This week, as we announced the time had come to bring Central District News to a close, we looked back at the history of the site — including the very first CDN post. The headline is unsettling: Car Hits Baby Stroller on 23rd Ave — 10/31/2007
For one final post, Central District News is happy to report that everyone lived happily ever after.
The first time I read the CD news was while trying to make sense out of the worst and best 24 hours of my life: October 31, 2007. I was walking to work with my mom and my stroller bound just-turned-one son. Crossing 23rd at Marion there was a car across the way so we waited for them. They werenʼt signaling nor moving even though the coast was clear so we assumed they were waiting for us. Not the case–must have been distracted. When we were 1/2 way across the street, the car made a quick left. Understand this all happened pretty darned fast and gets a little nutty so Iʼll proceed chronologically.
I saw the car, screamed something along the lines of “stop!”and got between it and the stroller (as if I could stop it, right?). I was struck and thrown over the car which proceeded to run over the stroller and drag it under the car about 30 feet, veering left and running up the curb and into the steps of the corner house. Thatʼs where it was when I came to, looking for my son. My mom, in some stage of disintegration, directed me to where the stroller was. All that could be seen was crushed metal under the car. Needless to say I fell apart. I believe I was on the ground hysterical, ripping clumps of grass out, when my mom alerted me to a babyʼs crying.
There was this weird moment of what do we do? Could we lift a car? What would meet our eyes when we did? Then this young man, maybe a teenager, maybe in his 20ʼs, came right up to me and said “do you want us to lift that car?” “yes”. Then it was all hands on–residents of the corner house, construction workers from across the street, myself and my mom.
When we pulled the completely collapsed/smashed stroller out there was a little smudge of oil on my sonʼs forehead where the bottom of the car was touching him. Thatʼs it.
The next 24 hours was filled with a lot of testing at the hospital. Not fun but worth realizing that as unbelievable as it seemed, my son was unharmed.
My boy is now a 7 year old big brother and is living a full and active life. Like a lot of kids his age he fancies himself invincible so the time hasnʼt quite arrived for us to tell him what happened. When that time comes, I plan on digging out that first story from the CD news to help him put this crazy puzzle together.
In the blurry days following this incident I scanned news sources trying to make sense of what had happened. The most helpful and human coverage was found in the CD news. Iʼve been reading it ever since. Thank you CD news for providing such valuable asset to our community. Youʼll be missed.
Thanks for reading, everybody, and thanks for sharing your stories.