There is no place I rather be than Fripp Island, South Carolina.  This is a small island where I vacation with my friends and family.  There are no neon signs and the pace is extremely slow. When we arrive, we park our cars and travel from place to place by foot, bike or golf cart.

Golf cart rides are what I look most forward to year after year.

On this Thursday of our vacation my golf cart ride was like no other. It was 82 degrees at 11 o’clock at night and the music was blaring in my ears. There were eight of my friends squeezed into a 6-seater and having a blast. Our night was coming to an end and so we were headed home to drop off a couple of the girls at their condo.

“Oh my Gosh Lilly, there is a huge beetle in your hair!”, Lucy said.

 “Ah, get it out! Get it out!”, Lilly yelled.

I turned to see Lilly, Lucy and Mia screaming in the back of the golf cart. Lilly was very startled and quickly fell off the back.

BAM! “STOPPPPP!!!!”, Mia exclaimed.

As soon as the cart stopped I heard this sound I will never forget, Lily’s head hit the street as hard as a rock. Everyone was in shock. What do we do?

 “Someone call 911”, Addy

demanded. Deep breaths Laiken. I grabbed my cousin’s phone out of his pocket and dial 911.

 “It’s 911. What’s your emergency?’’

Speechless. I was speechless. Where am I? Is this really happening? I start to get lightheaded, so I sat on the side on the road while praying for help. Tears fell from my face when I see Lily’s best friend, Lucy nervously beside herself. I grabbed Lucy’s shaking hands to tell her that everything is going to be okay and that help is on the way. 

As we are patiently waiting for the first responders to arrive I see my friend, Cahill, sitting on the curb with his head in his arms. I walk over to ask him if he is alright and he answered sadly

 “No,” Cahill said with a firm voice.

 “What’s wrong?” I asked.

Cahill then told me the story when he got in a 4-wheeler accident less than a year ago.

He said, “This is giving me flashbacks of when I was in Lilly’s position.”

He went on explaining this story where he woke up laying in an ambulance. As soon as we saw the red and blue lights flashing in the distance tears fell from Cahill’s face.

Right behind the ambulance we see our parents zooming into this scene on their golf cart. They hopped out asking all of us if everyone was okay. For some reason when they were talking to us I lost it. Tears were rushing down my face and my body was shaking. I tried to stay calm for the people around me, but it was so hard. I was very thankful for all my family and friends there to support my friends and me.

As I look over to my right I see 2 very gentle and calm people putting Lilly onto a stretcher. She was still screaming, and I could tell she was in so much pain. I wish this didn’t just happen. Why on this happy vacation?

Lilly was now in the ambulance and the two first responders were getting ready to leave. Everyone that was in the golf cart, our parents and our family grabbed each other hands and formed a circle. All of us prayed that Lilly will be okay and have a fast recovery . We waved goodbye as we could see her laying in the back of the truck.  None of this would of happen if it weren’t for that stupid beetle who scared my good friend Lilly.