I have experienced many instances where I escaped from a critical situation by the skin of my teeth. The most fondly remembered one was an experience I had with my friend a few years ago.
We were returning from a business trip in my friend's car. My friend, Jude was the driver. I sat by his side. The journey was smooth for a few hours. During this period, the car speaker was booming with music. We bought corn and we were having a good time as we progressed with the journey.
After about two hours into the journey, I heard a sound coming out of the car's shaft. The speedometer was at 130 km/h.
"Jude," I called my friend. "You need to slow down. I am not comfortable with the sound coming from under the car."
He slowed down the car and attempted to park so that we could check the problem. Once I noticed that the car was being brought to a halt, I tapped him in his shoulder.
"It's not safe to park here in order to check the car. This is a flash point. Let's manage it further at low speed," I told him.
The area was notorious for kidnapping. A week before, there was a report of mass kidnapping of travelers on the road. It was better we took the risk of driving the car to safety before parking to check the car.
Jude heeded to my advice. He was driving at a speed of about 70 km/h.
My mind had temporarily gone off the problem when the unexpected happened. The car suddenly made a 90° turn and went into the bush by the roadside. Jude lost control of the car. All his effort to halt the movement of the car proved abortive. The car drove us for a few meters into the bush before finally stopping. At this stage, my heart was in my mouth. We were covered with sweat. My body was shaking.
I attempted to open my door by realizing that the car was at the bank of a ditch. The front wheel was hanging on the bank of the ditch. Jude made an attempt from his side and it was worse. The most scary part was that the car wasn't balanced. Any rough handling of the car, it might fall into the ditch. Jude and I looked at ourselves in total confusion. We needed to devise a way to escape from the scene without causing the car to fall off.
An idea occurred to me. I lowered the back of my seat gently until it lay on the rear seat. I crawled to the back so that my weight would be felt more on the back wheels that were balanced. Jude did the same thing. We opened the back doors and alighted from the car safely.
Immediately I got down, I passed out urine from my tensed body system. Jude sat on the ground, breathing heavily. A few minutes later, we trekked back to the roadside to seek assistance. We escaped from a problem and were facing another. We were still within the area known for robberies and kidnappings.
Our efforts to stop the moving vehicle weren't successful. All the vehicles were passing at top speed. I didn't blame them. We were doing the same before our car developed a fault. The vehicles were scared of us while we were scared of not getting into the den of kidnappers who could emerge from the bush at any time.
Relief came out when a convoy of military personnel was passing. They were transporting arms and ammunition.
Upon sighting us, the lady armored personnel carrier stopped to question our motive for standing along the road. The soldiers alight with hoods and different calibers of guns. I suppressed my fears upon sighting them.
"Who are you?" A giant officer with a broad chest asked me in a terrifying tone.
With a trembling voice, I explained our predicament. They confirmed our claims and decided to help. I never knew that soldiers could be so kind.
When they saw the car in its position on the bank of the ditch, they exclaimed.
"Do you mean that you came out of this car,"one of the soldiers asked.
"Yes Sir," I nodded.
They did not just rescue us from the hot spot, they towed our car from its position. They helped us to tow it to the nearest town. Until we arrived at the town before my mind came to rest.
Jude and I escaped from the experience by the skin of our teeth.