The Scars of My Saviour

A couple of days ago, almost a week now, I almost died. I was in a car crash and if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be alive today.

We were on our way to Southhampton to pick up a guitar. Everything was calm and the roads were smooth enough to make me feel sleepy. He was attentive and I knew it was because he wanted to keep me as calm as possible. Along the way, we tried to overtake a lorry but so did an older man behind us. There wasn’t enough space, which resulted in him crashing into us. The domino effect happened and before I knew it, the tail lights of the lorry in front of us were all I could see before our car spun off and flipped over. My immediate response was to put my hands in front of my eyes and wish that we would stop spinning. I then realised that we were sliding on the roof of the car for about 50 meters and the car was absolutely totalled. When we finally came to a stop, I was hanging upside down, only suspended by my seatbelt. I turned my head and saw him lying against the roof of the car. I closed my eyes and within those short moments, I felt myself unclip my seatbelt and was suddenly being pulled through the door of the car.

I don’t remember how I got to safety on the side of the road. He told me he crawled out his car door window and dragged me out. He saved me. Luckily an ambulance from coming from the other side and saw the whole disaster happen. I watched them put out the fire and sparks from the car while I sat cradled in the arms of an elderly woman who had gotten out of her car to help. Glass was shattered all along the road and pieces of the car were lying at my feet.

Alex. Where was Alex? I began panicking and my breathing was short. I was shivering in the cold with my elbow tucked under my other arm. I was aching but desperate to know that he was okay. I was afraid and in disbelief of what had happened. The noise was deafening. My ears were ringing. Alex. Where was Alex? I turned my head to look at the car, which had been crushed from both front and back. I saw him emerge with my backpack and coat with a look of sadness in his eyes. He was more concerned about how I was feeling than himself. His hand was bleeding from when he scratched it pulling me out of the car.

We then got taken to Southhampton, to the emergency services. I thought I had broken my arm and my ribs were aching. We stayed there for 7 hours to get an x-ray and get cleaned up, only to find that we only had a few cuts and bruises and no major injuries. We are both still quite shook up and sore but after this experience, I can definitely say I have a new outlook on life. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever been through. Everyone at the hospital told us we were lucky to be alive, after they had seen the state of the car we were in. I still rest with what I said before, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be alive today.

The first word to come out of my mouth before the crash was “Alex.” The first word to escape my lips after the spinning stopped was “Alex.” The first word I said when I looked at the broken car was “Alex.” The song that was playing before we hit the lorry was “Luv.” I remember the lyrics, clear as day, “everyone falls in love sometimes.” I can say with my hand on my heart, love got us through this. He saved me and I will forever be in his debt. I will hold his hand and kiss the scars on that very hand. I will kiss the scars of my saviour and smile, smile for we are alive and well.