At Death’s Door

Wow.  What an experience.  I don’t even know how to start it. <sigh>

It was shocking, sad, unexpected.  I am very grateful I can even type this post right now.  I’m glad I can walk, I can think, I’m alive.  I”m glad my dad is too.  And my dad has more reason to be thankful than me.

It was supposed to be a regular working day for my dad, and I was supposed to go with him unless I wanted to stay home.  Today I decided to stay home.  I woke up pretty late (around 11:30 am) and my dad was rushing to go to work, so I didn’t bother rushing.   I chose to spend the day at home. 

Around 30 mins. later, I received a call on my cellphone.  It was my dad.  I thought it would just be a regular call.  Maybe he would just ask me a favor, or maybe he would just ask how I was.  But no.  It was a lot worse.

The phone line was really bad, I couldn’t understand him.  After a few seconds I finally understood what he was trying to tell me.  “I’m in the middle of an accident.  My car’s a total wreck.  A big, big truck hit me,”  he said.  When I put down the phone I didn’t know what to think.  Instinctively, I talked to God.  Though some might think it weird, recently I have begun to talk openly with God.  I always felt his presence, and I knew he was listening.  He was my best Friend, and he acted as a Dad, too. 

I tried to imagine the scene in my mind.  I imagined an ordinary delivery truck, hitting my dad’s car, maybe on the side, or maybe at the back.  Either way, I imagined, (since I usually sit in front or at the back), I would be badly injured.  If by God’s grace I did not get injured, the trauma would haunt me for the rest of my life.  However, my imagination was far — very far — from what really happened.  Reality certainly shocks.

The accident happened at around 12:00 noon.  I expected him to come home very late, but not as late as he actually did.  He came home at 9:00 pm.  As soon as he had settled down, I asked him what happened.  Here is his story.

My dad was on NLEX, and it was traffic.  In front of him there was a tanker of gasoline.  At his back there was a 10-wheeler truck.  At the back of this gigantic truck was a large trailer.  The trailer apparently was traveling at a very high speed.  It hit the 10-wheeler truck, which swerved to its left.  Despite the 10-wheeler’s size, the trailer still had some more force to hit my dad’s car.  The impact was so great, my dad eventually hit the tanker in front of him.   There were supposed to be 2 more cars at my dad’s back, but they eventually left that lane.   This was a good thing or the 10-wheeler would not have been able to swerve.  Had that happened he would have hit my dad and my dad would’ve hit the tanker so hard it could’ve exploded.  And he could’ve died.  Due to the impact the driver of the trailer did die.  It was a horrible nightmare.

My dad was at death’s door.  He told me he considers this his third life, since this is his 2nd near death experience. (His first experience was also a car accident in Quezon Circle).  He told me he could feel death coming.  Though we will be with God in heaven when we die, the feeling of death still lingered during the experience.  I also was at death’s door, though my dad had a worse experience.  I was supposed to go with my dad.  I was supposed to die.  I was supposed to get– at least — badly injured or disabled.  I was supposed to end my life or the joy of it today.  I already consider this my 2nd life. 

Here are some pics of the accident.  Note that these pictures do not show the impact so much.  It looks a lot worse in reality.

God is good.  He gave us another chance.  He took care of us, He helped us.  My dad doesn’t have any injuries so far, but hopefully he won’t have any.  Though human instinct kept telling me to worry the whole day, I could feel the Holy Spirit telling me not to.  He kept telling me that there was no need to worry, that He was in control.  Now I want to worry again, since some new injuries might come out.  But I keep remembering that I just have to trust in Him, and the Holy Spirit keeps reminding me not to worry.  Truly my dad’s survival and having no injuries was a real miracle.

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