Things That Go Bump In the Morning

A few weeks ago our neighbor Josh was hit by a car on his way home from school. He was severely injured, but is doing remarkably better now. You can follow his progress at the blog that was set up for him.

Today was our turn.

Nate was on his way to the bus stop with some friends when a 17 year-old cheerleader pulled out of her driveway quickly without looking first. He was in the middle of the group of kids but was the only one who couldn't get out of the way in time. He hit the back of the car and rolled off the trunk onto the ground. She drove him home and dropped him off, and once he got inside he called me (I was driving to the high school at the time).

An eyewitness report from the 16 year-old girl next to me in our van states: "You then proceeded to freak out."

Yes, I did.

When your kid calls you crying incoherently into the phone and all you can understand is "I got hit by a car!!!", you tend to freak out. I dropped off my daughter and raced home, where I found him lying in bed with an ice pack and nasty bruises and scrapes on his knee and leg. I got Tinkerbell off to school, Sweetie up to BYU, then coaxed him out of the house to have him checked out by the doctor.

Apparently, if he had to get hit, he got hit in the right spot. No kneecap or ACL damage, just bruising that will heal. Didn't hit his head or injure his back and neck. Apart from having my kid hit by a driver who wasn't paying close attention, I feel pretty fortunate!

I feel sorry for her, too. What a scary experience. Apparently she, her brother, and dad came by the house this afternoon while I was at work and asked for me. They neither identified themselves nor asked about Nate, then left. It's odd that we haven't heard from either her or her parents since. Hmmm...

I have to file a police report since there was an injury, so I'll do that in the morning. Wasn't quite up to it today. Hopefully she'll never again forget to look in her rearview mirror, and I don't think Nate will walk across someone's driveway trusting that they see him ever again.