“The Saving of a Life, …the Illumination of a Family”

“The Saving of a Life, …the Illumination of a Family”

Atlantic City, NJ. It all happened so fast and unexpected; a flash, a consuming fire, and the saving of a life. We were tired and weary from flying across America to a much needed family vacation in Avalon. It was our last time together before David leaves for college and Ebey marries John. Our ever-changing, constantly-transforming family of six was finally altogether. Edith Schaeffer says, "a family is art in motion”, always moving, always changing, blown about by the winds of the Holy Spirit. Little did we know how true this would be in our experience. On this night we were quite irritable as we were ending of our day of travel. Dad and David wallowed in Toyota Highlander rental-car luxury in the two front seats, while Margee, Ebey, Hannah and Hope were crammed into girl squalor one on top of the other in the back seat. Getting lost for a half an hour as we had crossed into New Jersey had lowered our morale and there was much whining, wailing and nashing of teeth from the back seat. It was 3am and we were loosing it.

Whizzing along at 70 miles per hour we turned South on the Garden State Expressway past Atlantic City and our surroundings became dark as the highway straightened out, ...the back of the car grew quiet in response. Lights from shore homes in Ocean City twinkled from across the back-bay. Twisted trees and shrubs whizzed by both sides of our car. We settled into the final leg of our journey and all was quiet.

Then, flash! A quarter of a mile in front of us, bright orange-yellow tongues of fire burst forth from between trees in the center divide. It looked like someone had lit a giant torch or ignited a beach bonfire with kerosene. Then a large single burst of reflected orange light bounced off all the trees to the right side of the road and all of us said "whoa!". We rose to attention and I began muse about what we were seeing in the distance, ...are they police lights? a fire? an accident? everyone look! I put my foot on the brakes and swerved our car onto the right shoulder. We stopped at mile marker 37.4 next to a guardrail. Our headlights shine on scattered pieces of road debris in front of us. We found ourselves looking at burning car in front of us on the left side of the road. It had flipped over the center guardrail, and was lying on it's side (not the car in the photo) pointing down this v-shaped slope that divides the north and south sides of the highway. Its back end was pointed upward towards the guardrail. The roof of the car was facing us and obscured by darkness, …but the under-carriage facing away from us was spewing yellow flames sideways and upwards from the back end of the car. A small tree and the nearby grassy area were ablaze 10 feet in all directions.

David is out of the car first, he sprints across the road and heads down into the center divide. He meets up with a driver from another car who had stopped just ahead of us and had seen the whole thing happen. Ebey yells from the back of our car, “I’m calling 911”. Hannah leaps out the side door of our Toyota in her sandles and immediatly stumbles over headlight debris in the road. I’m out of my drivers door and in fatherly concern yell, “Hannah, get back in the car!”. She yelps back, , “But Dad, I know CPR!”. She steadies herself and gets her bearings amidst the debris and I realize Hannah is not a little girl anymore but a young woman with life-saving skills that may be sorely needed just 100 feet beyond. I say, “come Hanny" and we cross the road together.

David was first on the scene with the guy who saw the wreck happen. I run down the embankment with Hannah. As we draw near we notice that the dark side of the car that was facing us has an open sunroof and the front windshield is completely missing. The door that was facing up was mangled and the car body bent. At that moment a fear leaps inside me: what will we come upon? It could be anything: a broken, bleeding family trapped inside? Occupants thrown out of the car? Death? In that instant I fear for what my kids might see, I want to protect their eyes. Another driver stopped on the opposite side of the highway and scampered down the slope along side me. He called out to someone inside the car. “Can you get out?”. David and the other driver stopped short and were surveying the scene -concerned the car might blow up any moment. My newfound companion kept calling out to someone, and that instant I knew if there was someone inside that car ---we had to get them out now. I made a decision and pressed on toward the open sunroof.

There was someone inside! The top of their head was facing us and they were struggling to get out. My companion reached in and grabbed an arm, I reached in and grabbed an arm and armpit. We pulled him half-way out of the sunroof and then all the way. David was immediately by my side and grabbed a leg. We dragged the man away from the burning car so fast his pants almost came off, ...just as the back half of the car become enveloped by flames. He was blond, 30 something with a punk haircut, black pants, studded belt and black leather cowboy boots. He was sweating and breathing heavily, body rigid with adrenaline, eyes wide open in a state of mild shock. We ask him if he could move his fingers and legs, …he says yes. We pause, wondering what to do. The flames grow brighter and we realize we are not safe amidst the growing heat and light.

Let’s move him up the hill fast!, …we drag him fast along the ground again. Far away from the car to avoid fire and explosion. Me, David, two strangers and this sweating, rescued man were all lying/crouching together there on the ground. With Hannah standing nearby we tell him he’s going to be okay, that he’s safe. Someone takes off their shirt and make him a pillow. I pull up his pants which had been yanked down aways as we had dragged him so fast along the grass. He looks up at his burning car with awe and resignation and says, “I can’t believe I fell asleep at the wheel”. He collapses, closes his eyes and people begin to attend to him. The car is now completely on fire. Thick black smoke billows out of the sunroof with a chimney effect and things are beginning to pop and explode and crackle inside as the interior of the car is engulfed in flames. The car’s horn goes off as the steering wheel melts as if the car is giving up it's ghost. It stops in about 30 seconds as the electrical system is overwhelmed with fire.

I ask my guy who pulled him out with me if he could stay on and attend to him. He said, “yes”. I put my hand on the man’s sweaty head. I think I heard him say his name was John. I pray for John. For healing, for him not to go into shock, …and for people around him to care of him. I feel like my time here is done, a concern for my family comes over me and the need to get them to Avalon before the road gets blocked off fills my mind. I say goodbye to John, exhort the other driver to take good care of him. I walk with David & Hannah up to meet Ebey, Margee and Hope who are looking down on the scene from the road. Cars are approaching us and not stopping, I shepherd my family across the expressway and back into our car -noticing for the first time that the front bumper of the crashed car is embedded into the guardrail next to our rental car. State troopers begin arriving on the scene. Margee and Hope had been furiously praying for the safety of everyone involved, especially us. I was so touched by how everyone in my family had played such a key parts in this drama that had unfolded.

*****David was the first responder out of the car and down the hill. He gave us courage to move out and into the action.

*****Hannah, risking her own safety as she stumbled unawares over pieces of the broken car gave us confidence to approach whatever we might find at the scene as she offered her newly learned lifesaving skills.

*****Ebey had the focus, wits, and the cell phone to immediately call in emergency rescue help.

*****I, Daniel, once at the scene, felt and acted on the need to get anyone in the burning car out immediately.

*****Hope had a deep, sensitive spiritual concern to pray for the safety of everyone involved.

*****Margee’s strong confidence in God’s ability to save came alongside Hope and they prayed and prayed until the emergency was over and everyone was safe.

A family is art in motion. Never the same, always changing. Blown by the winds of the Holy Spirit, ...and tested by fire. I was amazed we had all acted with such strength and beauty and harmony in such a dire situation. I was inspired. I felt so grateful and proud of my family on the surface, …and deep, deep down inside I was in awe of God and his handywork.

We piled into our car and headed slowly down the road, dodging debris as we passed by the surreal scene on our left. Watching the grassfire spread spread out in a circle and seeing the car fully consumed in flames. More state troopers arrived and more people were stopping, watching and attending the rescued man. We drove on into the night, …along the same black stretch of highway with the same tress and bushes whisking by. But, things were not the same as before. We recounted some of the details and put together some of the pieces of what had just happened. We prayed for the man and thanked God for getting lost for 30 minutes and the timing of everything that only god knew. As I drove the final miles into Avalon and approached the house something began to dawn on me. The entire rescue of the man had been in the light of the flames of his burning car.

Everything, all my memories of that evening had this orange flickering glow to them. I will treasure this moment with my family for the rest of my life. My pride in my son, my admiration of my daughters, the devotion of my wife. And, everything, everything that night was illuminated by fire. The scene, the memories of my family,even my own soul. My heart felt aflame. I saw my family as art in motion, this everchanging mobile, blown by the winds of the Holy Spirit and with fire. -dc

"I baptize you with water for repentance
But after me will come one who is more powerful than I,
whose sandals I am not fit to carry.
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

-John The Baptist, …concerning Jesus of Nazareth
(Matthew 3:11)