‘When I saw my car for the first time since our accident, all I could do was shake like a leaf, and sob. I cannot believe my babies and I walked away from this.’: Mom urges car seat safety, ‘Make sure they’re safe EVERY time’

“When I saw my car today, for the first time since our accident, all I could do was shake like a leaf, and sob.

I cannot believe I walked away from this two days ago.

I cannot believe my babies walked away from this two days ago.

On Saturday morning we were t-boned on the passenger side while making a left turn and pushed into a light pole on the driver’s side. Jackson, my youngest, was sitting in the back-passenger side and was knocked unconscious in the accident and took several minutes to wake up again. He suffered a mild concussion, and we all have some pretty gnarly bumps and bruises, but thanks to proper car safety, we survived.

A few weeks before the accident, I posted a picture of the kids sleeping in my backseat. Someone commented and asked if Andrew, my four-year-old, was still rear facing. They were asking this because when he turned four, I had turned him around to face forward. But, because he’s four and was constantly kicking the back of our seats (and was still under the limits of his seat), we decided to turn him back around and wait a little longer.

And now, this is the back seat today…

I am so thankful we made that decision to turn him back around. My children are ALIVE, they survived this horrific event with very minor injuries (which was them today in their seats given to us by the hospital).

The ER doctor, several nurses, the first responders, and even some random bystanders told me REPEATEDLY the reason my children were not in critical condition, or dead, was because they were facing rear and PROPERLY buckled into the car. I’m so happy I’ve always been such a car seat stickler. And I always will be.

Check your children’s seat. Check it twice. Do your research. Make sure they are safe EVERY time.

And, while you’re at it, buckle your own seatbelt too! Most bruising I have is from the seatbelt SAVING my life. I can’t imagine the injuries I’d have sustained if I didn’t have it on.

Also, I definitely am not discounting the miracle that happened here. Someone out there was definitely looking out for us that day.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Savannah Baker. Submit your story here, and subscribe to our best love stories here.

Read more about car seat safety here:

‘This is where I snapped the last living photo of my kids.’ You’re not supposed to bury your children. Your kids are supposed to bury you.’: Mom loses kids in car accident, discovers outdated car seat safety laws

‘That chest clip isn’t high enough or tight enough. It needs to be at nipple level’: Mom URGES car seat safety

‘I was trapped inside as I was screaming ‘Get my babies!’ I was pulled out to hear ‘Is my mom dead?’: Mom URGES car seat safety

‘She was internally decapitated’: Urgent warning about ‘minimum requirements’ for forward-facing car seats

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