Death Becomes Me

Barely one week into the new year and I almost managed to kill myself.

Was driving home from Orchard after my shopping spree on Sunday 4 Jan 2008 at about 1pm on a very hot but wet afternoon. There was a whimper of a drizzle so the road was wet. I took the usual slip road to exit BKE and was righting the car to go straight when the wheels locked and the car veered uncontrollably to the right. I was fast heading towards the the opposite kerb as I tried desperately to counter steer. (Fortunately?) all I managed to accomplish was to steer the car into a 180 degrees tail spin.

As the car was skidding to a halt, all I could think of was praying in vain for it not to hit the wall! In my liminal state, my mind was a complete blank and I held on tight to the steering wheel as I tried to gather my soul. I was thankful that those passing vehicles did not hurry me to drive off but instead waited patiently for me to turn the car around. All I could think of as I was scamping home was how much my bank account was going to bleed to rectify the damage to the car and how this was a warning from heaven!

You hear all the time about people talking about near death experiences. Well, I just got mine first and my last (I hope!). There have been a few encounters in the car where the car skidded while doing a hard break to avoid the car in front but this was as close to death as I've ever been in this bloody tin can. Now I truly understood what is meant by your life flashing right before your eyes. Its something quite beyond words and not exactly like a super accelerated silent movie.

When I got back into the carpark, despair turned into relieve as the car only sustained scratches on the bumper. Otherwise, it and I were largely intact. What a lucky escape! I did not give much thought to the experience thereafter but was instead too eager to admire my shopping exploits. As I lay in bed at night, the experience returned to haunt me. The car could have flipped many times over. The car could have rammed sideways into passing cars or even a passenger if the car had dived into the opposite roads. The devastation could have been many times worst. How I managed to escaped unscathed is beyond me. Life truly is very fragile and any single thing could extinguish the flame of life that moments ago was blazing brightly.

Its funny how I felt a sense of betrayal by the inanimate car too! I recalled that I might have braked very lightly as I was turning but imprimis I was definitely not braking hard enough to jam the wheels surely? Then the words of wisdom of my driving instructor came flooding back into my mind. I recalled how once he warned me that braking while turning was highly dangerous. I had always remembered this and refrained from braking while taking turns but this experience was his words turned "live" after nearly 10 years of exerience.


I'm not sure how long its going to take me to recover from this scare but I'm sure going to be driving the car very gingerly for awhile. My colleagues claimed that having survived this scare, many good things will come my way! I am just truly grateful that I am whole and I have not managed to wreck myself or others. I thank mum for her constant prayers and chanting to Buddha!

Mostly importantly, I am thankful to be alive!