The Worst Car Accident I Ever Witnessed Involved a Horse and a SUV

This was like being present in an actual horror movie production. No seriously, it was that bad.

I was about ten years old, about to embark on my first journey on a Texas trip. My mother, my eight-year-old sister, and a friend of the family that became like a father figure to me, were excited about going on our very first trip together. We were heading to Houston, Texas for a three-day trip to have great food, go to a Lady Gaga concert, the zoo, and the Aquarium.

My sister and I were ecstatic children, excited to go somewhere we had never been before. I’m sure we felt like prisoners finally being released from our cells to the outside world.

(I couldn’t think of anything else to compare this to, so I’m sorry for the dark story I implied here. My horror brain truly knows no bounds)!

We were feeling a little hungry for some snacks, so we decided to stop at a convenience store. All four of us were happy to stretch our legs, and we took about twenty minutes searching for snacks and paying the guy at the register. Then we hit the road. We were surprised to discover that we were now in a line with rows of cars.

My mom and her friend immediately got a little frustrated and confused, (what adult wouldn’t, especially if kids are present), and they immediately assumed it was a car accident. My sister and I were chilling in the car, so we really didn’t care or not want to address the situation.

We were chatting with our mom and her friend about what children care to talk about at those ages, easing the tension in the vehicle.

I honestly don’t remember how much time passed, but that part didn’t matter once we saw it.

The horse.

It was laying sideways on the ground. It was dead, but once we saw how the horse looked, my sister and I freaked out. Its insides were strewn out of its stomach. My mom and her friend both had instant reactions, in either shock or feeling terrible for what happened to the horse.

I didn’t blame them for asking us to look away, I think we were all in shock at that moment. Then we saw the SUV. My mom and I both turned away, not wanting to look at the damage.

Out of everything, that scared me the most.

The SUV’s front hood was completely caved in, resembling a monster opening its jaws to consume a person whole. The couple who had been driving the vehicle appeared very shaken up, both of them talking with police officers. The wife or girlfriend had her arms crossed, looking back and forth to the car and then the horse.

It was like my family and I were extras in a horror movie production.

It was that frightening.

I felt so bad for the horse and the couple. I was grateful the couple survived, but I felt so bad that the horse was killed in such a way. The impact was that extreme, leaving the horse and the vehicle in literal shambles. My family and I became pretty silent for a while on the road, lost in our own thoughts of what we just witnessed.

Then my mom’s friend said:

“That could have been us. If we hadn’t stopped, that could have been us.”

My mom immediately said:

“Stop.”

Once that exchange was made, it made my heart stop for a second. We were ahead of the SUV. I remembered. If we had stopped, that could have been us. Some of us would have been injured or worse.

Or worse.

That part haunted me for a long time during the trip.

Luckily, that incident left our minds for the time being, because the trip was that fantastic. Everything went well, and we had smiles on our faces the whole time.

Sometimes I think back to that accident. It was meant for us to stop that day. If we hadn’t…it could have been…

Or worse.

Thank you for reading! Car accidents can be so scary, but when it involves an animal, it really breaks my heart.

Emy Quinn