Witness To A Tragedy

Last week I witnessed something truly horrible just outside of my flat, and I can honestly say that I am forever changed because of it.

It was about 5 o'clock in the evening and I was just stepping out of my flat to run to work. I had taken no more than two steps when I saw the whole thing happen. I live on a busy street in the city, and it's divided in two by a small tram stop/traffic island. Two tram lines run on one side of the island, while two east-bound lanes of traffic run on the other. My flat is on the side of the island with the cars. At the far end of the island is a pedestrian crossing to help people get to the other side, but because of its location many people don't feel like walking all the way up there to use it...

Standing on the island was a woman, and I'm guessing she was around 30 years old or so. Suddenly she made a dash across the lanes of traffic in my direction to cross the street, but she didn't make it. It all happened so fast, I can barely recall exactly how it all took place, but basically she horribly misjudged the timing of the cars, and was hit full-on by a speeding car in the outside lane, just mere metres away from me. What happened at that moment will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I estimate that the car was going somewhere between 60 and 70 km/hr, and as her dash was so fast the driver has absolutely no time to brake. The sound of a speeding vehicle hitting a human being is one I wish I didn't know... The car hit her full-on, and she fell onto the car at a horribly awkward, unnatural angle, bounced off the hood, became airborne, and smashed down into the road, lying in a crumpled heap, unmoving. All of this in only one single second.

I stood there in complete shock, positive that I had just watched someone die only a couple of metres from where I was standing.

I was absolutely frozen and didn't know what to do. I whipped out my mobile and started to dial 911 before I realized that a) that's not the emergency number here, and b) I don't speak Czech. What should I do? What could I do? I just stood and stared at her broken body on the road.

And then she moved...

I was completely aghast. How could someone get hit like that, at such a speed, and fall into the street in such a manner, and live? How can she be moving?

She actually propped herself up a bit, and at this point the driver was out of the car and running towards her. As she looked up at him I could see that her face was completely covered in blood. She had huge cuts and gashes all over her face and head. It was horrifying. She started to cry for a moment, and then stopped and seemed to go all white. She didn't seem to know where she was, and I'm sure she was in a complete state of shock.

At this point other passerby had gathered, and many were on their mobiles. At least now help would be on its way. I wanted to go over and help, but again felt frozen to the sidewalk. I just kept standing and staring... In my mind I just kept thinking "I don't speak Czech, there's nothing I can do..." but looking back now I'm sure there's something I could have done...

By now some people had moved her to the side of the road by the curb, which seemed like a big mistake to me as I've been told that you're not supposed to do this in case the victim has back injuries. Surely this woman, miraculous as it was that she was still alive, must have had severe injuries - either with her back or broken bones or internal bleeding or something....

I have to say that I was also completely shocked over the reaction of the passerby. It seemed that everyone in the vicinity just stood there, casually chatting with friends, as calm and unphased by it all as if they had just seen a pop can get run over. A woman is practically dying in the middle of the road and they all seemed so unaffected. Was I the only one who was scarred at seeing something like this? Perhaps it's because I may have been the only person to have seen the whole accident from start to finish, and that's why I felt so strongly affected? But still...I kept looking at the faces of the other people nearby and the indifference in their eyes truly upset me. What the fuck is wrong with humanity? How can people see something so horrible right in front of them and not be saddened?

By now I was really late for my class and had to leave. I ran to the metro and went on my way to class. I felt a bit numb for a while, but while on the train I started to feel light-headed and nauseous. I thought I was going to be sick on the train but managed to calm myself down. I just kept replaying the whole event over and over in my mind. The dash, the body being struck and then flying through the air, the bloody face...

Over the next few days I was really bothered by what I had seen and felt still in a bit of a state of shock myself. Never in my life have I ever seen something like this. You see stuff like this in the movies, but not ever with your own eyes, not on your own street. I often wonder now how the woman is doing. Did she live or die later of injuries? You can still see her blood on the curb and street just outside my flat, even now. It still sends chills down my spine to see it. I try not to look 'to see if it's still there' but I can't seem to help it.

I can tell you one thing for sure - I'll never ever cross the street in the same way again.