Our Accident; Poor Little Contour

Yesterday, my mom and I were rear ended by a HUGE Ford truck as we were getting ready to turn into the parking lot at work in Saint George. As my mom put the turn signal on and slowed down to about 10 mph, a woman in the minivan behind us decided she didn't think it was necessary to slow down. She zoomed into the left lane, cutting another car off, and continued down the street. The guy in the truck behind her didn't realize we were almost at a complete stop because the lady never slowed down, and he had no time to slam on his brakes. His huge F-250 slammed into the rear of our car at about 45 mph, pulverizing the back end of our tiny Ford Contour. It seriously looked like a crushed pop can! As the truck hit us, the Contour went flying up onto the curb, and skidded to a stop. My mom had her seat belt on, but I had just taken mine off to get my planner from the back seat, so I went flying into the dashboard. I was extremely lucky I didn't go through the windshield! The impact was so hard, the stereo face broke off, the glass covering the dashboard console shattered, the air vents popped out, and the seats snapped and are no longer able to sit upright!

My mom was sobbing and in serious pain. (She had been in a few accidents prior and has suffered neck, knee, back, and shoulder problems since, so this just added to her agony.) I hit my head and neck pretty hard, but didn't have any serious injuries. The man who hit us came running to the car. I felt so bad for him! It really wasn't his fault. As I called 911, he tried to comfort my mom. I knew he felt horrible. The ambulance came and took us to the hospital. We stayed there most of the morning. At first the paramedics thought my mom may have broken her spine, but the hospital took lots of x-rays, and everything came back normal. She has a sprained back, but I'm grateful it was nothing life threatening! We found out the man's name is Josh Johnson, he is only 26 years old and he lives in Hurricane. He was driving a company vehicle and there were atleast 4 other men in the car. He called the hospital atleast three times yesterday to make sure we were okay and apologize. He really is a kind man.

After all was said and done, we were discharged and spent the remainder of the day sleeping because we are both on narcotics and muscle relaxers that knocked us out. I'm so grateful we were protected from serious injury or possible death. Heavenly Father was really watching over us yesterday! The accident could have been so much worse! I'm also grateful to have so many wonderful friends. Last night, we probably recieved 30 phone calls and atleast 5 different visitors offering help if we needed it. The Jordan's brought us dinner, and Cherie Santiago brought us ice cream. We also have dinner being brought to us from other members of the ward for the remainder of the week. I'm so thankful for the blessings in my life!