She Saw Her Own Grave - Jim Harold's Campfire 774

Jim Harold's Campfire - Jim Harold

Alara from Texas shares a chilling true story of surviving a near-fatal car accident on December 26, 1998, during which she experienced a su

Key takeaways

• Alara survived a head-on collision without wearing a seatbelt, which likely saved her life by allowing her to avoid being crushed between the dashboard and seatbelt.
• She experienced a profound sensation of being watched while still in shock after the accident, describing it as feeling confined within a 'square' of awareness.

Main topics

• Near-fatal car accident
• Survival against odds

Notable quotes

"She saw her own grave, but she was in it."

"I felt like I was in a little square. I was confined. I could feel eyes on me."

Conclusion

Alara's story stands as a haunting testament to the fragility of life and the mysterious ways trauma

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:00) She saw her own grave, but she was in it. We'll find out how that works on this edition of Jim Harreld's Campfire. Sit back, relax, and warm yourself by Jim Harreld's Campfire. Well, she's been listening for years, and she has a remarkable story for us. I'm talking about Alara from Texas. Alara, I read this, and I was spellbound. I can't wait to hear the actual full story. Tell us what happened. Speaker 1 (0:38) So it happened on December 26th of 98. I was on my way with a cousin of mine and a friend of mine to pick up another cousin of mine. We were going to a Christmas party, you know, after the holidays. Speaker 1 (0:55) The part of town that we were in, we were going into town. So we were on the outskirts. So our speed wasn't that high, but it was more than, you know, inner city limits. Speaker 2 (1:05) Right. Speaker 1 (1:06) And as we were driving. There was a bus on the left side, which was used for like public transport. And then on the right side, there was a car. I believe it was a Grand Marquis that I saw at another stop sign. So we were going straight into town. The bus on the left side decides to just go for it. Just completely went for it. So we received the impact head on. The side of the bus we hit. We got it forward. Now for me, that day I was not wearing a seatbelt. That was actually my blessing. I have not having been wearing the seatbelt. So what happens is airbag deploys. It's my face, breaks the bottom part of my nose, pushes me back. In between the driver and in between my seat, I was co-pilot. A friend of mine was sitting there. She lunges forward, lands on my back. She breaks both her wrists, so she uses her elbows to get herself up. So she shifts my spine and my neck. Apart from this, the brake pads of the vehicle actually came inside the vehicle, hit my knee, tore part of the tendon. loosened the ligaments completely. And then the dashboard just completely caved in. Speaker 2 (2:27) Oh my Lord. Speaker 1 (2:29) Yeah. So from what the officers actually told me and the doctor was, had I been wearing the seatbelt, I would have been stuck between the restriction of the seatbelt and the entire dashboard coming inside. I would have been crushed there. Because I wasn't, I fell forward. basically where your feet are, I was curled up down there. Speaker 2 (2:54) Oh, Lord. Speaker 1 (2:56) Well, I remember getting out of the car because of the smoke from the airbags. And immediately a lady just hits me in the face with like tissues because I was bleeding. Like, obviously my nose was bleeding. Speaker 2 (3:10) So I Speaker 1 (3:10) remember I got out. I remember I looked around and the first thing I did was I picked up the phone, called my mom. And I called her and I'm like, hey, you know, just had a little accident. Of course, my mom goes off and then she's like, are you OK? And I'm like, yeah, I'm fine. And she's like, where are you? I'm like, I don't know. And that's where I literally heard the tone in her voice just drop. And she's like, what do you mean you don't know? Like, I don't know where I'm at. Like, I know where I'm at, the part of town where I'm at. I don't know where I'm at. I can't guide you here. So she asked me, what did you do? I'm like, okay, we came into town. We picked up my friend. We're going this way. And she's like, I know where you're at. I'll be there in a moment. Okay. So because I told her we were fine, she assumed maybe we were going to be like, you know, at the police station with the report. She didn't know we were taking her to the hospital. So I hang up with her and I start trying to find my cousin and trying to find my friend and I'm walking. Speaker 2 (4:17) And you're severely injured. Speaker 1 (4:19) And I'm severely injured. I'm not supposed to be walking with my injuries, but I'm walking. And I see my friend first and I call her name. She turns around and she starts walking to me. She kind of like falls forward. So I catch her. How did I catch her with my injuries? I don't know. How was I walking? I don't know. I say it was the adrenaline. I got myself onto the ambulance. Went to the hospital and I'm like, all right, I don't want anybody touching me until my parents get here, especially my mom. So I'm in pain at this point. I'm already in pain. I'm feeling it. The nurses are asking me, you know, where does it hurt? So I started describing everything that I feel, what happened. I started describing what I do remember at that point. Speaker 2 (5:03) And they're worried probably about internal injuries they can't see, too. Speaker 1 (5:08) Probably, probably. But. When they tell me, okay, your mom's here. I'm like, I don't want to see her. She's going to get mad at me again, blah, blah, blah. But no. So we go in and we get checked out. Yeah. The tendon in my knee is, the majority of it's completely torn. The ligaments are completely loose. So I'm on crutches for months. Physical therapy and crutches for months. Now, the weird part is when we had the accident and I got out of the car, you know how like when you feel somebody is watching you from a distance? Speaker 2 (5:41) Yes. Speaker 1 (5:42) You feel their eyesight on you. That's what I felt. But I felt it as if I was like in a little square. I was confined. So I would feel the eyesight on me and I felt confined. Speaker 1 (5:56) But I mean, I didn't pay attention to it because of everything else going on. So fast forward, months go by. I'm still in crutches. And I was at the cemetery dropping off flowers for my paternal grandparents. Speaker 1 (6:11) And because of how the cemetery is, a lot of grass, sprinklers, you know, my brother was with me, you know, hey, watch your step. And my dad passes by and he's like, hey, you guys are walking around close to my grandfather's cemetery. And I'm like, which one? The colonel? And he's like, yeah. I'm like, oh, okay, let me try to find it. So my brother and I are going tomb by tomb trying to find it. And I see one that catches my eye. There was a little angel statue on the top of the tombstone. Speaker 2 (6:42) And Speaker 1 (6:43) I'm like, oh, let me see what this is. So I start moving some of the grass to get a better read. And the tombstone said my full name, my birthday, the day of the accident. Wow. I touched the tombstone. And I know at the time, the person who was in charge of it, their grandson was a real good friend of mine. So I'm like, what kind of prank are you trying to pull? You know, I call him up. And he's like, what are you talking about? I'm like, I'm in this part of the cemetery, this section, this row, tombstone number 21. Why does it have my information? He's like, that tombstone doesn't exist. I'm like, dude, I'm telling you, I'm seeing it. It's like right here in front of me. It's like, it doesn't. Till this day, he tells me the same thing. That tombstone doesn't exist. And I've never seen it again. Speaker 2 (7:38) So you've gone back in the tombstone with your name. I've gone back multiple Speaker 1 (7:41) times. Speaker 2 (7:41) And Speaker 1 (7:41) the Speaker 2 (7:41) day of the accident is not there anymore. Speaker 1 (7:44) It's not there anymore. I know exactly where I was in the cemetery. What tombstone. I counted them on purpose for that reason. And I've never seen it again. Speaker 2 (7:55) Huh. You know what it reminds me of? A Christmas Carol. You know that scene where Scrooge, the ghost of Christmas future is with him and they go to the graveyard and it lights up, you know, with the lightning. And I mean, in the depictions I've seen, you know, I don't know if there was lightning in the actual book, but you see the Ebenezer Scrooge tombstone. Remember? And then he says, well, a ghost is merely the picture of things that must be or, you know, might not happen. I forgot how he put it. But the point is, is that you had a real kind of like in a weird way that Ebenezer Scrooge thing. You saw an alternate reality where you weren't here anymore. You were gone. So what do you make of that? What do you mean? I've got. specific things I can ask you, but you tell me, what do you make of it? Why do you think you saw it? What do you think it meant or signified? Speaker 1 (8:56) So now, years later, you know, on and off, I get that nudge, what was it? What was it? And I go in, I do my research, and speaking to people, they've all come to the same conclusion. I saw a timeline in which I didn't make it. So there was like a glitch where I saw that timeline. That's not the only weird thing that's happened to me. Since that accident, stuff has happened, not to that scale at all, but I've seen things, heard things. one thing that'll happen a lot is I'll get like a strong smell out of something and it just triggers back and it'll bring me back to, and like, if I smell something, it'll take me back to where like in my mind, an image pops up of something. And that scene that I'll see, and it's like, okay, I know what I'm seeing, but. nowadays I don't have recollection of that image that I saw. That it brings back that memory. So that has happened to me quite a bit. And it all started from that accident. The other thing that happened to me, I was, I'm in Texas and I was driving to a city from my town that's about two hours and 15 minutes. Speaker 2 (10:20) Speed Speaker 1 (10:20) limit in Texas is 75. And I was with another cousin of mine. We were, I don't remember why we were going, but we're probably checking out the schools up there. Speaker 1 (10:32) We were driving and I was driving because since from that day on forward, I prefer to drive and I drive very slow, not or at the limit, Speaker 2 (10:39) out on Speaker 1 (10:40) speed. And as we were driving, listening to music and just talking, we both at the same time just said, like, what the heck? We're here. Like, no, there's no way we're here. And I always use the cruise control. We got there in an hour. Speaker 1 (10:59) in an hour and minutes. So we shaved off over an hour of time getting there. Speaker 2 (11:05) Do you think somehow you were placed further along the route? You didn't realize it. And that was to save you from another accident, possibly? Speaker 1 (11:14) Maybe. I will tell you this, that three months ago, I now live in Houston, Texas, and the traffic here is just insane. I was going to a dinner with some friends. Got out of the house, you know, left my house. I was going to get on the freeway. And I just had this nudge, get off of the freeway. Just get off of the freeway. I did. I exited out. And I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to go home. Went home. Later that evening, major freeway accident involving an 18-wheeler. Seven car pile. I Speaker 2 (11:48) hear that stuff all the time. It's something else. Alara, that is an instant campfire classic. That is amazing. What an amazing story. Scary. A glimpse of what could have been. Now, you're okay now physically. You've recovered from your injuries. Oh, good. I Speaker 1 (12:05) mean, they flare up, of course, as they were going to be 100 % recovery. But, yeah. I mean, I'm back to doing everything that I used to do. Speaker 2 (12:12) Well, Alara, we're glad you're here. We're glad you're safe. And we're glad you came on the campfire to share this story. Thank you so much. Thank Speaker 1 (12:21) you, Speaker 2 (12:21) Tim. Stay spooky. Speaker 1 (12:23) Stay spooky. Thank you. Speaker 2 (12:26) Welcome to Jim Harreld's Campfire. This is a show where real people tell real stories of real paranormal circumstances. Could be a ghost, could be a cryptid creature, could be a head scratcher like that first story. That's a campfire classic for us today. Whatever they are, they are real from real people sharing their strange experiences. Welcome to the program. We've been doing it for 17 years now. Speaker 2 (12:54) Same show, unvarnished, real experiences. And if you've been listening for a while and you say, boy, I really like that show. I wish I could get that back catalog. Here's an easy way to do it. The Plus Club, jimherald.com slash plus jimherald.com slash plus. And I can say truthfully, we've not raised the price. since 2011 when we first started. And I can also say truthfully, the vast majority of people I talk to love the Plus Club. I always ask them, how's it working out for you? And they say, great, I love it. And you'll love it too. So please, and we've got some great money saving coupon codes and different offers that you can take advantage of. Check it out and it supports what we do and it makes the campfire possible. jimherald.com slash plus jimherald.com slash plus. And with that, we'll not delay any longer and we'll get back to more great campfire stories. He's been on the show before. He's back. I'm talking about Nick from O-H. I-O. There you go. Ohio. Nick is here. And he has a really kind of cool story. And I guess, well, I'll let him tell it and then I'll give my thoughts on it. But it's a good one. It's a good one. Nick, welcome back to the show. And you said when you thought about this story, you thought it would be perfect for the campfire. And I agree. Tell us what happened. Speaker 8 (14:20) All right. Well, first of all, glad to be back. This story is an old family story, and my mom loves to tell it, and it's great. So this is a story that happened to my mom's dad, so Grandpa Otto. And he was born in... 21, right? I have to think about that. Yeah, 21. And he was raised in Columbus, Ohio. Grew up in Columbus, Ohio. And as a young man, I think he was just trying to get by. Took a lot of odd jobs. And one of those odd jobs he took was a grave digger at the nearby cemetery. Speaker 8 (15:05) I think my mom and I were discussing this the other day. This had to take place in 1939 to 1941, probably before he went off to World War II. Speaker 8 (15:19) So at the time, like I said, young man, and for whatever reason, he was living with his Aunt Kate for whatever reason. He wasn't living at home anymore. My mom likes to think that he got sent off there to a room with Aunt Kate to straighten him up because she was really strict or whatever. And so anyhow, the story goes that he was finishing up his shift of digging graves. Speaker 8 (15:50) On the way out of the cemetery, he proceeds to walk by a new burial. And as anybody who's been to a cemetery knows, where there's a new burial, sometimes people will heap a bunch of flowers right on top of the new grave. Speaker 8 (16:09) He didn't think anything of it. He thought, I'll bring home Aunt Kate a bundle of flowers. Speaker 2 (16:15) And he picked Speaker 8 (16:16) up a nice one. Right. He picks up a nice one and is just walking out of the cemetery. He gets to his truck and hops in. Truck won't start. Speaker 8 (16:29) Okay. Truck won't start. I don't think he thought anything of it. I mean, it was circa 1940 after all. I don't think our cars were the most reliable. So it wasn't very far to get to home. So he walks home, flowers in his hand. And so I guess he walks in the door and. Speaker 8 (16:58) Kicks his shoes off and walks in the kitchen. Aunt Kate's there. And before he can open his mouth, she looks at him with a scowl and goes, what are you doing with those flowers? And Grandpa Ott is like, I brought them for you. And she said, you take those back where you found them. Take them back to that cemetery. Bring your truck home. Speaker 8 (17:32) Okay. See, he didn't tell her the truck wouldn't start. How does she know that? I don't know. I like to think she could just sense a disturbance in the forest when he walked in. There was some cloud around him or something. And he thought, okay. Speaker 8 (17:54) She seemed pretty upset. So on the way back, I guess he had plenty of time to think about it and probably freaked himself out. And as he approached the cemetery, he just took that bouquet of flowers and just threw it over the wall, the fence, and got in his truck, started right up, and he went straight home. Speaker 2 (18:13) Yeah. Speaker 2 (18:16) That's funny. I thought it was your grandma, but it was your aunt. It was your aunt. I got to tell you, what a great story. And I mean, yeah, you might be able to explain away, but I don't think so. I think that maybe something was saying, hey, those aren't your flowers and you're going to have to walk. Speaker 8 (18:36) Yeah, he's gonna have Speaker 2 (18:37) to Speaker 8 (18:37) learn it one way or another. And he did. So there's a small addendum to the story. It's kind of funny, too. So years later, decades later, the whole family's at someone's funeral. Speaker 8 (18:55) My mom was telling me that it was wintertime and they were at the graveside. And once again, it's their family. And there's this bundle of flowers. I mean, a bunch of flowers there on the on the grave. And, you know, typically a lot of times people will just take them home with them. I mean, it's. Yeah. Speaker 2 (19:13) Yeah. I mean, it's Speaker 8 (19:14) their Speaker 2 (19:14) family. That's a whole different story. Yeah. Speaker 8 (19:16) Yeah. And so. Speaker 8 (19:19) They're all standing around going, well, it'd be a shame to let these flowers all go to waste. It's pretty cold out here. They're not going to last. And someone says to Grandpa Otto, hey, Dad, do you want to take some of these home? He's like, oh, I don't want those. Get those away from me. I'm not taking those. So that stuck with him a long time later. Oh, Speaker 2 (19:40) that's good. The largest lesson. Speaker 8 (19:42) Yeah. Speaker 2 (19:42) Oh, that's good. That's a great story. I love family stories. And when I give, I do library talks. I'm going to be doing some of these this fall too that we're about ready to announce. And when I said that, like my closing slide is, you know, I'd love it if you listen to the podcast. I love it if you come up and buy a book or whatever. That's great. But one thing, if you don't get anything else from this, tell your stories, whether it's you come on my campfire show or more of a show or more importantly, tell your stories to your family. whether they're supernatural stories or just cool things that happen, because I have umpteen stories that my mom and my dad told me, and my mom's passed, unfortunately. And those stories, many of them would have died without her, but now I've told them to my kids, and I hope that they carry them on, kind of like you're doing with the family. I think it's so important to share that oral tradition. And a lot of those stories, they die with the people when they die. Speaker 2 (20:38) I think it's great that you're keeping the story alive. And it's a great story with a moral. Don't steal flowers from a graveyard. Grandpa Otto found out all about that. That's a great story, Nick. Thank you for your support. Thank you for being on the show and sharing this great story. Speaker 8 (20:53) Stay spooky. Thanks for being here. Stay spooky, Jim. Speaker 2 (20:56) Well, one of our favorite people, she's over in the virtual campfire group, virtualcampfiregroup.com, and she's just got a great spirit about her, so much fun, and has great stories, too. She's been on the show lately. Marcia joins us from Tennessee, and she has a workplace story, which are some of my favorites. So, Marcia, thank you for joining us again and tell