Friday the 5th of May 2017, my sister came to visit me to show me her new kitten she rescued; he was merely 2 or 3 days old. If she hadn’t decided impulsively to wait by my doorstep, I might not have seen her before the accident. She came over with the kitten and was bubbling over with joy and pride. We arranged for her to come visit me again or sleepover on Saturday the 6th, so we could introduce my three Labradors to her sweet kitten again. Little did I know I will I never see her again.
During our hour and 15 minutes visit on Friday, she told me she needs to go to a sport day the following day and she wasn’t up for it at all. I encouraged her to tell her superiors that she can no longer go (since she didn’t want to go from the start) and she then said she had already made arrangements so she didn’t want to change her plans.
I assumed they were going with a school bus since she hadn’t asked me to drive her there, and I was always her designated driver ever since I got my license back in 2012. I always took her where she needed to go, whether I wanted to or not. But there wasn’t a school bus. She drove with a fellow teacher.
On Saturday the 6th of May, my boyfriend and I decided to go for a walk on a farm just outside of town. The last time we’ve been there was with my Sister and her boyfriend December 2016. As we’re sitting outside, an ambulance drove by, we knew an accident had happened we just weren’t aware that THAT accident would change our lives. A few minutes passed after we heard the ambulances’ sirens and suddenly my boyfriend received a call from his cousin whom he rarely speaks to. She informed him of the accident that had happened a while ago and she confused my sister for me, thinking I was in the car. My boyfriend confirmed that I was sitting right next to him. She then told him we should phone my parents just in case. He delivered the news to me and I immediately said: “my sister won’t be in the car since she had gone with the school bus.” I phoned my mom afterwards and the call went as follow:
Me: “Mom, where is my sister?”
Mom: “I don’t know, it’s odd, she should have been in town by now. I’m struggling to get a hold of her since her phone is on voicemail as is everyone else’s.”
My heart sunk in my chest as I asked her-
Me: “Mom, who did she drive with?”
Mom: “Frank Streicher, why?”
I just started weeping over the phone uncontrollably. She asked me to calm down and I just couldn’t. I muttered: “Frank Streicher has just been in an accident…”
Within 5 minutes, my boyfriend and I drove to the crime scene, which was strange enough only like three minutes away from where we have been all this time. It felt like we were driving for hours. We were supposed to wait for my mom and meet them there but I just couldn’t wait. I have never prayed as hard as I prayed in that car. I wanted to believe that she wasn’t in the car. That she arranged to drive with someone else.
As we came closer to the scene, there were lines of cars with their hazards on. My boyfriend hasn’t even parked the car yet but as he slowed down, I stepped out of the car and ran towards where the car was being crushed by an enormous truck. After 4 years of not doing cardio, I’d say I would’ve won the race still. It felt miles and miles away but I finally reached the car. Paramedics were standing on the side of the road and I immediately began to question their work ethic. Why weren’t they doing anything? Why weren’t they trying to help the people stuck in the car? I wanted to step in and see what I could do. I approached the car as it was lying on its side, I tried to get up unto the car but I couldn’t.
My mom and stepdad showed up a while later, it felt like hours before they arrived. My mom came up to where I was standing, beside the car; she got a torch light from one of the paramedics and began inspecting the car. She couldn’t see anything. She climbed up unto the side of the car and said: “Your sister is in the car. I can only see her shoes.” I didn’t accept it. I told her that it can be anyone’s shoes. She saw her shoe and a part of her lower leg and tried to make me believe that she was in the car. I knew she was… I just didn’t want it to be true.
We stood there looking at the crushed car, with a 24 tyre truck weighing over 20 tons, I still had a little bit of hope that my sister survived. The service was pathetic. We waited for 4 hours + for the towing company to come and attempt to remove the truck from the car. It was a fail. They had to flip over the car and cut the metal in order to get to the passengers.
My mom stood by as they worked hard to open up the car and retrieve the passengers, I was told to stand on the opposite side of the road with the rest of the family since I was emotionally unstable to say the least. I wasn’t in any position to have seen my sister like that. I do regret not standing by since I still have a lot of unanswered questions.
My mom came up to me to confirm that my sister was in the car. She asked me if I wanted to see her. I said no. But I did want to hold her hand. I went up to the body bag; my mom took out her hand for me. I held it and cried. I told her that I loved her and that I was sorry if I wasn’t too friendly the previous day when I saw her. I didn’t want to let go. I wanted to stay with her. I asked my mom if we could just take her home for the night. I didn’t want to leave her. After a short while of holding her cold hand and cleaning off the dirt and loose pieces of skin on her fingers, someone came over to ask us to leave since they needed to take photographs. I wouldn’t let go. My mom and boyfriend had to pick me up and take me away. I felt devastated for leaving her. I wanted to be with her!
That was the day my life changed. The day I changed. The day I lost my sister…
During our hour and 15 minutes visit on Friday, she told me she needs to go to a sport day the following day and she wasn’t up for it at all. I encouraged her to tell her superiors that she can no longer go (since she didn’t want to go from the start) and she then said she had already made arrangements so she didn’t want to change her plans.
I assumed they were going with a school bus since she hadn’t asked me to drive her there, and I was always her designated driver ever since I got my license back in 2012. I always took her where she needed to go, whether I wanted to or not. But there wasn’t a school bus. She drove with a fellow teacher.
On Saturday the 6th of May, my boyfriend and I decided to go for a walk on a farm just outside of town. The last time we’ve been there was with my Sister and her boyfriend December 2016. As we’re sitting outside, an ambulance drove by, we knew an accident had happened we just weren’t aware that THAT accident would change our lives. A few minutes passed after we heard the ambulances’ sirens and suddenly my boyfriend received a call from his cousin whom he rarely speaks to. She informed him of the accident that had happened a while ago and she confused my sister for me, thinking I was in the car. My boyfriend confirmed that I was sitting right next to him. She then told him we should phone my parents just in case. He delivered the news to me and I immediately said: “my sister won’t be in the car since she had gone with the school bus.” I phoned my mom afterwards and the call went as follow:
Me: “Mom, where is my sister?”
Mom: “I don’t know, it’s odd, she should have been in town by now. I’m struggling to get a hold of her since her phone is on voicemail as is everyone else’s.”
My heart sunk in my chest as I asked her-
Me: “Mom, who did she drive with?”
Mom: “Frank Streicher, why?”
I just started weeping over the phone uncontrollably. She asked me to calm down and I just couldn’t. I muttered: “Frank Streicher has just been in an accident…”
Within 5 minutes, my boyfriend and I drove to the crime scene, which was strange enough only like three minutes away from where we have been all this time. It felt like we were driving for hours. We were supposed to wait for my mom and meet them there but I just couldn’t wait. I have never prayed as hard as I prayed in that car. I wanted to believe that she wasn’t in the car. That she arranged to drive with someone else.
As we came closer to the scene, there were lines of cars with their hazards on. My boyfriend hasn’t even parked the car yet but as he slowed down, I stepped out of the car and ran towards where the car was being crushed by an enormous truck. After 4 years of not doing cardio, I’d say I would’ve won the race still. It felt miles and miles away but I finally reached the car. Paramedics were standing on the side of the road and I immediately began to question their work ethic. Why weren’t they doing anything? Why weren’t they trying to help the people stuck in the car? I wanted to step in and see what I could do. I approached the car as it was lying on its side, I tried to get up unto the car but I couldn’t.
My mom and stepdad showed up a while later, it felt like hours before they arrived. My mom came up to where I was standing, beside the car; she got a torch light from one of the paramedics and began inspecting the car. She couldn’t see anything. She climbed up unto the side of the car and said: “Your sister is in the car. I can only see her shoes.” I didn’t accept it. I told her that it can be anyone’s shoes. She saw her shoe and a part of her lower leg and tried to make me believe that she was in the car. I knew she was… I just didn’t want it to be true.
We stood there looking at the crushed car, with a 24 tyre truck weighing over 20 tons, I still had a little bit of hope that my sister survived. The service was pathetic. We waited for 4 hours + for the towing company to come and attempt to remove the truck from the car. It was a fail. They had to flip over the car and cut the metal in order to get to the passengers.
My mom stood by as they worked hard to open up the car and retrieve the passengers, I was told to stand on the opposite side of the road with the rest of the family since I was emotionally unstable to say the least. I wasn’t in any position to have seen my sister like that. I do regret not standing by since I still have a lot of unanswered questions.
My mom came up to me to confirm that my sister was in the car. She asked me if I wanted to see her. I said no. But I did want to hold her hand. I went up to the body bag; my mom took out her hand for me. I held it and cried. I told her that I loved her and that I was sorry if I wasn’t too friendly the previous day when I saw her. I didn’t want to let go. I wanted to stay with her. I asked my mom if we could just take her home for the night. I didn’t want to leave her. After a short while of holding her cold hand and cleaning off the dirt and loose pieces of skin on her fingers, someone came over to ask us to leave since they needed to take photographs. I wouldn’t let go. My mom and boyfriend had to pick me up and take me away. I felt devastated for leaving her. I wanted to be with her!
That was the day my life changed. The day I changed. The day I lost my sister…
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