I hope every single one of you had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend! Thanksgiving is very much an American holiday and in America, we’ll take advantage of any excuse to party. Unfortunately, there are those among us who don’t know their limits and that can come at a fatal cost.
On Friday, our friend John Kourounis posted the following experience on Facebook.
Yesterday’s amazing Thanksgiving turned into a very heavy night.
I had just left my parents house in Simi Valley with Micah, and we were on our way to her family for dessert. Less than five minutes into the drive, a pickup truck absolutely FLEW past us, swerving like crazy. It seemed like twice the speed we were driving. It was only our two cars on the road at the time, and Micah and I both commented on the fact that the driver had to be drunk. He kept dancing with the curb on the side of the road, coming within inches of hitting it. Not five seconds after that, he hit the curb on the right side hard, and fishtailed into the street. He lost control, and drove straight through the wood fence, up the side of the hill, flipping his truck numerous times. The truck rolled back into the street, eventually landing upside down. It seemed surreal. As quickly as we could possibly comprehend what was actually happening, I told Micah to call 911. I threw my car in park, and we both ran to the truck. I was in such a hurry that I left the keys in the ignition. The worst discovery was that as we ran up to help in whatever way we could, the driver was already laying unconscious in the street. He had been ejected from the truck. We made sure to not move him, and make sure he was breathing as we gave our location to the 911 emergency dispatcher. They got to the scene quickly, and took over.
He was ok. He was able to answer questions when he finally regained consciousness. Micah and I both sighed a HUMONGOUS sigh of relief.
My reason for this post is very simple: I’m thankful we were there. I’m thankful not more damage was done. I’m thankful no one else was involved. I’m thankful I got to call my family today and tell them I love them. Unfortunately for too many people, it doesn’t always end that way. Situations like this are often heard about, or seen on the news. We all know to not drink and drive. But this was the first time I felt like someone was shaking me by the shoulders yelling it in my face.
Please please please, for your own sake, as well as everybody else on the road going to see their families, their friends, their loved ones… don’t drink and drive. Let’s all be thankful for sober drivers, and taxi services. Let’s stick around for a while and have things to be thankful for!!
I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment. In the age of Lyft, Uber and an internet loaded with codes for free rides from these services, nobody needs to suffer because of bad decisions made by someone who partied too hard. Even if you have to shell out a few bucks, that is a much smaller cost than that of time spent in a hospital, guilt for causing damage to you or someone else, or an unnecessary loss of life. Please be both safe and smart this holiday season and every other season.