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Lord Ash
03-27-2007, 04:52 PM
Hey all,

Sorry I have to share this story; just struck home.

I am an elementary school teacher in northern NJ who lives in Manhattan. I was driving back home after work around 4:30 or so on Friday, on Route 4 east coming right up to the George Washington Bridge. I had just passed the Hess station I stop to by seltzer at when there was a sudden flash of brake lights... I slowed almost to a stop to avoid a car that had braked hard in the right lane and moved left to avoid him. As I went around him at a crawl I looked back and saw a guy lying face down on the pavement next to the highway, with a swarthy gentleman kneeling beside him, his hand on him, and some people walking over talking on their cell phones. Clearly he had just been hit; one of his shoes was off and in the shoulder. I didn't stop, as I am certainly not a doctor and can't help more than the 10 or so people who were there, but called a friend; we both talked about it a bit (he was a rescue worker on 9/11) and how fragile human life is and all of that; I remember saying "Man I hope the guy is okay... but people who are okay don't lie like that..."

Today he called me and said "Uh... I think that guy you saw was the UNC mascot."

I am trying to figure out exactly where it happened, but I think it was; right on Route 4 in the parking lot of the Cheap beer depot and next to a large hotel, the Hilton.

So anyway... this story, which was already somewhat personal in that it was UNC, got more personal:(

Anyway. Just had to share.

throatybeard
03-27-2007, 07:34 PM
Wow.

In 2002, I saw a guy on a small motorcycle get hit by a car, sideswiped, on I-40 eastbound, near the Harrison exit in north Cary. I won't describe the sickening details, but he and the bike got separated from each other to say the least.

I always wondered what happened. I didn't see anything in the News & Observer in the following days.

Lord Ash
03-27-2007, 08:28 PM
I don't think that is the sort of thing I could get used to. It really makes you reflect. I was wondering, too, after I saw that, about who it was and if he was okay. Poor guy, I feel terrible for his family.

Uncle Drew
03-27-2007, 08:44 PM
Okay I was horrible in statistics and averages in college. But what are the approximate odds Ash would be one of the people to come past Jason Ray after the accident? That's like Outer Limits kind of eerie!

Son of Jarhead
03-28-2007, 12:25 AM
These sorts of accidents seem to happen a lot. I wish they never did.

In 1984 I lost one of my very best friends when he got hit by a car in northern New Jersey. He was a Duke fan, too, as well as being the captain of his football team, a great student, & a great friend. The entire school was at the funeral (on a Friday, they closed school for the day) & the entire football team were his pallbearers. I feel so much for Jason Ray's family and friends... it's a pain that never goes away. Hopefully time and their many fond memories will see them through. (I miss ya', Ralph.)

Oh, I just remembered... didn't UNC lose another sports person, a radio guy, a few years back when he was struck by a car on I-40?

gus
03-28-2007, 05:39 AM
Okay I was horrible in statistics and averages in college. But what are the approximate odds Ash would be one of the people to come past Jason Ray after the accident? That's like Outer Limits kind of eerie!

Hard to say, but considering the accident took place in NJ (where many Duke fans/alums live or work) on one of the busiest arteries into/from manhattan, during normal commuting time, I'm not suprised at all that a DBR poster drove by it.