Car Accident

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Last Thursday, the kids and I were in a car accident. Photo included... I'll start by saying we are all OK. I was going just below 70km/hr when I reached a sharp bend in the road. I applied my foot on the brakes to slow down when I noticed a truck on my left who seem to be pulling out of a drive way. I didn't pay mind to him however as I turned the corner, his lights illuminated the road and I saw the black ice. I started loosing control. We swerved from one side to another; I'm really surprised we didn't hit any guard rails. I remember thinking OK let go of the brakes and keep the wheel straight. I regained control a few times just to lose it again just as quick. I wanted to warn the kids but decided not to cause a panic! We made it threw the bend OK but we continued to slide until finally we seem to just fly off the road and head for a solid tree! I have to say the most unpleasant aspect of the accident itself are those airbags although I'm very thankful for them! A powder shoots out of them causing the air to become unbreathable. The first thing I did was ask the children if they were OK and then I rolled the windows down. My oldest daughter was choking from the 'dust'. I looked behind us to see if that truck noticed we went off the road, they were just pulling up aside the road and I could hear a man talking on the phone, I correctly assumed with 911. I had already turned the engine off however this man yelled out to shut it off because there was smoke. I yelled back it was from the airbags however he insisted it wasn't. It seem to take the rescue team a long time to arrive. I was becoming restless, I wanted to get out of the car but we had been advised not to move. We could hear people yelling OH MY GOD... MOVE!! WATCH OUT!! every time another car approached the bend. Many slid but were more fortunate than us. The man who had called 911 finally came back to the car and informed me he was going to take the kids away from the car in case another one slammed in behind us/on top of us and reassured me he'd be back for me. As I watched him help my children to the road, I noticed another car sliding, coming right towards me. He did manage to stop on the gravel. I did not know at the time that my children were still behind my car, I was just thankful they were not IN the car. To think now that they could have been killed or seriously injured throughout this whole time is very unsettling! This is when a volunteer firefighter (driver of sliding car) crawled in the back seat and told me NOT TO MOVE! I tried to tell him that I wanted to go with my kids but he reassured me they were OK but I was not to move. He sat behind me, placed his hands on my head/neck and held me still for what seemed to be about another 10 minutes. He tried to talk to me, keep me calm, told me I had to stay still for precautions, since as a mother my instincts are to protect the children so I could have made my injuries worse as I moved about in the car. I explained my fear of other cars sliding off the road. He told me that he wasn't going to leave me. I'm thinking: Great! That only reassures me that I won't die alone!! Finally paramedics arrived. One of them jokingly said that I was illegally parked. Firefighter was still holding my head while someone placed a blanket over me, another flashed lights in my face, another poked and prod me and asked me to move my hands, legs, shoulder, another yelled POSSIBLE NECK INJURY. I felt no pain so I feared these people knew something I didn't. Finally I was given the OK to move. I had not realized that they had previously tried to open my door to no avail. They informed me they would manage to open it and I was to slide out slowly. I had two men help me to the ambulance ensuring I didn't feel faint or dizzy. The man from the truck who called 911 happened to be at this particular corner because his own daughter had just flipped her vehicle upside down in the ditch. The crawled out without injuries however I feel lucky they were there because I now had eye witness of the accident and someone available to call for help. I also found out that the paramedics first responded to another accident that happened just after mine a few minutes away. They also escaped without major injuries. I have to say that throughout this whole ordeal, everyone, even the kids, stayed calm! My youngest daughter (8) had a sore belly from the seatbelt. My oldest (12) has a banged up knee and a headache. I had a bloody nose. My face was sore, my lips numb and left side of my neck was sore to the touch. All airbag and seatbelt injuries which is the only kind I'm glad we have. The rescue team praised the children for having their seatbelts on. I was surprise upon exiting the vehicle how squished I seem to be between the steering wheel and seat however once I saw what the car looked like, I had a better understanding. I still have a headache that feels like a really bad hangover and my neck is quite stiff however I'm not hurting anywhere else. So the moral of the story is, drive safely and always wear your seatbelts!!