When An Accident Happens….

Hannah Horne - 10 Mar 16

A week ago my day started in a fairly ordinary fashion. I woke up, albeit a little earlier than usual, my littlest boy snuggled in bed next to me (clearly he had snuck in overnight!). I got ready for work trailed by the littlest one, peeled him off my left leg and snuggled him in with his Daddy. Then, under the littlest’s insistence, went to cuddle my biggest boy before I went to work. Usually I would be there to take the boys to school but I had to be in work early for a meeting. I left the house, collected my friend and off we went to work.

Driving down the motorway three lanes merged in to two, I merged to remain in the fast lane. Being rush hour the traffic was heavy so naturally I slowed down. Suddenly the traffic came to a stop ahead of me. I sharply breaked and stopped with a clear gap before the car in front of me. Just as I thanked my lucky stars for stopping in time…BANG! We were moving. We hit the car in front. My head shot forward then back to hit the headrest with a nasty jolt. “Are you okay?” was the next thing I heard. My brain struggled to take in what had just happened. It was my friend checking I was ok. I was. Shocked. Head pounding. But okay. I checked she was okay, thankfully she was.

We pulled off the main carriageway and got out of the car. I looked behind there were two cars, they had become one with the impact. They pulled in behind me. The driver got out and by some miracle they were okay too. Everyone was shocked and sore but not seriously injured.

As I stood on the side of that motorway all I could think of was how lucky we were to be standing there relatively uninjured. How lucky I was to have two gorgeous little boys and a husband who I had snuggled and told how much I loved them before leaving my house. How lucky that we live in a world where such accidents can happen yet we can be protected from serious harm.

Thanks to modern technology for making cars the safest they have ever been. Thanks for smart phones for helping us call emergency services and take photos for documentary evidence. Thanks to the NHS for an Accident and Emergency department who, after a full medical assessment, confirmed we had walked away with shock and whiplash yet were essentially well enough to be discharged. Thanks to insurance which will handle repairs and such like. Thanks to all my family and friends who have shown me care and concern following this experience. And I am certainly thankful of my two beautiful boys and their brilliant father.

The route I took to work that day was not my usual route, nor was it the usual time. I could have cursed my bad luck in being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, I didn’t. I was thankful. It wasn’t a conscious decision, I can be as prone to feeling sorry for myself as much as the next person at times. However, this day I was lucky enough to be in a motor way car accident and walk away. And I think it was knowing how bad that could have been made me realise just how lucky I was. Making me thankful and positive. Possibly it is human nature; Why is it that such an awful incident can be a trigger for us to realise just how lucky we are?

Life is busy. It can be stressful. It is filled with highs and lows, mainly padded out with ordinary moments. It is easy to think negatively when there is family, work, a house to run and an ever expanding ‘to do’ list. Sometimes an effort is needed to stay positive. This was a horrible experience but a wake up call making me realise just how lucky I am. a Deep down I have always known I am blessed with my family and friends but sometimes life just takes over. Days can go by and I haven’t taken time to appreciate all my blessings. Life can be short so we should make the most of it. If I can be thankful following a car accident then I surely should be more grateful every day! So I decided I am going to be more positive and thankful, making an effort to cherish the ordinary moments each day. And, it has prompted me to write this blog post, something I have procrastinated about for too long.

Every cloud has a silver lining. I think sometimes the silver glistens clearly and other times we need to polish it to see it’s glory.

Hannah Horne

Wife. Mum. Midwife. Blogger. And many other things! www.birthingmamasblog.com

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