I’m a part time EMT so I have seen some pretty horrific accidents. I’ve seen people survive some situations that should not have walked away from; call it God’s will, call it luck, call it whatever you want. I have seen enough to make me somewhat religious, but I hate dealing with religious freaks.

A few weeks ago we received an emergency call about a car that flew off the road and slammed into a nearby tree. My partner Jeff and I hopped in the ambulance and sped through the night to the scene. It was misting out; the kind of precipitation that isn’t enough to be called rain but just enough to coat the roads. This amount of water does not normally pose a threat to drivers, but there are other factors to consider. There could be oil, grease, or other chemicals on the road that combine with the water to make the streets slick.

As we race down the highway I can make out blinking taillights thirty yards from the road. Jeff slams on the brakes and I shoot out the door and race to the smoking vehicle. Sitting in car is an old woman. “Mam, are you OK?" I ask as I flash my light into the interior. “My leg…It’s stuck under the seat," she yelled. Trapped in the small two-door Civic the woman sat, hands clenched, praying. The driver’s side door is stuck around a tree so I pull her out from the passenger side. By the time I actually get her out, the car is smoking pretty badly. My lungs are starting to hurt and my chest is pounding from drawing deep breaths of the white fumes. The woman’s leg is seriously cut and bleeding profusely. So Jeff and I throw her arms over our shoulders to carry her to the ambulance because we needed get away from the car ASAP. As we are carrying her she screams and reaches back towards her car. “Wait, I can’t leave him," she screamed. Did we miss a child in the back seat? “I need my Jesus statue!" Are you serious lady? Your car is about to explode, but you want us to go back in to pull out a little figurine? Jeff and I pulled her screaming and kicking up the hill to the ambulance. We strap her down and sedate her. A few moments later her car goes up in flames. From the fire’s bright glow we can see the numerous bumper stickers covering her car�"all religious.

We got her to the hospital and she was just fine. A doctor bandaged up her leg and reassured her that she would be fine. An officer had to question the woman about the accident for the report. She kept resisting and trying to avoid him by saying she was traumatized. She forced the officer to call in her vehicle in order to get more information. It turned out her car’s brakes didn’t pass inspection a few weeks ago and she never replaced them. The woman finally broke down and complained that she didn’t have any money and donates all her money to her church.