Life Is A Gift

I'm thinking of renaming this page, "The Accidents" page...since all I seem to be updating are records of my accidents...

This is the most frightening one that happened on the 18th July 2005 at 12.05 noon on the North-South Highway around Tapah...

I was driving down the road, going back to KL from Penang, when I tried to overtake a gigantic blue lorry. Suddenly, like a blur, another car shot in between my car and the lorry, it's back bumping hard by the side of my car. I braked hard and turned to avoid it but I slammed into the divider (the lorry was so big it was partly on the side of my road). The impact caused my car to rebound and I crashed into the side of the lorry. The rebound thing happened again and I slammed into the divider one more time. Then, I tried to control the car but it was spinning wildly.

The next thing I knew, the world seemed to have turned upside down. Glass was shattering, my radio continued warbling and I flung my right arm up to protect my face before feeling something hard (Harry Potter No 4 I think) hitting me hard on the back of my head. The car rolled across the road stopping on its side in the Emergency Lane. My face was pressed against the window as I was at the bottom. I checked on my roommate and Thank God she was ok...then I smelled petrol and I saw my engine smoking. Oddly, even then, I did not panic. I just knew I had to get out of the car before the thing exploded (or so I thought it would).

I disentagled myself from my seat and helped my roommate do so too...I tried to open the door on her side but the door was jammed shut. Luckily the window on her side had broken cleanly off so I stuck my head out.

Six cars had stopped but no one came to help because (I'm told) they thought we were dead. When they saw my head, they rushed over to help us. After helping my roommate climb out..I managed to climb out too... I was so scared but I refused to fall apart so I went through the police report and the x-rays like it was some bad dream.

I suppose the impact of what happened just really hit me...the whole back window was gone...shattered and all the things in the backseat had flown out. I was so scared because another friend was supposed to be with us but she cancelled due to the fact that she wanted to go to her hometown. I thank God she wasn't with us or she probably would not be here today. The windscreen was shattered but it held thanks to the tinted screen.

We escaped with a few scratches and bruises but I will never ever forget how horrible it was... how scared I was that my life was over...My car was destroyed but I escaped with my life...for that, I will be eternally grateful...I know now that life is so short and so fragile...My views on life have changed (no, I'm NOT thinking ala Ping) and I will cherish every day as another day is another gift.

I will put the photos of my car on this blog soon...

Cheerio...