Gratitude

Over boulders the size of large beach balls, the car literally flew nose-first into the wash. The momentum carried the car into a front side flip, spiraling over once or twice...

Bruce's friend and his dog were in a high-speed crash that a CHP officer said was a miracle to have survived, let alone with very minor injuries.

(AGOURA, Calif.) - So, we've all read those PEOPLE magazine stories about people living through a life threatening experience and coming out a changed person, right? Well, a very good friend of mine lived through just such an experience.

Driving alone on 395, he fell asleep at the wheel. In the middle of nowhere with only his dog as company, and the cruise control set in the low 70s, he drifted off to sleep as the sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon.

In spite of a Monster drink (Red Bull equivalent) and in spite of stopping several times to stretch and do some jumping jacks. Lost in thought, he just slipped away to "neverland".

Well, NEVERLAND almost became just that...NEVER more!

Startled awake as the car drove screamingly over the shoulder, he realized quickly what had happened. Grabbing the wheel and holding on for dear life, trying desperately to control the swerving bucking SUV, he doesn't even remember if he hit the brakes.

Mind going at light-speed, the car crashed through a barbed wire barrier and headed down into a river wash.

Over boulders the size of large beach balls, the car literally flew nose-first into the wash. The momentum carried the car into a front side flip, spiraling over once or twice (no one knows for sure as no one witnessed it), landing right side up, facing the opposite direction.

Steaming, all air bags released, the smell of burning rubber in the air, my friend took what felt like his first breath.

First thought: I'm alive and apparently not bleeding, though he felt a growing swelling around his right eye.

Second thought: is my dog okay?

Third thought: Somebody up there likes me.

The driver's door was stuck but he was able to pry it open. He called his dog...and he seemed nowhere to be found. Gradually fearing he had killed his beloved dog, he began circling the wreck, calling his name.

Each larger circle revealed more car wreckage and parts strewn in the stream, as well as CDs flung far away and other stuff thrown from the car. After a couple of minutes, though it felt like an eternity, his dog came bounding over the edge of the river wash, from the direction they had careened from.

On first inspection, he seemed miraculously okay. But, he soon noticed a limp from his right front paw. Nonetheless, the reality that he and his dogs were okay was just beginning to hit him. Now what?

He reached to his side to find his cell-phone. Not there. Looked on his wrist for his watch. Not there. Heading back to the car, he searched and found his cell-phone on the floor of the passenger compartment. It was on...and it had reception, though this area was notorious for intermittent cell signals. The call to 911 went through, but he couldn't describe to the dispatcher where he was, other than in the river wash adjacent to an overpass.

He remembered, vaguely, the last city he passed. She asked if he needed an ambulance and he said "maybe". She said a CHP officer would be there shortly. He put his dog on his leash and went up the incline of the wash and tied him up by the overpass. On the way, he saw fresh poop, evidently from his dog that had been flung from the car somewhere on "the ride".

He went back to the car, and a bit calmer now, looked it over. The front right wheel was flat on the ground, like a hovercraft. The sunroof was buckled. All the air bags were opened, but now deflated. Car parts were everywhere as was broken glass...no cuts on him! Amazing.

He knew the car was toast so he began getting together what was worth salvaging. He couldn't find his watch, which had been strapped on his wrist.

Twenty minutes later, the CHP officer arrived. He quickly assessed the situation and determined where the car had veered off the highway...some 100 yards up the road!

He tracked its direction, through 3 layers of the barbed wire fence, over the boulders and up into the wash...flipping somewhere near the bottom. He said it was a miracle anyone survived...let alone with nothing more than an apparent black eye!

He also said that usually anyone (or any animal) thrown from a vehicle ends up dead...another miracle that his dog was fine. He also noted that this stretch of highway was divided…and that the majority of the highway is two-lanes in both directions. So? He explained that if he’d veered off to the left, just as he had on this divided portion of the highway, but done so on the two-lane portion of the highway, he would’ve potentially gone head on into another car going the other direction…70 mph times two…hmmm, you do the math, you figure the consequences!

And, finally, he commented that given where the car had landed, basically under an overpass, it was unlikely anyone would’ve noticed the wreck. Had my friend been unable to extricate himself from the smoldering car, it was anyone’s guess how long he would have been trapped. A couple of hours later, my friend and his dog were heading back home, in a rental car.

About 8 hours after leaving his house, in the dark early hours of the morning, he returned home. A shower revealed his only other injury, besides a mildly sore neck and shoulders, being a extremely minor scratch on his calf.

Oh, the CHP officer found his watch in the car... unstrapped but fine. Another curiosity! What purpose was there for my friend to continue living? Why was he spared when so many die in much calmer accidents? Would he actually make good on this blessing of another chance? Would he ever again get upset over the little stuff...traffic, a hang-nail, waiting in line, being put "on hold", a meal not coming out just right, a crowded or late flight, a cold, a trip to the dentist, etc. Life is a miracle...and he just lived one...I’m sure you’ve guessed that “my friend” was me…and my GRATITUDE still holds on the one-year anniversary of this accident. Till the next one…

Bruce Sallan gave up his showbiz career a decade ago to raise his two boys, full-time, now 12 and 15. His nationally syndicated column, A Dad’s Point-of-View, is his take on the challenges of parenthood and male/female issues, both as a single dad and now, newly remarried, in a blended family. In addition to Salem-News.com, his column is available in over 50 newspapers and Web sites in the U.S. and internationally. He can be reached at: brucesallan@gmail.com.