Not today (part 1/3)

Noah got hit by a car while on the way pick up Josiah from preschool.  It was a normal day....every day is  a normal day...except this one.

Heidi was pushing Joel in our double jogger and Noah was riding a small bike next to her. At a nearby intersection, they waited at a cross walk for the light to turn green and the indicator to let them know it was safe to walk.  The light turned green, the crosswalk sign gave the right of way, and they slowly made their way across the street.  Noah was about a foot ahead of the front end of her jogger. She watched an SUV approach and anticipated it to slow and then stop before turning across their crosswalk, but he did not change his speed and started turning towards them. 

She said, "I started screaming at him to stop because I was pushing the jogger with Joel and Noah was slightly ahead of me and wasn't close enough for me to grab him. The yelling didn't work - not one ounce of an attempt to slow down, and in that moment I knew Noah was going to get hit or run over. It was only a question of where, how bad, and would he survive it. I cannot begin to describe the emotion of that split-second moment when I realized Noah was going to get hit and his life might end and I was utterly powerless to prevent it. The driver barely missed the front end of my jogger, but he hit Noah with his right front headlight area. Even a half foot more, maybe even a few inches, and Noah would have been run over."

The impact was so sever that it popped the car's front tire.  Noah flew a few feet and landed on his right side. Heidi ran to him and expected to find his head smashed in but his helmet literally saved him.

He was crying and blood covered his face....but he was alive and conscious and kinda responsive.  Heidi was desperate.  She screamed in the middle of the road for someone to call 911. There were witnesses and people getting out of cars to come and help. The driver stopped, saying he was apologetic but said he never saw us -- We are not sure how that's possible.  Heidi was pushing a double wide stroller and wearing a bright purple hoodie in a pedestrian sidewalk. Was he distracted?  

Heidi called me....crying, wailing, inconsolable...."Noah's been hit by a car," she screamed.  My heart sank (you know, like the feeling when great fear and great sadness collide).  I rushed out of the meeting and drove as fast as I could to the intersection of the accident.  I ran up to Heidi and saw her holding a limp child in her arms.  She was weeping....I knew he was dead. 

A moment passed and I saw Noah move, and cry, and talk.  He was alive! 

The police and paramedics arrived within a minute or two  -- and once they did their initial assessment, they whisked Heidi and Noah off in an ambulance. After many X-rays and several cat scans, he was cleared. No broken bones, no bleeding in the head, chest, or abdomen. He's got a very busted upper head, lip, and a loose tooth or two. We've been told to keep an eye out for concussion symptoms. 

The ER doctor told us the helmet he was wearing saved his brain and probably his life! 

It has been a very traumatic experience, but even so, as we sat in the ER room with Noah reliving the moment in our mind, the scene changed ever so slightly this time, but it made all the difference. This time as I remembered it, I heard the words "Not today" and I knew that God was reminding me of what was and is true about what happened: God has determined the first day and the last day of Noah's life, and while I felt powerless against stopping that driver, God, who is all-powerful, was always in control of Noah's life, and He's in control of how it ends. I give thanks to God Noah's final day was "Not today." There will be a day which is his last, just like we all have a last day determined for us, but for now, I choose to revel in this gift called life. Thank you for your prayers for him and us, for your encouragement and support. 

But...just a mere four hours later, one block down the street from Noah's accident, J, a ten year old girl we personally know who lives in our neighborhood and attends Jackson Elementary was also hit by a car while crossing the street. She is currently in critical condition.  On the same day our two-year-old is hit and lives, our little friend is also hit, and her life hangs in the balance.  

There is nothing fair about this world.  Sadness.

Follow @joeandheidi