! I have been a first aider for 11 yrs and it can be very scary but you kept your calm and kept the child calm too which is a major achievement. If you are anything like me, you will be great whilst the adrenaline is pumping but may find in a day or so it catches up with you so watch out and give yourself a major pat on the back. :D

vneerland Mon, 05/04/2009 - 09:54

:o You GO girl! Doing al the right things at the right time, that is not gift that everyone possesses. My utmost admiration.
I was 'that little girl' once. And I still see the lady, who looked after me before the ambulances arrived, in my head. I wished I could have told her "thank you" myself. So on behalf of the girls and the (no doubt distraught) parents. Thank you Krickette. You were the right angel at the right place that day. 8-)

Krickette Mon, 05/04/2009 - 12:44

Aww, thanks y'all. I just did what I think anyone would have done, had they been in my situation.
And we have been in contact with a few people since the accident, and now we have the family's address, so my mom is making a care package for them. In it she's going to write a letter detailing what we saw, and who all stopped to help (the drivers of the 18 wheelers were the ones who pulled the girls out of the car, but not even my mom remembered that), etc. I mean, they might not want to read it right away, but in the future, they might be curious as to what happened.
And we're also putting in some things for the girls, for the 5 year old, we're trying to think of an animal that represents bravery (my only good idea is a lion), with a little certificate of bravery for her, and for the 2 year old, we want something tenacious, so I'm thinking a bulldog (not just because it's my school mascot and I have access to tons of bulldog plushies, lol). something like http://www.zeldawisdom.com/index.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; would still be ok for a little girl, huh?
I dunno, if yall have a better idea, let me know

TwinCreeksFarm Mon, 05/04/2009 - 15:00

Dang Krickette! What a day. Glad everything turned out okay, atleast better than it could have gone. :?

Krickette Mon, 05/04/2009 - 18:35

Got some more info today.
The two year old has a fracture behind her ear (or something like that, i was in the library when my mom told me), and she has not spoken a word since the accident, which has them worried. But it might just be because she's traumatized, and still has not gotten to see her mother.
The 5 year old got a clean bill of health though.

Krickette Wed, 05/06/2009 - 20:05

Found out some info today. The 2 year old was released yesterday.
The wife was in serious trouble. I CANNOT BELIEVE that they just stuck her in a wheelchair and ignored her. The fact that those truck drivers managed to get her out of that mangled car without shifting her and killing her amazes me.
Here's the list of injuries that I can remember.
Broken shoulderblade, collar bone, every rib on her right side, punctured right lung, completely blew out her right knee, fractured right ankle, and the real topper: Fractured C2 vertebrae. That's a hangman's fracture. If she'd shifted wrong....she would not be here. She's having scans done today to test bloodflow to the brain.
keep this family in your prayers/warm fuzzy thoughts, they aren't out of the woods yet.