I was thirteen years old. I got home from school one day, walked through the front door and was greeted by my youngest brother informing me that “Mom was in an automobile accident.” I immediately knew something was wrong-my then seven year old brother didn’t talk like that. Also, my best friend’s mother (who happened to be our minister’s wife) was there.
In 1977 my mother was driving in our blue station wagon from the Middletown Planned Parenthood office to the Hamilton Planned Parenthood office to deliver some supplies. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and dotted with puffy white clouds, there was a gentle breeze blowing.
Mom was driving out of town past a local park. The street side of the park was lined with trees. As my mom drove down the street, past the park, the top of a tree fell onto her car. It smashed the windshield and a branch impaled her. Obviously, there were no cell phones in 1976. Luckily, there was a truck coming the opposite way and the driver saw the whole thing. He radioed for an ambulance and the race was on.
When the ambulance arrived, the two young medics had never seen anything like this. The branch had gone through my mom at her shoulder. It had missed her shoulder joint and it had missed her lung. Later we found out that the branch actually went between layers of muscle and hit my mom’s shoulder blade and chipped a little piece off and then stopped. She had no damage to her shoulder area other than the path of the branch. None.
Her face took the brunt of the windshield glass. She had a cut down the side of her nose and the glass had cut across her cheek so that roots of her teeth were exposed. Other than her shoulder and face there were no other injuries. My mom, being a nurse and still being conscious told the medics to radio ahead and tell the hospital to be prepared for chest injuries.
Mom arrived at the hospital and the doctors began to work on her. As it turned out, the only one there to stitch up her face was an OBGYN. I’m proud to say my mother never needed plastic surgery on her face. The doctor did an excellent job.
The accident was mid week and I was going on a youth group retreat that weekend. I remember “sneaking” into the hospital through back stairways with a friend to go see my mom. Her face was stitched up, she had a drain in her shoulder and the blood vessels in her eyes had burst in the accident so the whites of her eyes were reddish with her blue eyes shining from the darkness. We visited for a few minutes, a doctor came in and we said our goodbyes. As I was getting ready to go mom asked if I was going to give her a kiss goodbye. I looked at her face and asked, “where?” I kissed her on the forehead and went off on my retreat.
Due to the cuts on her face mom had some nerve damage and the damaged side of her face drooped a little. I only noticed it when I saw her in a mirror, so clothes shopping as a teen always caught me off guard the first time I saw her in the dressing room mirror. The other effect was that because of scar tissue from the branch, every time she had a mammogram she had to wait for the Dr. to read the films. Sometime in her early seventies she was released from this and I remember her being so excited about it. (it’s the little things)
I was thirteen when the accident occurred. We went to church every Sunday and were involved in parish activities. I thought that after the accident I had noticed that my mother’s faith had increased. I took note and went on with my life. Years later, as an adult, I was privileged to be in a small group with my mother where we were discussing faith. My mother shared what I had always known; that after her accident her faith increased. It was a wonderful confirmation.
