We left just as the sun was setting. It was dark by the time we got onto the freeway that leads back to Spanish Fork. As we were driving, an elk walked right in front of us. We didn't see it until our headlights were shining on it, and by that time, it was too late to do anything. We were going about 65 MPH, and the moment we hit the elk, it had completely stopped our car.
The airbags went off, and Zac and I just looked at each other and screamed bloody murder for a few seconds. We both jumped out of the car, and I called 911 while Zac was looking for his phone that had fallen underneath the dashboard when we wrecked. The operator on the other line asked where we were, and I had no idea, because we were in the middle of nowhere in Spanish Fork Canyon. By thar time, a family had pulled over and gotten out to see if we were okay. I handed my phone to the man helping us, and he told the operator where we were.
By that time, my stomach was hurting pretty bad from the impact of the seat belt. I didn't know what to do. I just stood there, grabbing my stomach and crying while Zac put his arm around me. I told Zac that I needed to call my dad (who was in California with the rest of my family), and so Zac let me use his phone. I called my dad and told him what happened, and let him know that we were alright.
The family who pulled over let us sit in their car until the police officer came about half an hour later. He took down our information and let us sit in his car. Zac's dad had come down by this time, and we looked at the elk we had hit. It was huge! But I already knew that, because I saw it a couple of seconds before I hit it. The police officer called a tow truck and an ambulence--just to check up on us. When the ambulence got there about 45 minuutes later, they had us go inside and they took our vitals there. Everything was normal, and by this time, my stomach had stopped hurting.
The tow truck came a little while later, and found out that our car wouldn't start when they tried to get it up onto the truck, so they had to chain it up and drag it. The police officer gave us a ride home to our apartment, and when we got home, we just sat on our bed and cried.
It's amazing how much Heavenly Father protected us that night. Even though hitting an elk wasn't really what we wanted to do that night, Heavenly Father protected us so much. We walked away from that with no scratches, just a few sore body parts. And the whole time we were stranded there on that road, I felt at peace, like everything was going to be okay. And it is. Yes, my car is totalled, and I'm going to have to get a new one, and my insurance rate might go up, but I have my husband, and he has me. That's all that matters to me. I don't care about my car. I'm glad the car was the one who took the hit instead of me or Zac. You cannot tell me that Heavenly Father does not protect his children. He was there that entire night.
This has been such a testimony builder to me. I've felt nothing but love these last couple of days. Love for Zac, love for our family who helped us, love for the family who pulled over, love for the police officer, love for Heavenly Father. It's amazing. I've learned so much from this.
