Nightmare

Yesterday, September 13, 2003 has to be the worst day in my life to date. As I was watching UGA playing South Carolina, I got a phone call from my mother. She was in a panic; she confused me for my brother-in-law; she was having the hardest time trying to explain what had happened. I knew something was wrong, seriously wrong. Then, my mom told me bluntly what was going on. She said, “Kim was in a car wreck. Kim’s dead. Maddie is going to be okay.” Kim was my sister-in-law. She married my older brother, Brian. Maddie, Madison is my youngest niece. She was born on May 14, 2003. Mom told me that Maddie was at Egleston Hospital in Atlanta. After a few minutes of confusion (that felt like hours), I went to Egleston with my sister and her husband. While I was sad that Kim was dead, and the grief that my brother was going through, my heartache was only beginning.

Once I got to Egleston, I found my brother. He was with my parents. Brian said that there was no hope for her. Against my instincts, I hoped that he was not talking about Maddie. My instincts were right. The doctor that was treating Maddie came in and told my sister, her husband and me that Maddie was brain dead. Afterwards, I went to see Maddie. She was filled with tubes, sensors, and her head is in a brace. Her eyes were closed. While her body was still warm, she did not respond when I touched her. She was gone. My little niece was gone. I have not seen Kim. She is at the crime lab for an autopsy. Maddie was not five months old. Kim was 25. Apparently, a driver going to Atlanta on Ga. Hwy 316 came across the median and struck the car that Maddie and Kim were in at the time. I have seen the TV news footage of the wreck. Kim’s car is a mangled and twisted piece of fiberglass and metal.

As an attorney, I have seen a great deal of the pain and suffering man can inflict on his fellow man. However, what I have seen today is too much to bear. I would rather be disemboweled than to see again what I saw yesterday. It is too much for me to comprehend right now. I am a whirlwind of emotions. Words cannot accurately describe the sorrow that I feel, the anger that swirls through my heart, the hatred that I have for the driver of the other car, the confusion as to why this had to happen at all. I am living a nightmare, and I do not know when or if I can wake up from it.