Aldo it was almost midnight on July 23, 2019, it was still quite warm. Corin Bastid left her boyfriend's apartment in Liege, Belgium, from the town of Vanza. It was a road that passed many times, only 36 kilometers long.
There weren't many vehicles on the road at that time. She thought more of her sons on that journey, Hadrien has 18, Odrik was 16, while the youngest Dorian was just 12 years old. They lived with her ex-husband, and she saw them every other week. And they were her whole world.
Taken aback, she barely noticed the car shaking. She needed to check the brakes. The slower she drives, the easier will be to her to stop. That is why she turned off near the town of Saint Georges on the Meuse. As soon as she turned onto highway, she tried to apply the breaks. The car didn't slow down. The brakes didn't work.
She stared in horror at the curve she was approaching. She tried to roll the steering wheel, but too late. She hit something and the car was in the air. Then it landed down the slope, covered with rocks and stumps. She was covered by tree branches. It seemed to her as if minutes and hours had passed. And it was only matter of seconds. Then she was startled by a terrible noise, the cracking of glass.
The next moment she was lying on her back. She didn't realize where she was at the moment. Nor that the car is overturned, that she is lying on the roof of the car. Somehow she managed to unbuckle her belt. There was compete silence, she could hear only herself breathing. Then a cell phone rang somewhere in the cabin. She looked for him with her hand, but could not feel him. She could barely muster the strength to turn her head before fainting.
She was awakened by new ring of the cell phone. Instinctively, she reached for device, as if in her bad, and realize where she was. Above it was a driver the driver's seat. A large branch pierced the windshield. In order to stay conscious for a while, she constantly repeated her name and surname. Then date of birth, then the names and dates of births of her sons.
She tries to the touch phone again. There were a tiny pieces of glass everywhere. Great hit scattered things from her purse all around the cabin. In order to move, pieces of glass were pressed into the skin of her back and arms. She barely managed to move the left side. With terrible pain, which she couldn't imagine until that moment.
She only hoped that someone saw the moment when she landed off the road. Then she realized that help would probably arrive by then. Maybe there are traces of breaking left, so someone will notice? The brakes didn't work. The road was so close. She could hear the noise of the cars. She screamed with all her might, calling for help. Nothing. Nobody hear her. People went about their business, only a few meters away from the wreckage of a car, hidden by branches.
The phone rang incessantly. She is definitely called by a boyfriend or one of her sons. Two hours later the ringing stopped. Corin realized what that meant. The batterie is empty. Even if she manages to find the phone in the cabin, it is now completely useless. She could only lie and wait. It was evening when she fall asleep. Or she fainted.
By that time, her boyfriend and her sons had already raised the alarm. It didn't look like Corin was answering the phone. Even less to get lost just like that. They called all her friends. Nobody knew where she was. They also informed and the police. They passed by, but there weren't traces anywhere.
It was even warmer next day. Then Corin realized that her legs and arms were completely numb. She decided to fight. She wasn't a woman giving up. If there is no one, she will help herself. She will get out of the wreck, crawl up the slope and stop someone on the road. Or so she imagined.
She was encouraged she didn't feel hunger and thirst. She looked around the cabin for the easiest way out. The belt hung over the seat. She would use it to to get it up, then crawl through the hole left in place by the windshield. She gritted her teeth and grabbed her belt. Every movement gave her pain. Pieces of glass slammed deeper and deeper. It took her fifteen minutes to advance only two or three inches.
It was well past noon when she managed to throw her head out. She saw the rays of the sun. Unfortunately, only what managed to break through the thick branches. She looked down, only to realize that the car is was on some kind of outlet. Below was a few more feet of slope. She didn't even think of going that way. And if she gets her head out of the car, she can easily roll over and end up with a broken neck. She gathered her remain strength and returned to the cabin. If nothing else, at least she's safe there. In the meantime, night fell. She decided to sleep and try again tomorrow.
She was awakened by the rain. Water entered through the windshield hole. She huddled on the roof and slowly soaked her close. She tried to slip her foot into the hole in the back door. It turned out to be to narrow. She didn't know how much time had passed. She only could follow the change of day and night. Lying in the cabin, she listen the sounds of traffic, rain and wind.
By morning, the rain had turned the overturned car into a tub full of water. Korin was almost submerged. Her hair floated on the surface of the water. For a moment she thought of simply letting go and drowning. Then she remembered her sons. Because of them, she has to survive. Only then, surrounded by water, she feels thirsty. She tired to collect a little of water in empty paper box from chewing gums. The box fell apart. And there wasn't other anywhere. Then her gaze fell on the branch that had broken into the cabin. It was dripping from the tree.
She slowly raised her head and moved the branch to her mouth. Drop by drop, to quench her thirst to some extend. She collapsed into the water from the effort. Her clothes was completely soaked. The cuts were bleeding and pulsing. The pain was terrible. She was shaking uncontrollably. It was freezing. She was threatened by hypothermia. In her helplessness, she tore a parts of her clothes. It hurt her even more. Still, it kept her awake. She was aware that she must not fall asleep. If she fails to stay awake, she will freeze.
On the sixth day of since the accident, Korin was almost certain that it was all over. Although it was much warmer, she was shivering, completely exhausted. She will hardly be able to survive a few more hours. She has left to pray.
A few meters above her, on the road, a car stopped. Her friends came out of the car. They received information from the police that her phone was last located at that location. They were driving slowly, when someone saw the wreck under the road. Completely covered in mud and twigs, it seemed to stand there for years. Still, they decided to check.
When they finally reached the car, a voice came from the cabin. Corin called for help, with last atoms of strength. Only ten minutes later, she was in an ambulance. A helicopter was waiting in nearby field to transport her to a hospital in Liege.
Corin's spine was cracked in several places, the left side of her body was almost taken away. Still, she recovered and was finally able to hug her sons.
Lead picture and literature: Politica's Entertainer, number 3580
