Another Good Deed to Add to the Record Books

Well, I had a very interesting night last night.  Which worked out great for me, because it gave me something to write about today.  Being that I don't have anymore pregenerated blog topics to write from.

Yesterday started out just fine.  I took the opportunity of having only one child in the house this weekend to go out and do some running around - alone.  I went and visited my in-laws and then went and spent some quality alone time with P-Momma.

I love family gatherings with P-Momma, but I really love getting to spend some alone time with her.  We just sit and talk and talk and talk some more.  I don't have to worry about kids interrupting because they want to play the Wii, or they want a snack, etc.  It's just us.

So, we spent a couple of hours just sharing what's been going on in our lives, work, family, stuff.  Then, I called up Hubby to come over with Jelly so that we could all go out for dinner.  P-Momma, her granddaughter, and the three of us.

We chose On the Border.  Their food is so yummy, and Jelly absolutely loves to sit and eat chips and queso.   We enjoyed a great family dinner, and then it was time to head home.  We had driven P-Momma to the restaurant, so we had to take her home first.  Then, Hubby took his car,  and I took Jelly with me.  He had to stop off at the store, so I just started heading straight home.

And that's when it happened.

On the back road that leads to my house, I came across a car that appeared to have flown off the road into an embankment.  My first instinct was just to drive by, until I saw someone in the driver's seat slumped over the steering wheel.

I immediately pulled my car over and got out to help.  I noticed gas spewing out of the gas tank, so I got back in my car and pulled it away, turned off the ignition, told Jelly to sit tight, and got back out to help.

I got back out and yelled to the driver.  She opened the door and fell out of the car.  That's when I dialed 911.  I thought she was really injured to just fall out of the car that way.  Once the dispatcher got on the phone, I realized she wasn't injured AT ALL.  She was absolutely wasted drunk.  She kept trying to stand up, and fell right back over.  I told her to just sit tight while I called for help.

I explained to the dispatcher my observations, and that the car was spewing gas out of the gas tank.  He asked if I felt comfortable moving the driver away from the car - and I did.  I pulled her up, while still on the phone, and led her over to my car.  The smell of alcohol was so strong.  She kept falling over, and basically fell on to my car.  She then tried to get in my car, and I had to do some quick maneuvering to stop that from happening - because Jelly was still in the car.

I tried to ask her a few questions.. her name, where she was going, but she wasn't able to answer.  All she could manage to slur out was "I'm fine, I'm just going to go home now".

Another car drove up to offer assistance, and I noticed she was smoking.  I immediately yelled for her to stay away from the wrecked car because of the gas, and she pulled away.  But, thankfully, a few moments later a volunteer fireman pulled up.  I got off the phone with the dispatcher and immediately called Hubby.

It didn't take long for a fire truck to arrive and a city police officer.  However, because we were out of the city limits, he couldn't really do anything until a county officer arrived.  Hubby showed up and I made him take Jelly home.  I was asked to stay to give a full statement of what I had found.

The driver was so drunk she wasn't able to give her name or explain how the accident had happened.  The city cop did a couple of tests on her, that she failed miserably.  Finally, a county cop arrived and asked me what had happened.  I told him, and he asked if I'd write my statement out - and of course, I obliged.  I wanted this woman OFF THE ROAD!

I wrote out my statement, and then spent about 20 minutes watching the county cop try and give the driver sobriety tests.  She couldn't keep her eyes facing forward.  She couldn't walk more than one step without toppling over - even though he'd asked her to walk nine.  When he asked her to turn around and walk back to the car, she started walking backwards and was falling all over the place.

I was in total shock and horror watching the whole ordeal.  The firemen that were there stood with me and kept me company as everything was being taken care of.  None of them could believe just how drunk this woman was...and kept telling me how lucky I was that I had just found her and that I hadn't come down the road a few minutes earlier...while she was still driving.

Finally, the cop placed her under arrest, and that's when she started crying.  She tried to beg and plead for forgiveness.  She started crying about how her son would be taken away from her.  WHAT THE WHAT?  Hearing those words froze my heart.  This woman has a child.  What if the child had been in the car?  Who does something that stupid - gets that drunk and gets behind a wheel - that has a child at home?  I got so angry...and I think one of the firemen sensed it because he assured me she'd be taken care of.  He patted me on the shoulder and told me I had done a good thing.  She may have got away with it had I not stopped.  She may have been able to call for help to a person she knew to get her away from the scene, had I not stopped.

The drive back home was a very solemn one.  All I kept thinking about was what if I had been driving down that road earlier?  Would she have hit me with Jelly in the car?  She could have killed someone driving the way she had been. There were marks of her coming on and off the road for several hundred feet before she made impact with the embankment.  If I had been coming around that corner at that time, I would have been the impact she found.  It sent chills down my spine.

To be so drunk that you can't stand up right, can't remember your name, can't remember where you were going or where you were coming from, or how on earth you ended up smashed in to an embankment is just unbelievable.  And then to get in a car in that state.

All I know is I'm very glad I stopped.  I'm very glad I was able to get that woman taken to where she needs to be:  Jail.  I hope that she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  Because I was lucky, yesterday.  I was just able to do a good deed.  Had I not invited P-Momma to go to dinner with us, and driven her home before I went home, I may have met that woman on that corner...and not just stumble across her, but be hit by her.

So, today I get to celebrate a good deed done - and celebrate that Jelly and I are perfectly fine.  We had a hand watching over us last night.  We were held back for a reason, and events played out as they should have.

Life is such a blessing.  And if I can do my part to take people off the streets that want to gamble with their lives - I will!  Because in the end, it's never usually their lives that are in jeopardy...it's the innocent ones.

And I'm happy to have done my part.