And then what?

I have so many stories I can share with you, my followers and friends. Some happy. Some sad. Some illegal. I would like to share one other tragic story with you. I know......sorry. But it's another event in my life that I rarely speak of, and it effected me terribly for a long time. It KIND of ties in to the GBS story, even though it happened several years earlier when I lived in Coloma and was working at WIRX radio.

Benton Harbor. Around fall of 1994 (my mind isn't what it used to be....lol) I was at work. I think I was doing some production work, or we had a meeting. It was getting to be around 6:30pm and I was getting ready to head home. Driving through town was always a blast at this time. Rush hour traffic SUCKED! It was kind of cloudy and dark. I had a headlight out, but I was still very aware of my surroundings because of how people drove down Napier Avenue. I came to the light at Pipestone and Napier and traffic was lining up. This was the section of road coming up that was BAD. poorly lit, and 5 lanes wide including a turn lane, that that then suddenly cuts into 2 lanes that crossed over the highway. Then throw 2 ramps into the mix, and it was a dangerous recipe.

The light turns green, and we all roar off towards the overpass. I back off a little expecting traffic to start splitting up. i then see a car swerve to the right, almost clipping another car, I look back ahead and see what looks like a dark piece of cardboard rolling in the road. I slow down quickly and realize that it is a man, and he was trapped in the middle of the road. The van that I saw swerve had hit him, and pulled off.

Now, traffic was BAD! People flying through at around 50mph. I crammed on my brakes, and tried to stop in front of him, but the traffic behind me was coming up on me fast. I had no choice but to pull off behind the van.

I open my door, and before I had a foot on the ground, the lady that had hit him was in my face hysterical. "I never saw him.....I never saw him!!!!!" I told her to shut up, because we had to get him out of the road. I ran to the edge of the lane he was in. You could tell he had a badly broken leg, and could not get up. He would try, and fall. he tried to crawl, but was not able to. I ran across the first lane, and into the second lane. I was almost there. he was looking at me, and I went to reach for his outstretched hand, yelling that he was going to be ok. He looked in my eyes, and I into his. I went to say "Reach out and I'll drag you to the shoulder!"

The words never came from my mouth. In an blur of lights, a van going 50 ran right over him. Killing him in an instant. 3 feet from my reach, looking into his eyes. And he was gone. The air rushed from my lungs and I fell to my knees and screamed. I saw the hope in his eyes. He was going to be ok, and then he was gone.

The second van stopped after dragging him another 40 feet. I rushed to where he was. By this time traffic was finally stopping. I saw a lady by the gas station and I screamed for her to call 911. Another person and I rushed to where he ended up. I stood over him. There was nothing I could do. His body was decimated. I had never seen something like this before, and I just stared at him. we tried to give him CPR but it was hopeless. Without going into detail, it was VERY obvious he would never come back to life.

I was still standing over him when the police and the EMTs arrived. They checked him and put a sheet over him. the officer asked if I would help direct traffic, so I took a flare and did what he asked. there is actually a picture of me at the scene directing traffic that was in the Herald Palladium newspaper. After 2 hours of being questioned about what I saw, I was able to go home.

Over the next 6 months I had to answer questions to lawyers for his family and the city and MDOT who maintained the overpass. I had to relive that damn accident over and over.

I finally was able to find out who this man was. I had to know because of that second he looked at me, I felt a bond that I was not able to keep with him. he was driving an 18 wheeler on the highway, and it broke down. He had walked up the on ramp, and went to an ATM at the gas station right there. It wasn't working so he had to cross that damned road to get to another one. that was when he was hit. he had a wife and 2 young children that I met later on,

There was a lawsuit about a year later, and I had to go through every little detail again in a courtroom. I had to see the pictures of his lifeless body in the road, and in the ambulance. I had to watch as his wife and kids were crying. I had to listen to the asshole lawyers who tried to pin the blame on this poor man, call him stupid for being in the road. I wanted to lash out and beat the crap out of him.

I gave my testimony on what I saw happen. I personally blame the pathetic lighting and the assholes that drive so fast through there. The 2 vans that hit him claim they never saw him. I saw him just fine, and I had a headlight out. What does that say about them? I made sure I told the judge that as well.

I was dismissed and told that I was done. I hugged his wife and kids and I drove back home 270 miles crying all of the way. i never knew how the lawsuit ended up. I never wanted to know. I just felt horrible.

When I was in the ICU with my illness, his was the face I always saw in the window. Never anyone else. Always him. that look of peace knowing I was going to help him.

And to this day, I feel like I let him down.