Like any other Saturday, I was driving into the carpark and saw my domestic helper standing by the roadside waiting to help me with the heavy bags of food.  I drove ahead and reversed the car into a carpark lot. I was reversing slowly and my mind was peaceful and calm. It did not occur to me that something drastic would happen to me next. I lost control of the car while reversing the car into a lot! This was definitely the least expected accident. Next, everything just happened too swiftly and all I knew later was that I had driven many metres behind and hit a wall with high impact! Fortunately, nobody else was hurt. I was not on alcohol, medications or having anything on my thoughts then.

Onlookers saw and left without helping. My mind was in a blank. For a moment, I could not locate my phone and the things in the car was scattered everywhere including the breakfast that I have bought for my boys.  I was shocked and lost for a while. As I calmed down, the first thing I remembered was to locate the phone and called Ed who was stationed overseas. The first instance when he picked up the phone, I was weeping. At that moment, how I wished I had his company. The long distance did not enable him to help me then and I knew that I had to handle the situation myself. I was lost and had no idea whom to call or what to do in that situation.

Shaken and trembling, I inspected the inside of the car before inspecting the exterior. The interior was in a mess. The cashcard holder was dislodged and the sensor did not stop beeping. The back bumper, side door, back door and side of the car were badly damaged.  Still shaking, I managed to drive the car into a proper lot. As I calmed down, the first thing that struck my mind was the fact that my boys were waiting at home for me and their breakfast which was inedible then. My domestic helper did not come over until a while later and my immediate thought was that my boys must be real worried being alone at home.

I had to make sure that my domestic helper returned home promptly and did not create worries in the boys. Next I asked around and struggled with rushing to IDAC, making insurance claims and police reports. All things had to be settled alone and fortunately I must thank my good friend who came over to keep me company, with her baby. 

The strange thing is that throughout the whole settling process, I was not at all thinking about myself. I was in fact worried for the boys’ well-beings amidst the whole traumatic experience. I was so relieved that they were not in the car when the accident happened or the outcome could be disastrous. I just remembered myself rushing home to ensure that the boys had other substitutes for breakfast, then rushing off to buy lunch for my children and bringing them along to make the police report and took photos of the accident scene (since my domestic helper had to help me guard the car while waiting for the tow truck). Everything seemed like a mad rush and I did not know how I got the strength to pull through the whole thing and still sparing a thought for my boys first.

By the time I completed the rushing around and settled the reporting and claims, it was already late afternoon (the one thing I left out mentioning was my injury). At that point, my head was really pain then and my neck could hardly move. I had injured my head, neck and chest (which got worse that night) due to the forceful forward and backward thrusts during the car accident. I sought medical help the next day and was on medical leave for a week, had to wear a neck guard, and recovered after a few weeks.

The event was about a year ago and I have since settled all compensation matters. The traumatic experience has unveiled the inner strength in me and let me understand that a mother’s love for her children is beyond the love for herself. I wished Ed was around then and I value the presence and support of friends who are there when our spouse is not. I always remind myself to treasure my family and friends who are there for me in the darkest days of my life.

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