The truck began to fishtail as I rounded the curve and descend down the hill. I had no control and I was gaining speed!
Ethan screamed, “Mom, slow down!”
I realized he didn’t have a seatbelt on as I glanced back at him. I yelled, “ETHAN HOLD ON, WE’RE GONNA WRECK!”
A car rounded the curve at the bottom of the hill. I didn’t want to hit them going so fast. I tried to gain control, but the more I tried the less control I had. Even though I knew better, I gently tapped the brakes. The back tire seemed to catch the edge of the road, and we began to flip. I looked over at Anslie and told her to close her to eyes. I looked back at Ethan; he was being thrown all over the back seat. I tried my best to reach him, but my seat belt didn’t allow any give to get to him. I will never forget the sound of the crunching and cracking of the truck as we rolled to the bottom of the ravine.

When the truck stopped rolling, my first thought was, “I will remember this moment for the rest of my life as either falling apart or doing everything within my power to save my baby.” I instantly thought back to a mom who had just recently buried her child from a car accident. I had watched her bravely tackle life, wounded, since her kid went to heaven. I had NO desire to experience that, no mom EVER does.

I asked Anslie if anything was hurting her. She said, “No. Mom, I’m so scared for Ethan, He isn’t moving.” I told her to pray as I unbuckled my seatbelts and crawled back to him. He was not breathing. He had deep cuts and scratches all over the right side of his face and his eye looked really, really bad. I gathered him in my arms. And begged him to breathe! He took a gurgled breath as I gently lifted his shoulder and placed my arms around him. I had no idea how I would get him up the hill by myself.

I began to pray.

I had been taught many years earlier that to enter into the Holy of Holies, you had to gain permission. My permission had been granted the day I asked Jesus Christ to forgive me of my sins. I had an all access pass to the throne of Grace! However, I NEEDED God to REALLY hear me! I needed his undivided attention.

I know enough about God and His Word to know that He inhabits the praises of his people. So I started with that. I began something like this:

“Abba, Father, The Creator of the Universe, The Bright and Morning Star, The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Giver and Sustainer of Life, You gave to me this gift, Thank you for him, I beg you, Father, please dont take him away from me. You are a Good Father, You only give good things to your children. You said in Your Word that if we ask anything in Your Name, You will grant our request. I ask You, in the Healing Name of Jesus and by the power of His Name, allow Ethan to live…”

I know enough about angels to know that they were camped around. “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”
Psalm 91:11

I felt their presence. I was terrified the angel that would escort Ethan to heaven was there, waiting for God to give him the go ahead to take him. And as foolish as it may sound, I tried to keep that angel away by holding Ethan close to me. (When I get to heaven, I hope I am given the opportunity to view that moment without human limitations. There was a heaviness, a struggle, a war, nothing was peaceful about it. It was deep, and I don’t have words to adequately describe the way it felt.)

I heard a voice make it’s way down the hill. It was a Good Samaritan whom I would later become friends with, Trace.
I yelled, “Call 911!” He said he already had. He asked how many were in the truck, and he helped Anslie to crawl out of her window. Another man there allowed Anslie to call Reed on his phone to notify him to get to Florence, fast.

I encouraged Ethan to breathe. I told him he was doing a super job and to just keep breathing. He continued, slow gurgled, labored breaths. Help would be there soon. Over and over I encouraged Ethan. Over and over I prayed.
I looked over at Trace. I asked him if Ethan was going to be ok. He said,  “He is going to be just fine.” Later I found out he wasn’t real sure about that answer, but I sure was glad he told me it would be ok.

I looked over Ethan’s body. I had been so concerned with his breathing and head, that I had not looked at his body. I noticed his foot. It was clearly broken just above his ankle. He must have wedged it between the door and seat while he attempted to hold on just before he was knocked unconscience.
I heard the rescue sirens through the trees. (My mind still flashes back to this memory each time I hear emergency sirens. I wonder if this memory will ever archive itself, or if this is just something I will always have to deal with. I used to get trapped in that memory when it occured. To keep my mind from becoming trapped, I tried to suppress it. That method was a disaster; I began having severe panic attacks. I have learned that each person deals differently. There is no right or wrong way. That is a tough concept for me. God wired my brain for absolutes… one right answer. I think that is why I enjoy mathematics so much. There is satisfaction in finding the absolute. But in life, there sometimes are not absolutes…it is more about simply surviving or trusting that everything will be ok, throwing it back into the hands of the Creator…Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1 Peter 5:7…to just breathe…and I am WAY OFF TOPIC.) I told Ethan they were almost there, to keep breathing.

They finally got a backboard down the hill and were wanting to wait to cut open the car. I told them we didn’t have time, to put the backboard thru the window. We could put him on it and get him out of the window. We tried it. It worked.

It was all in their hands now. I had done all that I could. My strength was gone. I sat back in the backseat of the truck and trembled. I don’t know how long I sat there, but someone came around and told me I needed to get out, the truck might roll again. It was not fully resting on the ground, but against a tree. With Ethan’s position in the truck, had we rolled slightly more to rest completely on the ground, he would have certainly fallen out on his head into water, certain death. A very small tree broke the final roll. God knew we would need that tree all those years ago when he nourished it to grow…

Someone opened the back hatch, and I crawled out. I was so weak and the hill was so steep. I used the rope to pull myself up the hill. Someone was helping me from behind. When I got to the top I was told they had already left with Ethan to go to the hospital. They had taken him by ambulance because the weather would not allow for air transport.

Holly, Daniel, Kelly and Grant were at the top of the hill. They were the only faces I recognized. They had followed the emergency vehicles to the site. Reed had called them, and told them to check on us, but they didn’t know where we were. They had taken a different route to grab a bite to eat. Anslie and Ethan wanted to follow them after the game and were iritated with me that I wanted to get something when we got home.

I was asked if I needed the ambulance. I figured it was the fastest way to the hospital, so I climbed in. My phone battery was almost dead. I text a couple of friends to ask them to bring some things to the hospital and made a Facebook post begging everyone to pray.