Greetings everyone!
Just this past Easter, I was glad to meet one of my cousins whom we hadn't seen for 6 years. We got talking, and one thing led to another. I asked him about the kind of work he's into, and instead of speaking, he showed me a picture of himself in a police uniform from his phone's gallery. I couldn't help but exclaim, "That's a risky job! What led you to it?"
He, being the last person I expected to venture into such a risky profession, laughed and replied, "Everything we do on Earth is risky. Even the air we breathe can be contaminated. If death wants to happen, it will, regardless of the risks involved."
He said it all!
Life is all about taking risks, and although some are more dangerous and invite death more quickly, ultimately, death can happen at any time, even while drinking ordinary water.
As I always tell people, I've never been afraid of my own death; what concerns me the most is the death of a loved one. In my few years on Earth, I've found myself narrowly escaping death on several occasions.
One of the closest calls happened some years ago, on December 31st. I was a church boy then and was heavily involved in church activities and had many responsibilities to fulfill.
On that particular day, I was riding a bike to a church member's house to collect his television for our New Year's Eve service. His house was located on the outskirts of the village, along a major road frequented by vehicles traveling at high speeds.
As I approached the point where I needed to cross to the other side of the road to reach the brother's house, just like what we see in Nollywood movies, my motorcycle stopped on the centre of the road. Despite my attempts to restart the bike, it refused to move. As I kept trying, it moved and Suddenly, I saw another bike approaching at high speed, and I tried to apply brake to avoid a collision, but the brakes failed. Before I knew it, both bikes collided, and we were thrown onto the road, somersaulting exactly the way we see in Bollywood movies.
Fortunately, there was a witness nearby who rushed to our aid. Seeing that I was still conscious, he focused on helping the others first. As I got up and approached the spot where they had fallen, I was shocked to see blood everywhere. Goosebumps covered my skin, and I couldn't believe my eyes.
The injured were rushed to the hospital, while news of the accident spread rapidly. My parents arrived at the scene, and my mom burst into tears (perhaps tears of relief), as losing a child on New Year's Eve would have been devastating.
I was also taken to a medical center for a check-up, but thankfully, nothing was found wrong with me. That day, I truly felt the presence of death, but it seemed to appear and disappear in an instant.
It's frightening to think that cars were passing by on the road while all this was happening. I wouldn't have been here to write this.
The other two individuals spent their New Year's Day in the hospital but recovered after three days of treatment.
Thanks for reading.
