Vincenzo and the Crash of ’15

It was a pretty normal day. After the exhilaration of a morning spent touring in Venice, the OFC team had settled back for a long bus ride to Florence. As has become typical on these extended trips in the bus, the occupants of the last two rows were throwing themselves into a comical uproar. Tanner Lambert, the Univertsity Singers’ highest tenor, was merrily leading us on a verbal “tour” of Italy. Sides were split was he described his adventures in the “Dojo’s Palace.” Then, just like that, our cacophony of raucous laughter came crashing to a halt, just like the cars in front of us.

Now, it is high time we recognized the most important, unofficial member of the OFC team: our driver, Vincenzo Pedonta. Without the services of this colorful man, Operation Freedom’s Cadence would have gone nowhere fast. As the cars in front of us collided and swerved, he dodged left with incredible swiftness, and impeccable skill. While the rest of us froze in our places, unsure of what was happening, Vincenzo’s constant awareness prevented a situation far worse than the one which actually occurred. 

All of this took place in seconds. Not twenty seconds after the accident, we had pulled over – assessing the situation. Debris littered the highway behind our bus. A black car, the original size of which we could no longer tell, sat motionless and completely backwards against the now misshapen guardrail. In front of us, the small van which had been involved had slid to a quiet stop.

It was scary.

Next, came the noisy morass of questions. We blew a tire, right? Did we just hit that car? What happened? Is everybody OK?!?

Relief came as we saw the passengers of the mangled black car step out of their vehicle – especially as we saw the one coming from the driver’s side. The driver of the little van had also gotten out, and was inspecting the damage to his own car. Dr. Carr, the team’s veteran military chaplain, came towards the back of the bus, guiding disturbed students through the shock of witnessing such a violent crash. Fortunately, everyone seemed to be just fine, and after a short stop, we were on our way again. We talked about it, we prayed about it, and we overcame the adrenaline of it. And Vincenzo… Well, he just keeps on “truckin'”. 

Still alive (Thank the Lord),

Aaron Brickle

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