Hi, I’m Marcus Altman. Every week, I will be writing an article called “This One Time at…” The
feature will focus on an interesting story about a Hudson High student that I interviewed. I will write
about a broad range of stories, and I will find stories from every grade in Hudson High.
Crash Taken to Heart – Almost Literally
The immense fear that she felt was different from anything she had
ever felt before. After coming from eating her favorite ice cream, Junior Caroline
Twomey felt the shock of her life as she saw a truck careening towards her.
It all started on June 14, 2010. For years, Twomey had never been allowed to go
on walks by herself, so she was ecstatic when her parents finally allowed it.
“It was really sunny, and I thought it would be the best day in the whole world!” she explained.
She started her trip at Dairy Joy, where she had celebrated the ending of sports
seasons throughout her childhood. She ordered chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
and “was really happy because there was a lot of cookie dough,” she said.
Twomey wanted to see where the bike trail ended because she had never been there, so she ventured over to it after ice cream.
“I started to get nervous about the street I was coming to – Washington Street,” Twomey said. She had
heard that it was a dangerous corner that was the cause of many accidents.
“Clearly these people don’t slow down or care there is a crosswalk. I just had this terrible feeling that
somebody was gonna get hurt,” Twomey said.
After seeing several bikers cross the street from the busy bike trail, Twomey
considered going across. But, a blaring horn caused her to jump back on the sidewalk.
She looked up and saw a large, light-brown pickup truck careening towards a group of
five or six cars. The driver, who appeared to not have been paying attention, swerved to
the side of the road and rammed his truck directly into a telephone pole.
She grimaced as she recalled, “When he hit the telephone pole, I could feel it in my chest.
You feel so vulnerable, so hollow. The sound was like a giant pop, and you could hear shattering
glass.”
To add to her panic, the hood of the truck started smoking. “It was terrifying; I
took it as a sign from the universe that I should never walk on that street anymore unless
I absolutely have to,” she declared.
Twomey immediately called her mom and asked to be picked up. Her mom asked
her, “How was your day?” and she responded, “It was actually an awesome day, until I
saw the crash.”
Thankfully, Twomey was not hurt, but the memory of that incident is as vivid
as it is painful, even three years later. Whenever she is reminded of the bike path, she
thinks, “Oh my God, if I have kids someday, I will never let them play in the street,” she
said with a shudder.
