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camp grounds at Lake Mendocino. We were found off the road

150 feet, wedged between two trees. We had been going 55

miles an hour and the impact was hard. The driver had been up

all night previously fishing at the Russian river. Being a parolee

at the time, he was worried about being caught for doing things

wrong. There were five people in his truck: two in the back and

three of us in front. My fiancé Tom had just gotten out of the

hospital with his back the night before. We could not find his

seatbelt that morning, and I felt there must have been a reason

why. Maybe it was so he could save my life.

The driver’s name was “Tiny”. He drove a blue early ‘80s Ford

250 truck with a guard rail on the front. As he drove to Ukiah,

things were going well until he realized he left his cell phone

behind. So he turned around to head back to Lake Mendocino...

and fell asleep at the wheel. We were not all the way there

when I felt the truck go down the embankment. Just seconds

before this happened, I had a premonition I was going to be in

an accident. Sure enough, that’s what happened.

It was a scary experience to have lived through. California

highway patrol said we all were lucky to be alive, and he didn’t

know how we survived that wreck. As I woke up screaming my

head off, “Oh my god, Tiny! We went off the road!” I heard a

voice say, “Now is not your time to die.” My life flashed before

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