It all can happen so quickly. Friday night, two friends of mine were travelling from Columbia, SC to my home in NC, when they were in a severe auto accident. The occassion for the trip was a D.C. United game. Josh Chandler, one of my best friends, knew a guy that played for United, and we were to travel to DC on Saturday. Sometimes things change. Josh and Seth (Josh's friend) were on I-95 Northbound near Wilson, NC when Josh's Ford Focus hydroplaned sending the car into a spin, resulting in a collision with a nearby tree off of the enbankment of the highway.
I had touched base with Josh around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. They were about 50 minutes away. When they had not arrived by 10:30, I called Josh again. Josh didn't answer the phone. Seth, the passenger in the car, picked up the phone, only to tell me very calmly that he and Josh had been in a bad car crash and that Josh was unconscious. After a couple more phone calls with broken signal, Seth was able to tell me that they were headed to Wilson Memorial Hospital. My crew from home shortly departed for WMH.
Upon arrival, we learned that the hospital, not having a trauma unit, had called UNC-Chapel Hill to transport him by chopper to their hospital. The chopper beat us to the hospital, which was located about 20 minutes from my house. After talking with a nurse who told us as much as she could at the time (it wasn't much), we were told we could see Josh quickly before they took him to Chapel Hill. The looks were somber. No one said much. A doctor informed us that he had sustained a few internal injuries in the chest/abdomen area, but the main area of concern would be his head/brain. He did not say much, but we could gather that this was extremely serious.
Still feeling shocked and having done all we could, my crew (me, dad, JWredberg, Seth) left the hospital en route for my house to get some much needed rest.
Seth miraculously sustained no severe or even minor injuries. He escaped with only a few scratches and some small bruises. Also amazing in this story is that fact that by God's providence alone, the first person to stop at the scene of the accident turned out to be a trauma surgeon. He was not called for. He saw the accident and stopped. How great is our God?! He is so amazing. It is relieving to know that while things seem out of control, He has not gasped in amazement, nor has he been surprised. He is sovereign.
Josh is currently at UNC-Chapel Hill in ICU. Pray for him, his family, the doctors, etc. As of right now, we are waiting for Josh to come out of a coma. He has not responded in 24 hours. The next 24 hours will be as critical as the previous. To God Be the Glory!
(Josh Chandler Story -Part 1)
I had touched base with Josh around 9:30 p.m. on Friday night. They were about 50 minutes away. When they had not arrived by 10:30, I called Josh again. Josh didn't answer the phone. Seth, the passenger in the car, picked up the phone, only to tell me very calmly that he and Josh had been in a bad car crash and that Josh was unconscious. After a couple more phone calls with broken signal, Seth was able to tell me that they were headed to Wilson Memorial Hospital. My crew from home shortly departed for WMH.
Upon arrival, we learned that the hospital, not having a trauma unit, had called UNC-Chapel Hill to transport him by chopper to their hospital. The chopper beat us to the hospital, which was located about 20 minutes from my house. After talking with a nurse who told us as much as she could at the time (it wasn't much), we were told we could see Josh quickly before they took him to Chapel Hill. The looks were somber. No one said much. A doctor informed us that he had sustained a few internal injuries in the chest/abdomen area, but the main area of concern would be his head/brain. He did not say much, but we could gather that this was extremely serious.
Still feeling shocked and having done all we could, my crew (me, dad, JWredberg, Seth) left the hospital en route for my house to get some much needed rest.
Seth miraculously sustained no severe or even minor injuries. He escaped with only a few scratches and some small bruises. Also amazing in this story is that fact that by God's providence alone, the first person to stop at the scene of the accident turned out to be a trauma surgeon. He was not called for. He saw the accident and stopped. How great is our God?! He is so amazing. It is relieving to know that while things seem out of control, He has not gasped in amazement, nor has he been surprised. He is sovereign.
Josh is currently at UNC-Chapel Hill in ICU. Pray for him, his family, the doctors, etc. As of right now, we are waiting for Josh to come out of a coma. He has not responded in 24 hours. The next 24 hours will be as critical as the previous. To God Be the Glory!
(Josh Chandler Story -Part 1)