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The Sunday started out highly common: I served at the 9:30 service at CELEBRATION CHURCH on camera and again at the 11:30 service on the roaming camera.
Directly after the service, I rushed to the new location of the church and took the tour of the nearly finished facility. Heather joined along with me.
-the new facility will be a sight to see!-
STATE OF THE ART TECHNOLOGY...
Heather is one of my oldest friends at Celebration.
We've known each other since middle school.
After the tour we got lunch and it started to storm. She's getting new furniture and needed help picking up a TV stand that she found on Craigslist. Heather drove. As we were en route to picking it up the rain was letting up a bit, yet she wasn't entirely sure where the destination was. After putting the address in the GPS we were led to Hodges blvd. Still not sure of the location, I advised Heather to pull off the road so that we can find exactly where we're going and conserve gas.
The rain was letting up a bit at this time. As we pulled off Hodges, we were on a road to a subdivision. An SUV in an opposing lane was coming at us.... and the craziest four seconds of my life began.
1.... the SUV jumped the median.
2.... it hit a tree.
3... it tried to correct hitting another tree.
4.... as if in slow motion.... almost like an ocean wave of car parts came barreling towards us.
You know how in the movie Transformers when they would jump, break into little parts, and then reassemble as something different? It was like that... without reassembling.
It was the most bizarre sighting I've ever witnessed.
Pandemonium ensued.
We literally couldn't believe our eyes.
Basic human instincts took over.
Heather bolted out of the car.
I was right behind her.
"CALL 911!!!!! CALL 911!!!!!" I shouted.
Heather was HYSTERICAL!
She couldn't finish talking to the 911 operator and handed me the phone.
My previous experience as a lifeguard couldn't prepare me for such an occurrence.
The front end of the vehicle was literally all over the road.
All front and side airbags were deployed.
*******DISCLAIMER, IT GETS GRAPHIC FROM HERE... PLEASE DON'T JUDGE THIS AS AN EXPLOITATION OF SOME ONE'S DEATH********
The driver, a young female, was hanging out of the open driver side door under the front and side airbag.
There was virtually no front seat space. She was pinned in. We (witnesses on the scene) don't believe that she was wearing her seat belt.
She was clinging to life. Taking in breaths laboriously.
Heather was hopefully optimistic that we witnesses would rectify the situation... "Why don't you just pull her out?! Can't you just give her mouth to mouth?! What's happening?!?!?!?"
"It's not so simple... she's pinned in! Her neck could be broken." We exclaimed.
Her body positioning was that of one in agony.
Her nose, bleeding from the impact of the airbag.
Lips... sliced.
Eyes... vacant.
She didn't make a sound.
I paced uncontrollably. Heather frantically suggested that we pray for her. (There was so much despair in her voice.)
I honestly don't remember what I prayed.
The breaths were getting slower and slower...
"Check her pulse" I suggested to Mr. Joe (an older man originally from New York).
"I can't find one.... she's starting to turn gray. That's not a good sign. It means she's not getting oxygen to her brain.
Many people showed up from neighboring homes and the condo subdivision nearby.
Many called 911.
Heather was pleading for rescue to come!
"What's taking them so long?!!"
The three of us - Mr. Joe, Heather, and I - were the primary witnesses.
We were with her in the end.
The car's battery was about 10 feet in front of where the vehicle laid.
The front left wheel... across the street about 30 feet behind.
The Nissan symbol ... by our car in the opposing lane.
Tree bark and debris was all in the road towards our direction, as if shot out of a cannon.
Closer towards the vehicle... baby sunglasses right outside the vehicle ... two of them.
...apple juice.
Engine... steaming.
We tried to piece together everything that happened. Who she was. Why this happened.
Sirens could be heard in the distance...
"Hurry up! Hurry up!" Heather cried.
I tried to console her as much as possible.
Fire truck.
Ambulance.
"Why can't they just pull her out and give her CPR or something???!!!"
"It's not so simple Heather".
They left as quick as they came.
She was deceased.
That was the only time I heard thunder. Heather lost it.
Police officers showed up and got our IDs for witness purposes.
Mr. Joe told us, since she was dead, fire rescue couldn't pull her out or do anything since the situation has now become a crime scene.
News trucks showed up.
"How are the news trucks here so fast?" she asked. "I'm not talking to them!"
We were roped off in the area with the debris, the three of us with the vehicle, and all the debris.
It was like being on an island with the outside world looking in. Many residents in the area lined the sidewalks. some kids were taking pictures with cell phone cameras. One jester of a child joked with his friends, "look how the airbags are all out like that!"
Another initial witness was across the street raising his hand in the way the deceased girl's hand was up mimicking her breathing patterns in an attempt to explain the brevity of the situation to a girl friend.
That moment was like being in a weird bubble.... A bubble permeable by rain.
Detectives rolled up in incognito Chevy trucks with inconspicuous police lighting: one.. and then another about 5 minutes later.
"I could never be a police officer. I don't know how they deal with this everyday" Heather expressed.
A fourth primary witness was in the roped-off area with us. He arrived right after the crash.
Waiting and waiting.
A police officer with a DSLR camera around his neck came strolling onto
the scene of the "crime" with his hands behind his back observing
everything before taking a single picture.
Heather was still in a frenzy. Meanwhile the other two male primary witnesses and myself were talking about sports.
Venus. Mars.
Perhaps our duty was done and to mentally cope in our waiting we allowed our minds to drift to lighter more common topics.
Heather was ready to notify the family that we prayed for their daughter. (She's really sweet and caring like that).
The two detectives began to question us one by one.
First, the fourth witness... He's a baseball coach for 12 year-old boys and coached at JU.
Then there were three. Heather, Mr. Joe, and I. While Heather was still unnerved, Mr. Joe (I'm assuming he was in his early 60's) consoled her by saying, "You were there for her in the end and that means a lot. At least somebody was there."
Next, Heather.
Then there were two. Mr. Joe asked me about photography. He shared a real cool story of a WWII photographer that took pictures on his father's ship and how he made the prints into a memorandum.
The fourth witness came out and sequestered Mr. Joe to the detective. We shook hands and he dismissed himself.
I stood there alone.
Mr. Joe and Heather had umbrellas during this time as the rain was off and on. As they were questioned by the detectives they left them there on the grass in the median where we stood. The wind was blowing a bit and Mr. Joe's umbrella was blown around a bit. I closed his and the umbrella that Heather left.
I looked into the sky, closed my eyes, and prayed.
Heather came out. My turn.
The older detective greeted me, informed me that he'll be recording what I say, and asked for me to give an account of the situation.
I said my piece.
I noticed that he had a handmade wristband that said JACMEL on the front.
Jacmel is a city in Haiti where mission teams from Celebration church have once gone before.
I asked him about it and he began to tell me how he went with a team right after the earthquake.
Small world.
I walked towards Heather and said, "Let's get out of here".
There were three camera crews by this time. I rode with Heather on the way there... I drove us back.
We barely spoke as we both replayed the accident in our minds.
The event consumed her.
I did my best to reason and rationalize with her.
We arrived back at my car and shared a long hug goodbye.
What's the point of this blog post. For me it's a release from the absolute horror of seeing someone die in such a terrible way.
I have no certainty of how the accident happened but Heather swore to never text and drive again.
Heather found her name: Katherine McEwan.
I contacted a lot of friends to pray for Heather and I since we were both in complete shock.
I've felt every negative emotion since Sunday and hope to never experience something like that again.
Buckle up. Don't text and drive. Please be safe.
