A Brush With Death – All Laws Of Physics Meant To Be Broken

Carol Graham tells the story of a horrifying car crash and what she realized about life because of it. Read more from Carol on her blog, Battered Hope.

Have you ever had a brush with death — an experience that made you stop, shake uncontrollably and realize you should not have survived?   You play the tape over and over in your brain and no matter how many times you play it, there is no sensible explanation.  This happened to me last Friday. No one on this planet will ever convince me of a reasonable explanation because there is none.  What happened defies all laws of nature and physics.  I watched it happen.  I still can’t believe it.

If you could read the balance of this post in a few seconds it would still be slower than the actual occurrence.  It happened four days ago and every time I close my eyes I see her car flying through the air and I shudder to think what could have happened.  But it did happen and there is no way to explain it.

Very early Friday morning I left southern Washington for the long trek home.  I was pacing myself to miss rush hour traffic in Seattle so stopped for breakfast around 8 A.M.  I called my husband to say “Good morning, honey.  I am on schedule and should be able to meet up with you later this afternoon.  It’s a beautiful sunny day and I can’t wait to get home.”

Interstate Highway 5 is a five lane highway with a speed limit of 70 mph (112 km).  I was in the center lane and noticed a policeman on a motorcycle two cars in front of me.  I glanced at my speedometer to be sure I was not speeding.  I wasn’t.  Then suddenly I noticed a black car edging very close to the right side of my car traveling at the same speed and I was shocked that she was that close and not hitting my car.

How could this be happening at this speed?

Without checking my mirrors I moved over to the next lane on my left and she followed, just as close.  Holding down my horn, she was not responding nor was she hitting my car.  I let up on the accelerator to slow down and what happened next is not interpretable.

Just as I started to slow down enough for her to pass me, I realized I was now on the shoulder and still traveling the same speed.  As she passed I noticed her brake lights were not on and I imagined she was in a hurry and would proceed in the left lane.  Consequently, I had no reason to slow down or apply my brakes.

I did not have time to react.  I did not have time to respond. I did not even have time to apply the brakes.  Her car hit the viaduct head on and spun sideways so my SUV was approaching her front door dead on. Here is where all laws were defied.

Police would not allow me to take a picture. The accident was considerably worse than what this photo shows.

My truck stopped.  No, I did not brake.  My truck stopped. It stopped immediately.  Nothing was tossed around the inside of my vehicle.  I was traveling between 60 and 65 mph and my truck stopped.  The engine did not die.  My truck stopped within inches of her door.  It was a gentle stop as if I had been traveling at 10 mph, not 60!

As her air bag was deployed, I saw it in her right hand — her cell phone.  Was she texting at that speed?  Was she trying to kill herself?

By now, a couple cars pulled up to see if we were okay.  I was visibly shaken. The front of the girl’s car was gone.  It was as if it disappeared.  It was completely disintegrated, gone.  A man asked me to back up my truck so he could open her door and pull her out.  Then he came back to tell me “She said it was a rental car (brand new) and the steering was wonky.”  I punched several holes in that story immediately remembering the speed she was traveling and the fact that she never applied the brakes.

I wanted to leave.  I knew I shouldn’t but shock makes you think blurry.  She walked up to me and said “I’m sorry.”  I had no response.  I still could not believe she was alive. When her car hit that cement wall, it was lifted off the ground because the impact was tremendous.

There is only one explanation for what happened to me and my truck.  It was divine intervention. There is no other intellection of any description.

As I have tossed this around my brain the last few days the image I see is as if a small child was playing with little cars. He has his hand on the car, making the wheels go faster and faster when suddenly he decides to stop and the car stops.  I know that my Heavenly Father had my truck in His hands last Friday.  He stopped it.  There is no doubt, nor any other explanation other than it was a miracle.

Have you ever had something that defies all the Laws of Nature and Physics happen to you?