True life chaos and horror

I debated on whether or not to talk about this, but I guess I will.

Friday evening, something happened that brought reality to scenes like the burning car in Crash and the plane wreck at the beginning of Lost. Tabatha and I were just about to leave the riverside park when we heard a crash occur up at the intersection of Jack Warner and Hackberry. I immediately called 911 and told them about it, but did not originally know the answer to the question when the dispatcher asked if we needed ambulances. In the end, I told them to send two before we hurried across the road on foot. We almost hesitated to go over but the crash looked severe enough that we felt we should see if help was needed. I am glad we did. A suburban had t-boned a tiny Mazda Protege and had resulted in a lack of passenger seat. Right before we crossed the road, a police officer happened to be passing by and we flagged him down, or he might not have seen the wreck. As we got across the road, we were yelling for them to turn the engine off, as it was revving repeatedly (the driver was in shock and had his foot on the gas, as we came to find out later). As soon as we got across the road, we knew there was a problem. The exhaust had caught fire, and the underside of the car was becoming embroiled in flame. Because of our vantage point, we were the first to know the car was on fire. Tabatha and I both started yelling for people to move but most were in shock. Some were helping get the victims out, some were standing around with their jaws open. I literally had to shove some of the waiting people to get them to start moving away. Beside the car, a man was helping get a college aged girl out of the back seat (we believe she was originally in the passenger seat and either got thrown or jumped out of the seat when she saw the wreck coming). I had to shove them away as well, and the man was able to drag her away from the car. I ran up to the police officer who was trying to cut the driver free and told him the car was on fire. He sent me running to his trunk for the fire extinguisher. When I got back, we moved the driver away and I ended up holding his neck steady to prevent further injury. Luckily, the fire was put out before it got to the gas tank. We remained to make statements and helped the paramedics get a grasp on their injuries once they arrived. According to a nurse who Tabatha had come help before the paramedics arrived, both victims looked like they would be fine, other than some bleeding and a broken ankle and such. What stuck me through the whole ordeal was the chaos of everything happening all at once. Seeing a crash on tv is one thing, but experiencing the aftermath in real life is something else. Another thing that deeply disturbed me is the mob mentality that most people exhibited. Most people that were closer to the crash and in a better position to help than Tabatha and I, across the street, simply rubbernecked and moved on. Even the nurse stopped and asked if we needed help, and only got out of her car at Tabatha's behest. I have always been horrified by how people can see something like a wreck happen in front of them, and simply keep driving instead of trying to help. It is one thing if the authorities are already there, but it takes time for them to arrive, and had it not been for about four people and a passing police officer, I am not confident that the victims or even some of the first rescuers would have made it away from the car before the fire reached the gas tank. Next time you see a bad wreck happen, consider this before simply driving away and assuming someone else will help. The mob mentality is more horrific to me than just about anything else we have read in this class.

(P.S. Although we found the drivers wallet, I do not remember anything but his first name through the adrenaline haze. I would have liked to check to make sure both of them were OK but have not seen anything in the papers, so I assume they were OK)

(P.P.S. Sorry for the long block and probably hazy reading, but it more accurately portrays the emotions and chaos of what we experienced.)