Ole

I saw him the day before the accident. The gym at school had been busier than usual, so every sports team was practically on top of each other. While warming up with the girl’s soccer team, I saw Ole doing some push-ups only a couple of feet away from me. He looked up and asked if he should move, and all of us said he was good. This moment lives ingrained in my mind, knowing that was the last time I saw him. On September 14th, 2021, Ole Djalleta was riding in the back seat of his friend’s car when it became destroyed when a truck pulled out a little too far in the intersection. If only that truck had waited a couple of minutes, then Ole would be capable of doing a push-up he could do only a day before. If only that truck had followed basic driving laws, then Ole would be able to run right now. If only that truck had stopped on the line, then Ole could write his name. Statistics say that driving is one of the primary causes of death for teenagers, and I am glad to say that Ole isn’t a part of that statistic. He still has been scarred from that accident, but thankfully, he is at least breathing. I remember when I went to school the next day, and the heaviness of the tragedy weighed the atmosphere. Tears filled the eyes of every student and staff. Cries were heard from across the hallway, and no one smiled that day. As I got into my car, I looked around the parking lot and saw hesitation written on everyone’s face knowing that there was a possibility that they would never leave their vehicle again. We all knew at our school that any one of us could have been Ole. The route that he had taken was one that many students at my school must take to arrive, and many students indeed saw the car flip three times before handing in a ditch. I was on the accident road the other day, and chills went through me as I looked at a ditch void of a demolished car.

It is a tragedy that it took this fatal car accident to snap some sense into the teenagers at my school. Where once we focused on switching to a different playlist, reaching for the take-out we just got, or even mindlessly thinking of our day, the accident that occurred only months ago haunts us. I wish it didn’t take Ole’s broken body for us to realize the importance of driving safely. I wish that the idea of Ole having to be cut down from his seatbelt had not been what pushed me to make sure I was always focused on the road. My generation often forgets that when we are entering our vehicles, we are entering a weapon. Sometimes, we think of driving so lightly that we forget the dangers awaiting us on the road. We drive carelessly, laughing at those that only go five miles over the limit instead of realizing that those “lame” drivers are protecting us more than we are. Then we forget the scariest possibility of driving. Sometimes, like in the case of Ole, you could have been following all the rules of the road, but that will not stop someone from t-boning you to death. You cannot always prevent the danger that will come, but you have to pray that you will survive. I wonder about the truck driver sometimes. I wonder if he stays up late thinking about Ole and the suffering he placed him through. I wonder if he thinks about his single mother that had to wait painfully for three weeks to see him gain a conscience. I wonder if he feels that Ole will never be able to play high school football again. Ole was a senior who had plans for his last year of high school and had college plans, but all that has to be on hold now because a truck pulled too far into the intersection.

The accident was nearly two months ago, but the pain has made it feel like a year. I fear that students at my school and other students around the area will forget why Ole is in a state of brokenness. They will forget that bad driving habits are what almost killed three teenage boys that day. They will go back to speeding because they woke late for school. They will focus too much on the notifications from their favorite apps that are desperate for their focus. They will push the limit and go out a little more in the intersection to the last-second turn. Who had to die before we learned our lesson? I do not think I can handle seeing one more person I know on the doorsteps of death because we did not learn from the last tragedy. Hopefully, we can all take steps to be safer drivers, not for us but everyone on the road.