15 years ago today...

15 years ago at 4:25pm my 3 sisters and I were in a very serious car accident. Patti (20), Micki,(16) Honey (14) and I (13) were driving from Regina, Saskatchewan to Cardston, Alberta to stay at my grandparents house. My Dad had just been called to be a mission president in Detroit, Michigan so my parents were already in UT getting ready to enter the MTC ,and were visiting my oldest sister Jeannie and her family in Logan, UT.

I was sitting behind the passenger side where the door is missing. They had to use the jaws of life to get my sister Honey out who was in the front. I have no memory of being taken out of the car or being strapped to a backboard. Honey and I were both asleep when the accident happened, and we both had our heads resting on the windows, so when the accident happened we both took the windows out with our heads. Thus, the reason why I can't remember being taken out of the car.

There were many miracles in this accident. The first that we all survived. My sister Micki and I both were not wearing our seat belts. Micki saw the whole accident happen and she said that when the two cars collided instead of going forward she felt two hands on her shoulders push her back down in her seat. We had our four quad scriptures in the back window they didn't move, Micki's Work and the Glory book flew out the window. :)

My sister Honey remembers my sister Patti handing her the car phone and Honey could hear my Dad giving her a blessing over the phone. Come to find out that when our stake president whose house we had stayed at the night before found out about the accident he called my parents and my parents hit the floor on their knees, and my Dad blessed each one of us by the power of the priesthood, Honey heard the exact words my Dad had said. Honey later found out in the hospital that the car phone had been broken in the accident.

The other man's car. As you can see, he unfortunately didn't make it. We later found out that he was from Ethiopia and didn't understand that before entering the highway he had to stop at the blinking stop sign and blew past the rumble strips. We broadsided him going 70 mph.

The brake pedal stuck to the ground from Patti pushing it so hard.

I got stitches on my cheeck from my glasses. I had such a bad concussion that I threw up 11 times in half an hour. It was insane! I really don't remember much due to my concussion, I do remember asking the paramedics to leave me alone so I could just go back to sleep. :)

My sister Honey with stitches in her head and a broken collar bone.

My sister Patti getting her knee cleaned out. She cut it on the steering wheel.

My brother John was at the MTC at the time. Here we are together before my parents got set apart. My parents and my brother were in the MTC at the same time. Don't you love my glasses? :) These were my old ones because my new ones got mangled in the accident. I don't think my new ones were much better, it was the nineties people! :)

As I think back I cannot believe that this happened 15 years ago. This experience really strengthened my testimony at the age of 13. I am so grateful that I have all my family members. It could have so easily taken one or all of us. I know we had angels around us that day. Maybe, just maybe, it was our future children protecting their mothers.