Editor's note:  Schatze Thorp edits a column featuring readers' most wild or most heartwarming moments. Readers are encouraged to share their stories. Send your story with a photo (if possible) to Schatze Thorp at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Stories should not exceed 800 words but need not be that long and can be as short as a few sentences.

Peter Thorp had the following experience while driving in Massachusetts.

By Peter Thorp

Sep. 14, 2016:  It was a lovely afternoon on Cape Cod, and Schatze and I were driving back to Dennis from Harwich, where we had been working at the food pantry.

We were on a state highway driving north at roughly 35 MPH when a pickup truck came out from a crossroad (stop signs on both east and west), just feet from our car. There was absolutely no time to stop, so I swerved to the right and we hit him head-on behind the driver's seat. The airbags immediately exploded/released, and our car drifted behind the truck through a small fence opening and came to a halt in a field.

Fortunately, no one was coming in the opposite direction, and most thankfully (as I later realized), had we been a few seconds earlier, "he" would have totally destroyed the passenger side of the car, where Schatze was seated!

We got ourselves out of the car, looked at each other, and shared a big hug, still in a bit of shock. The driver was out of his truck and unhurt. But, as an aside, not once did he come over to see if we were all right or to extend any sort of apology!

A retired policeman appeared and said he had been at the intersection and would attest that the other driver was totally at fault and had run the stop sign.

The Dennis emergency truck and police arrived in a very short time and could not have been more professional, concerned, and helpful. They urged Schatze to go to the hospital to have her chest examined since it hurt a lot, but she demurred, not relishing a ride in the ambulance.

Two of our daughters arrived during that time, and we eventually headed off in their car — not home but to the Cape Cod Hospital to have the chest examined. I had a slight burn on my wrist. The emergency ward at the hospital was very helpful, and the CT scan showed Schatze's cracked rib(s), for which time is the only real medication.

We were released, and the four of us headed back home. The accident occurred at 3:15 pm and we were home by 7:45 pm. A very long afternoon, but we all realized that we were indeed fortunate and that was an understatement. Meanwhile, our totally demolished car was being hauled away to be crushed or whatever.

Moral to story: Always wear seat belts, make sure air bags are active, and beware of Massachusetts drivers!!

Pictured here:  The demolished car.

Photo courtesy Schatze Thorp