Good Deed Gone Awry

Good intentions. They don't always go the way you expect them to. As a matter of fact, sometimes they go the exact opposite that you plan them to. This past Saturday I went on my weekly trip to Wal-Mart with my mom in tow. Everything was all hunky dory until the drive home. I came up over a hill on fairly well-traveled, paved county road when I saw something in my lane. At first glance I thought it was a big white goat, but upon getting closer realized it was a big English Pointer hunting dog. The poor thing looked about as lost and confused as a dog can get. It was apparently looking for someone familiar to help him home. It literally just stood there, horn beep and all. I decided to pull off in in a driveway to a milo field so I could find a name and number on it's collar (which it had along with a big locator collar). The only thought going through my mind was, "If I don't get this dog out of the road, it's going to cause an accident or get killed.) Apparently another lady thought the same thing because she stopped and had her dad park her car up the road so she could help me call the owner of this hyper dog. As I was kneeling on the ground trying to control the crazy dog, yet another vehicle (SUV) stopped to see if either of us were hurt. It was a family of four in that SUV and no sooner did we tell them we were fine and just helping a dog, than a big truck came from behind them, not slowing down, and crashed into the back of the SUV at what we thought was full speed (55 mph). The sound was menacing and deafening. I was nearly certain that the driver of the truck was dead the way she was flopping around. Thank God that she wasn't. I saw the air bag deploy and that probably saved her life. From what I overheard, she destroyed her knee and her ankle was broken. It wasn't until 911 was called that we discovered that her 2 or 3 year old grand-daughter was in the back seat of the truck, safely buckled into her seat. The poor girl was terrified. Everyone involved came away alive without life threatening injuries but I still can't stop picturing it in my head. It was so scary how close I was to the accident, being just feet away from the impact. It could have ended a lot worse for me and the other lady if that dog hadn't dragged us away from the road. We aren't sure how the driver of the truck missed two cars pulled off the road and one stopped in front of her. But hopefully she heals quickly and all involved heal from any minor injuries they have. Later, when I gave my statement to the officer I told him how I'd pulled off the road to catch the dog in hopes of preventing an accident. He just smiled, asked if I was okay and told me that it wasn't my fault. Apparently my good deed went sour. Good news though. The owner of the dog showed up and was thrilled that we found him. He'd traveled a few good miles from his house and they'd been looking for him all day. There's always a silver lining I suppose.