‘We were forsaken’

“THEN she called, ‘Samson, the Philistines are upon you!’ He awoke from his sleep and thought, ‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the LORD had left him.”

Two Sundays ago, I felt forsaken.

I watched as my wife cradled our four-year-old daughter in her arms next to the wreckage of our vehicle. Debris was scattered everywhere.

It was about 30 kilometres from Mariental. The bakkie had rolled about four or five times. I kept repeating my daughter’s name: “Karima, Karima, Karima.” She was bleeding from cuts to the side of her head. In that moment, as she veered between slipping in and out of consciousness, I was no biblical Samson.

I was in a shambles. Those who stopped immediately to assist us came upon a broken, weeping man. An emergency unit nurse who had been travelling in one of the cars that stopped at the scene tried to calm me as she attended to my family.

A state ambulance was among the first vehicles to stop and help. My wife and daughter were rushed to Mariental. I was left behind with police officers and representatives of the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund. It would be at least an hour before I would see them again to know the extent of their injuries.

I’d driven the road from Keetmans to Mariental to Windhoek so many times without incident. Like a Samson of old, I expected to breeze towards our home. Come on, this was a piece of cake! Estimated time of arrival, shortly after 19h30. So many things we take for granted, like the act of safely transporting the most valuable cargo in our lives – our family – safely to a destination.

Two weeks later. Hospitalisation, scans, thankfully no internal injuries. Karima does not want to be in a vehicle. We will continue undergoing counselling.

So many family members, colleagues and friends have kept us under constant watch and in their prayers.

There are so many who’ve lost loved ones in crashes. I constantly think to myself what a wreck of a life would’ve been left over for me if I’d lost my wife or daughter or both in the crash.

If I’m honest with myself, if that had happened I would’ve been broken beyond repair. I am no Samson. I am no strongman. But it’s rather in Samson’s humanity that I find resonance in his story in the book of Judges. A man of vices, a man who was goaded into giving away the secret of his strength so his enemies could overcome him and parade him for their sport. It’s also a story of redemption, of finding your way back and finishing off one’s life by being used mightily as God’s instrument.Two Sunday’s ago I felt forsaken 30 kilometres from Mariental, but we were not forsaken. The Smith family has lived to tell the tale.

We were not forsaken! Lesson learnt. Life is fleeting, let’s live and love and treasure those that matter most!

• Ashley Smith is The Namibian’s news editor.

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