Generally speaking, being woken up in the morning by people try to arrange a medevac is a bad sign. We had a large group of distinguished visitors come late this morning, and early in the morning as people prepped vehicles one girl on the team was accidentally run over. It was kind of a bizarre accident, the sort of thing that you would expect to see on a TV show or in a movie. She was in the back of the truck, and when it started to roll because it didn't have the parking brake set, she jumped out, presumably to try to stop it, and then got trapped under it as it rolled backwards over her. It's the sort of snap decision she probably didn't even have the chance to think about.
Our medics assessed her at the camp, then a medevac helicopter picked her up and flew her to Bagram. The good news - the amazing news, really - is that apparently she is fine. She's already back in her room resting for a few days, and for now it looks like she won't have anything more than some huge bruises and a really strange story to tell.
Even inside of a day, now that everyone knows that she's okay and will be coming back, the attitude has lightened around here. It's kind of stuck with me, though, because it's a reminder of all the simple, stupid, and completely unnecessary ways that things can change before you even realize what's happening. Helicopters left their mark on me after loading and unloading medevacs at the hospital at Balad. Obviously it was a vastly different situation this morning, but watching another helicopter with a little red cross painted on the side and someone I knew inside take off and fly away wasn't something I needed to start my day with.
Point is, be careful. Think. Don't do anything stupid (yes Mom, I listened). Appreciate the people around you. Things change quickly, and I don't think I'm alone when I say that the last thing I would want as I'm waiting for the second tire to roll over me is to regret something I did or didn't say the night before.
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