The 6th of June, 2022, remains an unforgettable experience in my life. Stepping out of our home each day to the road is indeed a risk that could be our last day of existence on earth. I have heard the stories of how people who left their homes for work or other activities never returned to their respective homes; however, the 6th of June of that year gave me an experience of what it feels to leave your home, and it will be the final goodbye to the rest of your family. In everything, I am grateful for being saved—not only me but my last child and my hubby, all included in the car accident.
That faithful morning, I had a couple of things I needed to sort out with my bank, so I decided to join my husband in his car with my baby while he was leaving for work. We left home around 7 a.m. or so, and it was just supposed to be a 30-minute drive for me to get to the bank; however, 20 minutes into driving, just a bit closer to the bank, the unforseen danger happened. A motorbike man from nowhere drove with a high speed through the highway just in front of our car without observing any form of caution. The speed at which he was driving was as if he were being pursued by someone. My husband, seeing his fast, reckless driving, tried to shift his hand quickly to avoid hitting the bike guy because he entered so wrongly in front of our car. As hubby was running away from hitting the bike guy, there was a big trailer in front of him. Unfortunately, he hit a big trailer with so much pressure and lost control of his steering, which landed us on top of the pavement that was used as a demarcation of the two service lanes on the highway. Our car bent with high pressure and was dangling as if it wanted to summersault, including all of us inside the car.
I was screaming in my voice, my husband was in serious tension battling with the car steering, my last child was crying so loudly, there was commotion in the car, and we were crying for safety. Many people around, including some private and public drivers, packed their vehicles and quickly rushed to rescue us!
Everything happened so fast! Really, is that how death happens? My heart was beating fast, and I was trembling when people dragged me out of the car. My husband stood up after the rescue, watching the damaged car we all came out of, and was speechless. The bike guy, on the other hand, who caused this accident, was shaky too; he kept apologizing nonstop, saying he was running away from a police officer who wanted to arrest him due to the ongoing ban on motorbikes in Lagos State, Nigeria, that year. He felt bad to have put us in such a mess that early morning, but the deed was already done; however, he showed remorsefulness at least. Our car was later towed to the mechanic while we boarded a public bus to our destination.
I returned home and was lost in reflection. Life is really unpredictable. Death can catch us unaware; it doesn't matter if you were sick before or healthy. Within a twinkle of an eye, you will hear of the tragedy of how one family was wiped out in a ghastly car accident. I reflected on lots of things that day and couldn't stop thanking the creator of our lives for showing my family and me mercy.
One thing I know I didn't get right that morning was rush out hurriedly from home without saying my morning prayer. I learned from the experience that I am not the owner of my life and could meet death any day unprepared; however, waking up to thank God for life and ask him for mercy over my sin each day shouldn't be something to take for granted.
This post is in response to the #hivelearners contest on the topic titled, The risks we take
Ps: Images were generated by me on bing.com
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