Last Tuesday, our son, Andrew, took a load of hogs to the slaughtering plant, which is approximately 80 miles north of here. This is something that happens almost weekly here, and has for at least fifteen years. Usually the hogs are delivered in the morning, requiring the driver to go through Des Moines during drive time. Right now (and the last two years, for that matter) the road is under construction with a barrier dividing the north and south bound lanes. The north bound lane actually goes down to one lane for just a bit.
Andrew was on his way home, and was just getting south of Des Moines when he noticed a semi swerving in the north-bound lane. The next thing he knew, the semi crashed through the barrier and hit a south bound semi, and laid over on its side. The cab pretty much just fell apart. Andrew was following the south bound semi, and he had to stop. He doesn't really know what he hit, but his truck is totaled. The front is all smashed up, and thankfully, his air bag inflated. The gooseneck crashed up against the back window of the truck and broke it, but fortunately, did not go further. I like to think that the angel of the Lord stopped that trailer from going further. Andrew crawled out of the window. He walked over to see if he could help the trucker from the first truck get out, but he was already out. As far as we know, he was okay. The driver of the second semi suffered a collapsed lung. There was one other car involved also, and we don't know that he was hurt either, although all of the other drivers went to the hospital. Andrew declined, but later went to the doctor because his knees hurt so much. The x-ray showed they weren't broken. I guess they slammed up against the dash during impact, which caused the soreness.
The interstate was closed for nine hours following the accident. Andrew and Nicole went to Des Moines Thursday and saw the truck and trailer. Nicole's comment, "It's sobering." Andrew's comment, "I don't see how anyone got out of there alive." There are certainly a lot of miracles associated with the whole accident. God is faithful. And good. It is a loud reminder to celebrate the people in our lives.
There are photos at the following link if you want to see them.
http://whotv.com/2014/09/30/semi-rollover-completely-blocking-i-35/
