I saved a life, so why do I feel crap?

Maybe because you stopped the accident, like the first time, but the "accident waiting to happen" still exists. It could happen again and chances are you won't be there when it does.  Can anything be done to slow cars down there or warn the people, including those young inattentative kids, if anything or anyone is coming? Maybe the pub owners could put up a sign to warn the people as well. Or maybe they could put up one of those rounded mirrors that shows both people and cars on either side what's ahead. It would sure save everyone a lot of grief in the long run I think and give everyone including you piece of mind.

Aye well done Kaj, divent gan an kick yersel ower it! m8..yer did the reet thing, lucky for the bairns yer were at hand to do summat, as sure parents are truely grateful for yer intervention
Have a bottle of Broon ale on me!!

Cheers micky

Dont Stop Kid Keep Rockin'  !!

Thank you Jets, Kenny, Micky and Ken.

I feel better but still far from good.

The mother did keep saying thank you (at least 5 or 6 times) so she did appreciate it; everything about my first post is all entirely within me, I'm beginning to be able to name it and will post more later.

The sign has been mentioned, but as we're in an AONB, we are very limited to what can go up around the village, but I may well insist that the lisencee or the brewery put up a sign warning parents and children within the environs of the pub. I have brought this up before, but I will probably INSIST this time and make it myself!!!

Thanks again my friends for your supportive words, I woulda been in hell if I didn't have you to talk to!!!

You know why you feel like crap?  Because even though it wasn't your child coming in to harm's way, you were still paying more attention to this innocent child than it's own parents.  I see it happen every day.  I'm driving in our neighborhood and there are countless young kids, running out in the middle of the street and the parents are nowhere to be seen, or standing and chatting with another neighbour.  Then you read in the paper the next day about how a child was hurt or killed by a vehicle and the parent's quotes are something like this, "I just looked away for a second".  It only takes a second for an accident to happen.  So many times I've seen parents in public with their kids or at a function and they seem to think that everyone else will watch out for their kids, that they're on holiday or something and don't need to.  It's very weird.  So JJ, I think you're probably more upset at the parents than anything else.  THEY should have been watching their child, not you!  But for their sake, thank goodness a caring soul like you was on guard.  Just my opinion and I know that not all parents are like that.

Hi Kaj, Glad your feeling better.

As a follow up on my previous post,my therapist ( I've seen her a bunch ) once told me that I wasn't the first person to misplace anger for guilt. I didn't realize I had done it and then it made a bunch of sense to me. After some thought I got angry about the situation and felt gooder...much gooder. Maybe that's what's happening for you with the parents, the pub owners and the kids.

Hope this helps you

Kenny
P.S.  What does AONB stand for?

Thank you alvee33, RavenLady, bensonp and Zurf so much for your kind and supportive comments. I can't tell you how much they mean especially as I don't get to REALLY talk with people most of the time (very remote here with people spread out!).

And Kenny, thank you again!   Your therapist sounds like a very smart cookie! What you wrote really gave me something to think about that made sense in my life!!! (AONB = Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, BTW)

I feel embarrased talking about my health issues when there are so many people who are in a much worse situation but deal with it so much better than I could (There's someone on this site who has become something of a hero of mine because of their outlook!!!).

I've had 7 or 8 road accidents myself - a road accident isn't coming off my bicycle going round a corner and getting cuts and bruises, but being hit off my bike and having somebody run into the back of me breaking my collar bone is (#2). Using the front wing of a car to bounce myself out of the way of a driver who isn't looking that he's about to run me over isn't, but being hit by a car and having the back of my head cracked open and my kneecap broken is (#1).

The anniversary of #3 is coming up when I ended up half on and half under a tractor trailer, had my legs pulled apart, one foot crushed and the lower half of the other leg ripped out of the joint and sewn back on at the knee. And it happened about 40 yds left of the above photo!

I can see where you think this is going especially when I say I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress in '96, but this wasn't from any of these accidents (although some of them still make me shiver as #3 and #7/#8 (7 car pile up in the fast lane of the M4 coming out of London, 80 - 90 mph nose to tail)), it was from other things that were done to me before this and while recovering from these accidents.

You SO hit the nail on the head Kenny when you spoke about misplaced anger as when the PTSD is bad I do turn everything onto myself of which guilt is one symptom. I think that there was a subconcious link to the other things that my concious mind tries to blot out. So maybe that's it.

I would like to say of the parents that I do not think what happened was in any way their fault as the mother was trying to catch up but couldn't because of elder sister (3 or 4 yr old) being between mother and toddler and tables and a wall either side; it was when I heard mother saying something and heard the car that I realised I had to do something.

I don't think the brewery would support the gate idea however brilliant it is, so I've decided to offer to make the sign free of charge that Liscencee and Brewery should agree to!

Thank you all SO much for your support in this, sometimes one just needs to unload to gain perspective and you guys were there for me - Murrasta Why!!! ("thank you very much!" - Kernowek) I feel embarrassed at some of the back slap comments as they should be directed to those who ARE worthy of them!

I'm so glad I signed up to Chordie!!!

(PS: Check your In Box, Kenny!!!)

Hey alvee.

Hey Heather!

Glad I could be a help to you JJ. You maybe isolated where your at but you have a world of Chordie  Friends at your finger tips.

Kenny
P.S.  Check your Email.

P.S.S. to Heather and aleve33