Car Accident

Every morning I wake the kids early, get them ready, and bring them to work with me until Kris gets off work.  We've had this routine since they were born and never had any problems, until this morning.  While driving to work on October 24, I was rear-ended at a stoplight.  This accident scared me a little.

I was in my compact car with my children in the back, and I was hit from behind in the lane closest to the left-hand turn lane.  The girl that hit me was in a Ford Explorer, which is a much bigger vehicle than mine and I couldn't see around her to pull over to the side of the road - we did have to cross three lanes of traffic to do it.  She pulled ahead of me and I followed her.  When we both stopped, I turned off my lights and started looking for my glasses that had been knocked off and I couldn't find them anywhere.  Suddenly, the girl takes off and turns right when the light turned green.  I didn't know what she was doing and I frantically tried to follow her, but couldn't see anything.  It was dark, and I didn't have my glasses.  I nearly hit a sign trying to follow her, and then something even worse caught my attention as I was turning - there was a pedestrian on the crosswalk.  I didn't see them until I was next to them.  I'm so grateful I didn't hit either of those, especially the pedestrian.  We stopped again at the next light, but when it turned green she kept going.  At this point, I had just found my glasses and I was frantically trying to memorize her license plate number, for fear that she was trying to do a hit and run.  I flashed my lights at her and honked my horn, and eventually she pulled into a parking lot.

When we get out of the car, both kids were crying and my neck already started hurting.  The girl that got out of the car looked incredibly young, and I discovered she was only 18 when I got her information.  I strongly believe she was texting.  She couldn't have hit me as hard as she did if she was paying attention.

I went to work, but was hurting pretty badly, and had to go home by the time my second job came around.  I was in pain and couldn't move.  Kodi was acting extremely tired, she kept complaining that she was cold, she wouldn't eat, and she was extremely whiny.  When I looked up the symptoms, she seemed to be exhibiting the symptoms of a minor concussion, but because she had slept most of the day, which was unusual, I didn't bother taking her tot he doctor.  There is nothing they could do for her anyway.

The next morning, Kodi was still whiny, and Kyson was complaining that his legs hurt and his body hurt.  I took both kids with me to the chiropractor to get looked at.  Kodi wouldn't cooperate, Kyson had some minor whiplash, and I had moderate to severe whiplash.  They estimate it should take 3-6 months before I feel like I did before the accident.

I knew my body would heal, but I was extremely concerned about my car.  The bumper was in two pieces, my trunk wouldn't shut, and the frame was bent.  I took it for an estimate, but have to wait to hear back from the insurance company about what they think.  This has been an exhausting event for me.  I've spent every spare moment the last few days either on the phone or with the doctor.  I don't feel well, but I have to get my work done.  I'm afraid in for a long haul of crap.  I hope something good comes out of this.