107) Dominic’s Accident

Dominic had been working with John Thompson’s Boilers for a few months and seemed to be enjoying it. His job was to install and commission boilers all over Natal so he was out and about and not stuck in a workshop the whole time. As he did a lot of travelling he was given a company car. He worked in factories and hospitals and saw more of Natal than I ever did. He was meeting people and beginning to make friends. One evening he went into Hillcrest to the local hotel for a few drinks with his mates. He was the only one with a car that evening so was made the “designated driver”. There were two young girls in the party who had been dropped off at the hotel by their parents and did not have any means of getting home so as they also lived in Waterfall Dominic said that they could have a lift with him and his friends. When they left the hotel it was raining and the six young people all squeezed into Dominic’s car. Dominic was driving, there was another lad in the passenger seat and the other four were a very tight fit in the back. Dominic and the other lad in the front were wearing their seat belts but those in the back were not. At that time in South Africa it was not compulsory to wear seat belts in the back seat. One of the girls had told him she lived in Rock Road, which is the second turning to the right when you come into Waterfalls along the Inanda Road from Hillcrest. As they got to the first turning to the right the girl changed her mind and said shouted “turn here, turn here”. Without thinking Dominic swung the wheel to the right and as he was going rather too fast he skidded and the tyre blew out. As the road was wet Dominic just lost control of the car and it went on skidding to the left and down an embankment. It rolled five or six times into the sugar cane field below. It was a miracle that no one was hurt. I think those in the front were saved by their seat belts and those in the back were saved because they were so tightly packed in there was just not enough room for them to get thrown around.

As the accident happened not very far away from our house Dominic ran home and called us. Jonny drove back to the scene. Together with all the young passengers they turned the car on to its wheels. They thought that it would need to be towed back to our house but someone decided to try and start it first and much to everyone surprise, it started. So instead of towing it they drove it to our house. There was not an unbroken piece of glass on the whole car, every panel was dented but it was still running. I remember thinking later how funny it was that the windscreen wipers were still working. Admittedly there was no windscreen for them to wipe but they were still working. Jonny took all the youngsters home and we just marvelled on how fortunate they had all been. One of the girls had a slightly sore finger but apart from that they were all fine. Dominic had to take the car back to work on the following Monday morning and as it hardly looked road-worthy he took it around the back roads to avoid being seen. It was a company car and was fully insured and as Dominic had had not had any other accidents while he was working for John Thompson they were pretty good about it and the car was sent for repairs. We had thought that it would be classed as a right off but it was only the bodywork that was damaged. The engine, the brakes and all the other working parts were fine.

I was very relieved that Dominic was not hurt and a few days later it struck me that for many years, whenever any of my family had gone out at night, wether it was Jonny or either of the boys I had usually said a little silent prayer asking God to keep His hand on them and to bring them home safely. I realised then that He had been doing this for years and although I had been ready to ask for favours I had not been very ready with my thanks. I knew where the Presbyterian Church was in Hillcrest and made up my mind to go along the following Sunday.