hey guys...i know some of you are fans of The Listening, and i thought this might interest you...it's fairly long, but it's worth the read if you're a fan, and a pretty scary and amazing story, from their myspace (
www.myspace.com/thelistening).
wyoming adventures (a blog from Gabriel)
Its 5am. Josiah is at the wheel. We've just crossed the Montana/Wyoming border on I-90 going east bound. We're sleeping in the back. Eric and Adam (tour manager) are on back bed. Chris is on the middle bench seat. Gabriel (that's me...) is on the bench seat just behind the two front seats. Just before Sheradin, Wyoming tragedy strikes. I don't quite know how to describe it--except to say that we lived through one of my worst nightmares, and barely made it.
Josiah hits a deer. That would be fine, except this time the airbags are deployed, knocking Josiah's hands off the wheel and sending us out of control. Josiah starts yelling at the top of his lungs... It wakes me up. He tries his best to regain control...and almost does. I don't remember much, save for the prayers that I prayed. The van was rocking back and forth. Actually, it was being thrown back and forth by the weight of our 8,000 pound trailer full of gear and production. The sound was indescribable. A lot of yelling. A lot of screeching tires. All of us yelling, "Jesus! Save us! Help us! God, protect us!!!" I'm sure everyone was praying as best they could. About 3 seconds later, the trailer flipped over, causing our van to whip around 180 degress and then flip. I remember the sensation of knowing that we were flipping. I was on the bench seat, curled into a ball with my hands and arms covering my head. I remember the feeling of the bench seat slipping out from underneath me, and the sound changing. From the screams of my best friends, I now heard the world outside of the van. I was being thrown from the van--at 50 mph. I remember that I wasn't scared...I was just "aware" of the fact that I was being thrown out of the van as we rolled. None of us were in our seat belts, except for Josiah...
I flew through the air...and I hit the ground. It was dirt and gravel, though I only know this by taste and smell, not by the texture. I could hear the trailer flipping around and gear flying out of it.. It had detached from the van and was sent flailing. And I heard the van...rolling towards me. I didn't move. I froze in my curled up state, my arms protecting my head. I heard it touch down 3 feet behind me... I knew it would roll on top of me. And it did. I heard it hit 3 feel in front of me...and then I heard nothing.
I had a friend in 7th grade named Doug Sax. He was thrown from a truck as it rolled--and then smashed by the rolling truck. It killed him. I thought to myself..."is this it? This is it... here I go." I thought I would die. And when all I heard was silence...I thought it was over.
I opened up my eyes. I looked around. The van was on top of me, only it was on its tires. Yes, I was under the van, only miraculously, I wasn't smashed at all. I had a couple inches between me and the drive shaft of the van. I still didn't hear anything. I pulled myself from underneath... I checked myself out. I had no scratches, except for a mild scrape on my left elbow. I checked my head... I checked my face. I checked my neck... I felt fine. I was sorta taken back. I mean, I had been thrown OUT OF THE VAN. I had landed, and then slid a ways in the gravel. And nothing? Nothing? Then I began to worry. If I was thrown out of the van, the boys must be everywhere, and hurting.
I peered through what used to be the side door window to see if any of them were still in the van. Josiah was still sitting in the driver's seat. He saw me...
"Are you okay, Siah?"
"yeah...dude. I hit a deer, man! It launched the airbags, and I couldn't keep contol! I'm so sorry..."
"No worries man...Chris, are you okay?"
Chris was pinned by his bench seat which had come undone from its brackets that hold it in place...
"yeah...I'm okay"
"Adam...Eric?...you guys okay?"
We didn't hear anything at first. The back of the roof was smashed down onto the bed. I thought for sure they'd be a bloody mess, if not dead. But Eric was fine... Adam, however, was busted up.
"My arm's busted", he said. "Its really broken bad".
As the boys got out of the van, I started checking myself...
"Are you okay?" Josiah asked.
"yeah...I feel fine. I got thrown out of the van. It landed on top of me, but it didn't hurt me 'cuz it landed on its tires."
"that's crazy!"
I checked myself again. I was weirded out... No blood. No cuts. Barely a scrape on my elbow. And my right theigh was a bit sore. Other than that, nothing crazy...
And from there...this whole day has been nuts. The trailer was totalled, and much of the gear was thrashed. The van was also totalled... We were all taken by ambulance to the hospital. After x rays, ct scans, and the works, Adam was diagnosed with a severely broken arm. Eric has a badly sprained ankle and some pulled ligaments in one arm. Chris is really sore. And I am only sore as well... Josiah was seat belted in as the driver, so he's fine as can be--but VERY shaken up by all of this. There was nothing he could've done any better...nothing at all. Sometimes airbags help. In this case, they almost killed all of us.
We are walking miracles. Honestly, we shouldn't be alive. I especially shouldn't be, having been thrown from the van, and had it land on top of me. All of us are walking miracles... And that is the beauty of this story..
In the most dangerous time, and the most frightening time, God is with us all. The doctors told us that we were lucky. The tow truck driver explained that this was a "bad, bad wreck" and that we were "lucky to be alive". Agreed. He was right there with us the whole time... Thank you, Jesus.
Now comes the fun of the logistics of this all. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Sheridan with Chris. He's asleep in the bed next to me. Josiah is on the phone with his parents back home... We flew Eric and Adam home tonight. Adam is due for surgery on Friday Morning. We all loaded a Uhaul truck up with all of the gear from the trailer, and all of the keepsakes from the van... Josiah, Chris, and I will be driving it back home over the next 2 days. We'll be taking our time, and watching for deer... Our bodies are sore, our minds are foggy, and we each start crying at random moments. We are praying for safe travel home...
Once we arrive, we've got to try and figure out what's working, what's not, and how to replace it. We've gotta get a new van and trailer as well... But most importantly, we've gotta get home to see that people that we love the most, and give them hugs and tell them how much we love them...
The guys may be posting their own blogs about this adventure from their perspective. Keep your eyes on the blogs...
And remember, enjoy life. You never know how long you've got.
peace
gabriel, and the men of the listening.
Ps. Check out the pictures on our picture pages...
