Saw dead guy in road after accident Friday morning

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Hi;

Around 1000 Friday morning on way out of our little town to go to garden railway show in a city 100 miles away we came upon place where in the other lane a road construction worker had just moments ago been run over by and SUV or pickup truck, I forget which.

We were in opposite lane and the event had apparently happened seconds previously.
There were already other construction workers there, and an emergency vehicle could be seen approaching on top of distant hill so no need for us to stop.

We saw first a truck in ditch on opposite side of road from us - truck's grill and driver's side front fender were seriously caved in.

Then we saw the body - and oh yes, the guy was dead, wasn't much left but a head and a pile of mush with boots. ere 2 or 3 gashes across his forehead but very little blood - head cuts bleed profusely because of all the little vessels and capillaries packed in more densely than other parts of the body.
Good God!

HOW FAST was the truck that hit him going?!?!?!? Speed limit through there was pretty slow.
Couldn't do THAT much damage to a truck by hitting a person at what the posted speed was.

Friend driving that I was riding with called emergency number to let them know that from his experience in military they definitely had a fatality on their hands.

Then we went on, I mean, what could we add - people were there and emergency crews were approaching - get out of the way and go on.

Enjoyed the train show.

Expected to have nightmares about the thing - no - had a number of different dreams Friday night, none of them about the accident, and last night, but no nightmares.

It's when I'm awake that the scene stays stuck in my head.

That's the second traffic fatality I've gotten a good close look at - first was better than 15 years ago, a lady with a broken neck.

Here's what the local paper says the driver has been charged with:

It is said the driver was so drunk she had zero idea, no comprehension, of what she had done.

Anyway, I don't know what to do to get the scene out of my head.
Tried working on model trains and boats -but then my head fills with images from stories read in years past about train wreck and shipwrecks of people killed and maimed in the stories.
Anything I do - or do not do - this morning is bringing up memories and new imaginations of mangled bodies from various causes.
Even the weather - thunderstorms are in the area and this is tornado country - people get killed in tornados, there's even tales of people left hanging impaled in trees sticking in my brain.

STOP IT DAMMIT

STOP IT DAMMIT

STOP IT DAMMIT

Maybe these images get stronger the more you try to dismiss them. Give your mind time to process them. I understand-I haven't seen what you've seen IRL but there have been some horrors of war type pics online I've had a hard time getting out of my mind. Remind yourself the victim is not there anymore and is not suffering.

sorry for your mental anguish, southwestforests. When stuff like this happens to me I try to remember some people have war in their countries, and massive slaughter of the citizenry, or unspeakable conditions in relocation and refugee camps and I - even at my worst- are still so much less confronted by these things than what I could be.

Mortality is a horror because it brings up one's own knowledge that our mortality is just as tenuous on this earth. If it is any consolation, everything that lives is united in that final moment when we shuffle off this mortal coil. It won't change the world, but I feel better when I conciously breathe, rolling the air in and out of my lungs. It changes nothing but the way I feel, and at the bottom of it, that is all I can really do about it.

Merle

like aimless says, maybe you should really try to remember the scene, details and all, and let it "sink in"

dont push it away, or it will simply spring back again.

I am sorry to hear that you have that in your head. I hope that it will fade somewhat for you so that it stops tormenting you.

I was once told by a co-worker, who is aware that I have a far better than average ability to recall what I have seen or read, that he was jealous of my ability. I told him that he should be careful for what he wishes for, you can end up with a mind which can recall things which upset up and that you can end up with things inside you head which you were rather not in there.

Sometimes the things which get stuck in my head are not super nasty but funny or slightly annoying.

Sometimes grounding techniques might help?

Examples:
Stamp feet
Loud music
Grip a piece of ice
Sniff something strong, like peppermint
Put a rubber band around wrist, snap it when troubled

I was once troubled by images of a bloody witch following me; my therapist said to think or even say "I don't have to listen to you" - it worked!

Hi southwestforests

Im sorry you had to see such an terrible view. I have never ever experienced anything similuar but I can imagine the sight is glued to your eyes
I assume its very natural that its stalking you everywhere now but it will eventually fade by the time hopefully
Its good to write about it like you did here and express what you saw to others to "let it out"

Keep focus on your interest and let this have its space as long as it needs to
Unfortunately there might not be any "short ways" to get rid of it" but there is ways to distract yourself as above poster suggest

That's a horrible thing for anyone to have to witness. It sounds like you might have Post traumatic stress disorder which makes you think about the thing you saw in great detail over and over. Death is a tough thing for anyone of us to think about it, but it is rare to actually witness a death, especially one so gorey and upsetting. I can't say it will work for you because everyone is different, but have you tried counsellling? Sometimes it is quite theraputic just to have some random person who has no emotional link to you listen to you. If you are still getting this after several weeks, it would be worth seeing your doctor or something for advice.

You get so used to seeing people alive and intact, that it scars you when you see something like this. What really gets me is that the person responsible got to live.

btw its pretty common for a large vehicle to completely demolish a human on impact.

as they say above, we're not used to seeing what a human body can handle.
+ we see all these f'ing movies messing up our reality perception.

in a movie a gunshot is exciting to watch, in reality its horrible as s**t, cus you realize a hole has been poked through someone, and theyre looking at the hole, theyre shocked, etc etc, its very unpleasant.

i think you should process this rather than using lots of tricks to block it out.

do you have someone to talk to, who can handle some gore?
talk to someone about it, get it ALL out, all the details, everything that struck you, even the simple things, the color of the core, you know, everything. Get it OUT, _dont_ lock it down!
if you want to, pm me about it, if not, dont :] but i really think you should really process it instead of trying to forget it.

Hey Y'all;

Thanks - you guys are making some good points.
Yeah, guess it is one of those 'let the process be the process' things.

Going to go cook my supper, eat that, paint some more on the G-scale garden railway train cars, play with my cat.
Expecting a long-distance phone call from a guy I'm buying a couple used train cars from.

See ya later

^ Take care and enjoy your trains and your cat

Wow - intense.

The kind of thing you describe is the kind of thing no one should have to see, but if you do it's up to you to take something constructive rather than destructive from it. I fear way too many people in Western society have become too complacent about death, especially sudden ones like this. "It will never happen to me."

Many years ago I lost a brother to suicide. Though I didn't personally witness it I had flashbacks and nightmares forever it seemed. Like others have said here, the only way to deal is to let yourself process it and not try and keep it out of your head but rather to channel it somehow. Maybe even take a first aid or emergency responder's course. "If ever again I come upon such a scene and the guy is injured, not dead, I'll be able to help..."

Finally, one of the best bits of advice when my brother died: There is no 'going back to normal.' You now have to re-define what 'normal' is.

That's horrible. When things like that happen to me (though I haven't seen anything quite that disturbing yet), I find it best to try to put it out of the mind and keep busy and distracted. It's difficult because the mind is drawn back to it, but if it's causing great disturbance, it's not a good idea to allow it to dwell there. I was expecting to read something about drink driving. I can't tolerate drunk drivers.