It seems like a good day to talk about a near death experience, or the something like it I had as an eight year old. We lived in the country, and traffic could be counted one hand an hour, there was so little traffic. Before I was allowed to ride my bicycle on the ‘road’ , my folks had to believe I knew how to stay on the edge of the road and ride safely.
I remember both my bicycle and what happened that day, although I expect that is not unusual for someone a NDE happens to. I had a blue twenty inch bicycle. It was used when I got it, but it was a bicycle. I was riding to a friends house just like any other day. Except today for some reason, I was riding in the other lane towards the center. I still do not know why I was riding in the wrong lane, I had never ridden that far out before. My normal riding spot was within a few feet of the gravel going with traffic.
I thought I heard something behind me and I looked, and oh, no! There was a car driving just a little faster than I was riding my bicycle. I did what any normal eight year old would do. I fed this through my trouble meter and it hit the bell at the very top of the fear scale, and I panicked!
I cut right in front of the car - trying to get over to the gravel on the right side where I belonged. At eight years old you do not have a good concept of speed, and I thought I could make it. I peddled fast, but not fast enough. I was halfway through to the down position with my right leg as I watched the bumper of the car touch my leg.
I was moving through a round tunnel, filled with very large, very smooth, very old boulders. I didn’t know it at the time, but they looked the same as pre cambrian rock where I live now. There was a loud rushing sound behind me but it took some time for it to register. I finally did what ever version it was of looking behind me and I saw I was being shot forward from the tunnel just in front of very frothy white water filling the tunnel behind me. This went on for a long time it seemed, the rushing water sound and the frothy water behind me. Suddenly I could see the tunnel ended up ahead.
There were people talking to me, one crying, one mumbling, one asking if I could hear him? I said I could, and he asked if I could open my eyes? I remember feeling the hot blacktop on my skin and through my shorts and t-shirt. I could tell I was on my back. I remembered what happened and I panicked. I opened my eyes and tried to get up so I could get on my bicycle and leave before my folks found out.
I do not remember getting to the hospital, but I remember the emergency room. I hurt all over, and my back was burning and hurting. One doctor after another came in to look at me, and check me out, and then look at the x-rays again. My back hurt they told me because the car ran over me. The front tire left tread marks as it went over me. The tread marks started at my left hip, and went up to my left shoulder. At this point I was spun around somehow, and the tread marks went down my back to my right kidney area. I was spun around once more and there were tread marks from my right kidney area, straight up and off my right shoulder! Put simply, I had a huge N in tire tread mark scabs on my back. The doctors were amazed that not only wasn’t I crushed, but I did not have any injuries other than bruises.
I wish I could remember going down the tunnel and what happened, but I do not. I only remember the coming out part. It seemed a very long trip, as it took a long time to realize I was in the tunnel. The man that hit me said I was unconscious for almost thirty minutes. I would guess that is how long my trip felt like it took to arrive back in this world.
No comments yet.