FACE TO FACE WITH DEATH

We didn’t need to think twice how to spend winter break. Soon after Christmas we headed to our parents. Although not undergoing operation, mum was still recovering from the big incision. We were thankful for the opportunity to be with mum and dad at that time to support them in every aspect we could. Mum was trying to move our focus from her physical health to her dream. We listened to her and prayed to God to guide her in her decision.

The plan was to go to Branislav’s family, be with them for the New Year and on the way back to Germany spend a few more days with mum and dad. However, it didn’t happen that way.

On the 30 December we took Branislav’s parents and our girls to visit some friends, about 50 km from the village. We left the parents with their friends in Zrenjanin town and went to visit a friend of ours in the village 15 km further.

That winter there was much snow on the ground, but that particular day it was drizzling. It was already dark when we decided to head back, to collect the parents and go home. As we came outside it was so slippery we could hardly keep balance on the way to the car. With the fall of temperature the water on the paths and roads turned into ice.

We were on the country road and there was not much traffic. Suddenly as we came around the bend, to our surprise we saw a pedestrian and in the distance some lights. The road was narrow from the snow pushed to the sides. I got worried and shouted to Branislav, “Be careful.” Branislav instantly stepped on the breaks and completely lost the control of the car.

The car was swayed from one side of the road to the other hitting the snow bank. There was a pedestrian in front of us. I shouted, “God help us!” A cold feeling went through my body, a feeling that our lives won’t be the same; we were facing death.

The next moment the car went over the snow bank. Everything was happening so fast and yet it seemed like I saw it in slow motion. The car was swinging, the branches were hitting the windscreen, and after 10m we stopped upside down on the car roof. Branislav broke the silence, “I’m alive.” I responded, “I’m alive too.” “Miriam, Natasha!” Miriam responded but not Natasha. Fear that Natasha fell out of the car overcame me. “Natasha!” I screamed. And that woke Natasha up.

Branislav was trying to open the door. He stepped on the roof lights and switched them on and we all felt better. The girls were hanging on their seat belts. Branislav opened the door, came out and help us to come out too for the fear that the car might blow up in flames. He went to the road to see what had happened to the pedestrian. I helped the girls to find a safe spot where to wait for us.

25. “THERE IS A GOD”

I saw the most disturbing picture; Branislav leaning over a man lying in the snow on the side of the road and crying, ”I killed a man. I killed a man.” As I came closer I noticed that the man was breathing heavily and he was in shock. “Don’t you see he is alive, don’t scare the man. Take off your jacket and cover him.” I had to order Branislav for I thought he was in shock too.

I quickly had to organise myself. I moved from Branislav and the injured man, called the police and ambulance, and stopped the first passing car. They took Miriam and Natasha inside the car to keep them warm, and in meantime the police and ambulance arrived.

The two police officers directed the paramedics to the injured man, checked Branislav, the girls and me. They moved to our car and when they saw it stuck in the bushes upside down with the smashed glass and us completely intact, one of them said: “There is a God. He protected all of you. On this very road last year 35 people were killed, mostly families.”

We contacted Branislav’s parents. Their friends immediately organised their own friends to put the girls and me up for the night so that Branislav could arrange for the car to be taken back home to the village. We were all shattered by the event and simply couldn’t believe what had happened to us.

It was hard to settle down to sleep that night. When I touched Natasha’s hair I realised that it was full of small pieces of glass, so was Miriam’s and mine. Until late we talked about what had happened and the girls kept on saying, “Imagine mum we could’ve all been killed and the pedestrian too. Before we left, dad came to us and asked us to forgive him for he nearly killed us all. ” Those were hard thoughts to process and the question why did it all have to happen didn’t give me any peace.

Three days later we went back to Zrenjanin to visit the injured pedestrian in the town hospital. We were relieved to find out that he only had a minor knee injury. We also went to see the place where the accident happened. We couldn’t stop thanking the Lord for stopping the car where He did. Only couple of meters further there was a canal with water and if we had landed there it would have been deadly. The car was left in Vojvodina to be repaired and our family flew to Germany grateful that all of us were fine.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 758