No doubt you’ve heard about the Jan. 25 traffic accident in Lake Butler, Fla., that left seven children, ages 15 and below, dead. But just in case you haven’t, let me run it down for you.
CNN.com reports that 15-year-old Nicky Mann was driving home from school with six other children in the car when they stopped behind a school bus that had stopped to let children off. While they were waiting behind the bus, a tractor-trailer rear-ended their car, driving it into the back of the school bus. The car burst into flames and all seven children inside were killed.
Of course, the story goes much deeper than that, and I encourage you to get online and read more about it, but this is all the information you’ll need in order to get the point I’m about to make.
The point is this: life is precious, and you need to make the most of it because you never know when it’s all going to end.
I doubt this is any earth-shattering revelation to any of you. And I’m sure you’ve heard a hundred different people say the same thing a thousand times before. But this story is unique because it illustrates how little of a chance these kids had to save themselves.
Picture the scene. Seven kids are in a car, any make, any model, it doesn’t matter. They pull up behind a school bus that has stopped to let kids off. Standard procedure, it happens without incident every week day all over the world. Now consider that school buses are several feet, not inches, higher than the average car or truck and painted bright, eye-catching yellow. Factor in that this school bus is sitting dead still in the road. Additionally, most school buses have: a) a stop sign that flips out from the side of the bus whenever kids are getting off; b) big round red lights on the back of the bus above the windows that flash whenever kids are getting off; and c) a light on top of the bus that flashes a bright white that can be seen clearly even in the daytime.
Now, you would think that sitting behind something as big and conspicuous as a stopped school bus would make you pretty immune to being rear-ended. But you would be wrong.
The first reports from the scene claim the truck that struck the children’s car was traveling between 50 and 65 mph at the time of the crash, and there were no skid marks in the road.
This means the driver of the truck made absolutely no significant attempt to stop his vehicle. He hit those kids going full speed. So even if Nicky Mann saw the truck coming in her rearview mirror, she probably didn’t have time to pull the car out of the way, tell all the kids to jump out of the car or even tell them to duck. She probably had enough time to draw one last breath and think one last thought before impact.
You see, you don’t have to make a mistake to die. Granted, if you live recklessly you’re more likely to die young. But tragedy can take you even if you haven’t done anything wrong. Even if you do everything perfect, you can still be gone in an instant. Forget the blink of an eye. You can be gone quicker than an eye closes, let alone when it opens again to complete a blink.
As young people we’re often accused of living as though we think we’re invincible. And for some of us, that’s true. Some of us live on the edge. Some of us refuse to consider our own mortality. Some of us think “it’s tough that it happened to them, but that will never be me.” But those of us who don’t live on the edge are often guilty of feeling secure because we’re more cautious.
Nicky Mann was probably cautious. With six other children in the car, she had a lot of responsibility on her shoulders. And there’s no reason to believe that she didn’t take every possible precaution to make sure they all got home safe. But there was nothing she could do.
I’m not going to lecture anyone about the way they’re living. You know whether or not your life is heading in the direction you want it to go. All I’m saying is we all need to acknowledge that life is not permanent, and it could literally be gone at any moment. The question is what will you have accomplished when that time comes?