I drove to Rogers with Laura and Derek today. We were cruising along with the pack over a small hill at 80 miles per hour when traffic came to a dead stop. It happened really quickly. I watched the second car in front of us veer to the shoulder on the median side, but the guy driving the truck in the right-hand lane apparently never saw that traffic stopped. He slammed right into the back of the semi-truck in front of him. Direct hit. I saw the plume of smoke from the initial impact, and I immediately hit the brakes and threw on my hazard lights. It was a scary moment. And two seconds later we were alongside the truck.
The impact had knocked his door off and we saw the man sitting there, lifeless and pinned in behind the wheel of his GMC Sierra, airbag covering most of his body. Derek couldn't look, but Laura and I immediately agreed that the man had not survived. I called 911, but got no answer, and multiple cars were pulling over behind us, so we felt like there was nothing we could do. They didn't pronounce him dead until they got him to the hospital, but there was no way he survived that wreck. My guess is that he never saw it coming and he died instantly.
It's the second time in my life that I've come upon a recently deceased person (outside of a hospital/funeral home situation). The first was in New Orleans when I came upon someone who had gotten shot. And now this one. Both were reminders of how quickly everything can end -- I assume the guy in the truck was just looking at his phone for a few seconds and it cost him his life. Pay attention, boys.
Despite witnessing an incident I won't soon forget, I forgot to take a picture of anything. So here's one from eight years ago, when I was at Norah's third birthday party, which had a purple theme.
Little Rock, Arkansas. 9.14.2013 - 1.37pm.
RELATED: Obituary for Cody Bailey.
