The Day that Never Ended

Yesterday has a series of words to describe all of the events, but out of everything that occurred, I am overall so thankful and praising God that even though it was a tough situation, he kept us under his wings of protection. It all began a few days ago when Chris, Karen, Katelyn, Kathleen, and I made the seven hour trek back down to Yaoundé to pick up the current sea shipment that had finally arrived. It was an uneventful trip down to the city. We stayed with a kind family, had nice food, and good conversation.

It was time for us to head back to Bamenda. We packed up the car and we were all set to go. The first six hours had been a peaceful drive. The sky was not too cloudy, so we were able to see the tall mountains all around us. The road was full of cars and pedestrians walking to and from their farms. In the car we were all enjoying each other’s company. Chris was going the normal speed and was as always being a cautious driver. We got to a part where it was a long strip of straight road. There was a lady on the left side of the road crossing over, she had made her way successfully over the left side, and she was ready to bolt over to the right side of traffic, our side. The lady saw us coming, and instead of backing away she ran forward and leaped into our truck. She slammed into the right side, causing our hood to move all the way back. The Cameroonian lady slammed into the truck and then rolled for many yards on the side of the road. She ended up rolling into a deep embankment.

All of us in the car went into shock. Chris slammed onto his brakes causing us to skid to the other lane. Luckily there were no oncoming cars, so we were safe. Chris quickly reversed back to the lady who was just lying on the side of the road. He got as close to her as he could and we all jumped out of the car; I saw her lying on the stomach, motionless. I went into deep shock…not only was I in shock to see the lady slam into the car, but to see her lying motionless on the side of road, covered in blood…it caused me to just stop. I stopped thinking, I stopped breathing. Karen immediately ran over to the lady and put her fingers on her neck to check the pulse.. by the way she was lying there, it appeared that she was dead. Karen stood there for many seconds and she yelled “There is a pulse..she is still alive!” Karen backed up as many Cameroonians came running over to the lady. Many of the people grabbed palm branches and they began to fan her, some women began to wail. The lady on the ground was still out cold..a few seconds later she lifted her head, as she lifted her head blood began to pour out of her face from all over. Many of the people turned to Chris and Karen and said that it was okay, they saw the whole accident and they knew that it was not our fault. But as more people began pulling over (buses, trucks, taxi’s), people began to get a little vocal. Many of them were speaking in their native tongues, so it was difficult to know if they were just yelling because of the scene, or if they were angry. Karen noticed that it was kind of getting messy, so she ordered Katelyn, me, and Kathleen back into the truck. We were to lock the doors and not really make any eye contact with anyone. The three of us girls were in shock, so after the orders were repeated to us a few times, we jumped into the car and locked the doors. We were surrounded; people continued to run over to the scene to see what had happened. The wailing began to get louder..the three of us wrapped our arms around each other and just held one another.

The lady eventually was able to sit up, her clothes were ripped, and she had an enormous lump on her face. She repeated many of her phrases over and over; I was assuming that she had a major concussion. I was actually even surprised that she was even alive…the impact that she had made with the truck was major, it was such a hard hit she caused damage to the front bumper of the truck…which is pretty much made of solid steel. Karen unlocked one of the doors and climbed in. She explained to us that the three of us were going to get a ride with a very nice man who was going to follow the truck to the Hospital. We were to get all of our bags and make room in the back seat for the lady. We quickly got everything out and got into a tiny car.

Village men lifted the lady into the Jackson’s truck. The man driving our car followed the truck to the hospital. The man in our car spoke to us in French; but we responded that we did not speak French so he began to speak to us in pigeon telling us everything was going to be okay. The three of us sat in complete silence. We were worried…worried for the lady who was hurt badly, and worried for Chris. Being in a different country, you never know how the authorities will deal with the accident, you just never know.

Eventually we made it to the Hospital. People who saw the two cars filled with white men, it caused many to congregate at the front of the Hospital..to see what was going on. Nurses came with a stretcher and opened the door where the lady was slumped over. She had managed to get out of the car. She was standing covered in scratches and blood looking at the stretcher asking over and over, “Why? Why? Why? Why?” the nurses told her that she was going to be lifted onto the stretcher. They eventually got her on and carried her away. A man who works for Wycliffe and a local pastor from the village we were in came to help Chris. Chris went into the administration of the Hospital to tell what happened to the doctors and he waited for the police to come. The man from Wycliffe said that he could take us girls back to Bamenda. We all grabbed our things and piled into another car.

We eventually got back to the house. The four of us were still in shock. We still did not believe what had happened. Karen told us that it is important that we talk about what happened and we share with family members what happened, so that we can get out our emotions and not keep everything in. She said if we need to cry, just let it all out. We all sat around and watched Modern Family to cheer our spirits. We waited anxiously to hear from Chris on what the current situation was. He called a few hours later saying he was making his way home.

An hour or so passed and he made it back to the house. He told us that the lady as of right now was still alive. They were going to do all of the scans, and procedures that needed to be done. He was taken by the police back to the place where the accident happened, the police investigated and marked the places of events. Chris met with the family, gave them some money, and went back to the police area to fill out a statement.

This morning we have received no word on the status of the lady, but please keep her in your prayers.

It was a tough day yesterday, but the more we looked back on the events and discussed it we realized that God had us in his hands. Luckily after we hit the lady there was no oncoming traffic…had there been, we would have been hit head on. There were kind people around right after the accident saying that we would be okay and they helped us out. We did not know how we were going to get the lady to the Hospital because we three kids were sitting in the back seat…but out of the kindness of a man’s heart he said that he would take us girls over the hospital. God provided us with the man who worked for Wycliffe to take us out of the Hospital and to get away from the accident; God had kept Chris safe as he was dealing with the aftermath of everything. Again, it was a terrible and very traumatizing event, but it could have been much worse, but God kept us safe.

 I will make sure to keep up with updates on all the news that I get, but again please, please, be in the prayer for the lady. Her name is Beatrice. Luckily she has a family that will take care of her. So make sure we are all praying for the family as well as they deal with the situation and her recovery. Pray for Chris that as he is dealing with insurance and everything that he would keep relaxed and give him strength and wisdom and he handles everything. Pray for Karen that as she supports Chris, that she would continue to be strong and that she would get the rest that she needs. Pray for the three of us kids (Katelyn, Kathleen, and me) as we deal with the trauma of everything.

Just be in prayer for everything of this situation.

Praise the Lord that everyone is alive.