They uncovered two cars (one red and one gray) that had been crashed together head on. They were really beat up. The red car's front windshield was really cracked and falling in. There were two kids in each of the cars. There was another car (on the track) with its emergency flashers on. Then we heard a 911 call over the speakers about a crash at Logan High School.
Then (and throughout the whole thing) we could hear the police radios going back and forth through the speakers. Two police cars pulled onto the track, and went over to the crashed cars to see if everyone was okay, and what had happened. The passenger door on the red car was crushed shut, so one police officer got in the backseat to try to asses the damage better.
Then a firetruck and an ambulance pulled into the parking lot and onto the track. Two firemen ran over and pried the red car's passenger door open. It took a while, and the door was just trashed. They started pulling people out of the cars. Some people from the ambulance ran over with two hard plastic stretchers and a rolling stretcher.
The driver of the red car was a guy from my grade (Jaden Connor). His face had some blood on it, but he seemed okay. They walked him away a little ways and had him do the drunk driving test. He tried to walk straight, but he kept wobbling and fell over once. It had been a D.U.I. The officers handcuffed Jaden behind his back, and led him off to the side. They talked to him over by one of the police cars.
They pulled the driver of the gray car out and put him on one of the stretchers. His shirt was covered in "blood" and he was hyperventilating. He was going into shock by the look of it. They strapped him onto the stretcher and started hooking him up with I.V.'s and bandaging. His shirt got in the way, so they cut it off. It was covered in blood, and the paramedic just tossed it behind him. They rolled the other stretcher in front of him, so we couldn't see him for a bit. After a little while, they lifted him on to the rolling stretcher. His head was in a big helmet type thing. He'd suffered head trauma, and probably brain damage. He was still breathing heavily and shaking. They rolled him off to the ambulance right past Jaden.
Once the driver of the gray car had been moved, and taken care of, they pulled the passenger of the gray car out in a sheet and laid him out on the ground where his friend had been. He just laid there, unmoving. They covered him with another sheet. He was dead.
The girl who had been in the car with Jaden (Jane Anderson, also in my grade) was unconscious. The paramedics had her got her onto one of the stretchers too. She had been strapped in and had I.V.'s all over her. Her face looked pretty beat up. The paramedics brought the rolling stretcher back out (or maybe just another one) and put Jane on it. But they didn't roll her away right off. They stood there talking for a while, like they weren't sure what to do. Then we turned and saw a helicopter coming toward us. It circled around the field, and then landed right in the middle of it. They took Jane off the rolling stretcher, and over to the helicopter. They strapped her in, and the helicopter took off.
Once Jane was gone, the police officers walked Jaden past the scene, and loaded him into one of the police cars. They got in and drove off around the track.
They went over to the dead boy, and put him on the rolling stretcher. They rolled him away. All of the police, paramedics, and others out on the field dispersed.
After the helicopter came back, we had some speakers. The mayor, the police chief, the helicopter pilot, and our S.B.O. President, Cole Broadbent, all spoke to us about distracted driving, wearing your seat belt, and DUI. One of the officers who spoke told us that one part was left out. He said that the worst part is when an officer has to go tell the family of the person who died that their family member has passed.
After the speakers they let us go look at the cars and the helicopter. The cars looked even worse than I'd thought. The headlights of the red car were busted, and the door they'd had to pry open was way bashed up. There was about a foot between the inside side of the door, and the outside side. There was this big gap in the middle.
It was such a powerful, eye opening, awesome, horrifying, and morbidly fascinating experience all at once. These things are real, and this helped us to see that. The heat and the bit of sunburn I got was so worth watching this play out. I wouldn't have missed it.
After when we were looking at the cars, they were handing out stickers for the program that deals with this stuff:
Along the sides it says:
Taking your eyes off the road
Using your cell phone
Improper Lookout
Following too close
They also handed out No Texting & Driving Pledges. Here's mine:
And the Back:
This experience really made these things go past the movies. You see it happen then, but actually watching this process go on really makes a difference. You could tell that everyone knew what they were doing. The kids were acting, but all of the officers, life flighters, and paramedics were just doing their jobs. This all felt real, even though I knew it wasn't.
I love all of you guys. Be careful when you drive. I know that you already are, but I couldn't stand to lose one of you. I love you all soooo much. Drive safe!
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