Grace At The Cemetery

I just came home from a really eventful night of rollerblading. 

Tonight, I led a group of ten people on an urban night skate from Bishan MRT station, through Lornie Road past MacRitchie Reservoir, Bukit Brown Cemetery, Botanic Gardens and finally, Orchard. 

I know what you're thinking. 

Bukit Brown Cemetery? 

At night?

ARE YOU CRAZY?!

Here's the thing. 

The shortest way from Lornie Road across PIE to Adam Road is a straight line. There is no connecting bridge and it would have been pretty dangerous for us to cross that way. The safest way to cross instead, would be through Bukit Brown Cemetery and a tunnel at Kheam Hock Road under the PIE. 

That's the real reason why I chose to go through the cemetery. 

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Anyway, I was feeling rather uneasy about it during the daytime. I woke up thinking about whether it was really a good idea to take this route tonight after all. I don't like cemeteries.

I checked out the route online and the roads seemed okay- not too rough, and definitely safer than jaywalking across the PIE. 

By the time evening had swung around, my apprehension gave way to excitement and anticipation of a wonderful night skate. 

But as we set off from Bishan MRT, I found my pounding heart seeking God's help. I prayed that God would watch over every single person in our group including myself, and that He would send his angels to guard and watch over us. I asked for protection and His presence to surround us, especially in a "dirty" place like the cemetery. Then, I felt His peace rest upon me. 

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The way up Lornie Road was tiring. 

E & JH, two new skaters that I'd never met until tonight, were having a hard time keeping up with us. I didn't realise that they were unseasoned skaters and that E didn't even know how to brake confidently.

Happily, I continued on my way and led them into Bukit Brown. 

As we were about to exit the cemetery through the tunnel at Kheam Hock Rd, we came to a long slope. It started out gentle, but by the time we were halfway down, we'd picked up enough speed to make any sort of small movement dangerous. Even T-braking caused instability and so it wasn't long before one of us tripped and rolled down the slope in a dramatic way. 

I was right behind WL when he fell, but I felt so calm when I saw the whole thing happen, that I didn't freak out. I simply moved aside as he was in my way and skated down without falling. 

As I braked to a stop, I turned around so that I could check up on WL who was lying on the road. I knew in my heart that he was okay. I saw the way he rolled and rolled metres from the spot where he slid. 

It was a good way to fall.

Low-impact.

What happened next however, was something that none of us saw coming. 

Literally.

I was facing the upslope, when out from nowhere, I saw E flying at top speed towards me. He was headed straight for me and he had his arms stretched out towards me. As he drew closer, I finally understood what he'd been screaming at us the whole time: "I CAN'T BRAKE! I CAN'T BRAKE!"

Casually, I simply took a small step to my left to avoid him. 

A few seconds later, there was a loud crash and a groan. 

E had hit a cement pole on the side of the road to break his fall and he lay on the grass with blood streaming down his face. 

Everybody was stunned and there was a flurry of activity as we all rushed to make sure that he was still conscious. H was E's friend and he was cradling E's head in his hands. At this point, E seemed a bit delirious and he couldn't even remember what happened to him. He kept asking us repeatedly what happened to him. We told him he hit a pole, but he would ask us the same question again a few seconds later. I sensed that E was in shock. Somebody called an ambulance and so we waited for it. 

In the meantime, E's right arm looked broken and it lay in an awkward position above his head. He said he couldn't feel it. 

I actually worried about whether E had enough insurance to cover the ambulance fees...... 

Occupational hazard. Sigh.

As we stood there watching H almost cry over his friend E, I couldn't help but ask God: "Why? Why did you let this happen? Didn't I ask you to keep us safe Lord? Was it because I didn't pray enough? Was it because I doubted?"

I just felt like this whole accident could have been avoided had I 

- not chosen to skate this route tonight

- been more conscious about E & JH's skating abilities

- not stepped aside when E was about to hit me

As all these thoughts swirled around in my head, I suddenly realised a few things. 

Firstly, I felt so calm. I can't explain it. It was as if I were watching a slow motion movie and I had enough time to react to everything that was going on. While H was freaking out over E, my head felt so clear. I was able to remember things that I read in my First Aid book whenever I was in the toilet. 

In that calm state of mind, I thought immediately to remove E's rollerblades. I told H not to move E's arms and to keep his body straight. We used wet wipes to clean his arms and legs so that the salt from his sweat would not agitate him later. H also finally calmed down enough to stop E's facial wound from bleeding further. 

As we stood around waiting for the ambulance to arrive, I realised something else. 

Had WL not fallen earlier, most of us would not have slowed down and kept to the side of the road. We would not have been facing the upslope and therefore been unable to see E coming down at top speed. We could all have gotten into a terrible scrape involving more than just three casualties (JH fell too but sustained only superficial wounds, thank God!!!). 

I felt goosebumps when I realised all these things. 

I saw how close to death I came. 

I avoided not one, but two accidents and they were barely seconds apart. 

Nobody died. 

Somebody could have. 

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So did God answer my prayer or what?

I think He did. If not for His presence tonight, things could have been a lot worse. I felt, and still feel, that He's watching over me. Over us all. 

Despite my stubbornness in wanting to skate through a cemetery at night, God provided grace. Thank You Lord Jesus... Thank you...