Tiffany Brown
Staff writer
The Pepperdine community celebrated the safe return of five of its own Saturday. Students Mariam Bain, Jennifer Bolden, Jessica Eisenreich, Maya Minwary and Jaeyoon Um returned safely to campus following a potentially fatal car accident Friday evening.
On the afternoon of Sept. 17, the five friends got into the car of driver Jessica Eisenreich and headed toward Frazier Park (near Santa Clarita), the location of the Campus Ministry Fall Retreat. About 8:15 p.m., Eisenreich said she was switching lanes to exit Interstate 5 when a tractor-trailer nicked the back of her car, sending the vehicle into a rapid tailspin.
As the semi jackknifed in the middle of the freeway, Eisenreich and her four companions careened into an embankment next to the exit. The car hit a pole and rolled three times before coming to a rest in a grassy ditch.
“I was asleep until I heard the truck hit us,” said Minwary, a senior. “When I came to, I realized we were coming toward a pole and we hit the divider and started rolling. I just kept thinking God, God, God — that was all that was running through my head. It was one of the scariest moments of my life, but I had a peace in my heart, knowing that whatever happened I would be taken care of.”
All five women were able to pull themselves free from the wreckage. Although four of the girls were virtually unharmed, Minwary, who was asleep at the moment of impact, suffered multiple lacerations to her face and head. Two pastors and a nurse pulled over to help and tended to Minwary’s wounds during the 15 to 20 minute wait for the ambulance.
At the site of the retreat in Frazier Park, word of the accident spread among the 175 attendees, sending students and staff alike into a panic.
According to Minwary, the California Highway Patrol officers on the scene marveled that the girls survived the incident.
Campus minister and co-coordinator of the retreat Scott Lambert arrived quickly to the accident site.
“There was a feeling of thanksgiving when news relayed that the girls were OK,” Lambert said. “We were all terribly worried when we heard what had happened; it was an extremely serious crash.”
The students were taken via ambulance to nearby Henry Mayo Clinic, a hospital in Valencia, for further examination. While the other four girls were checked out of the hospital by 2 a.m. Saturday, doctors kept Minwary in the emergency room for additional surveillance. She was released later that morning.
During the wait at the hospital, concerned students, friends and family members flooded the small waiting room.
“I think the hospital security staff was getting annoyed because there were so many of us,” Lambert said. “But everybody wanted to be there with the girls during their time of need. We’re all just thankful they survived.”
Minwary said the experience had only made her grow in her spirituality.
“It really has strengthened my faith,” Minwary said. “I honestly think God was there and he took care of us. I don’t understand all reasons behind what happen to us, but I know he was there with us. In a word, it was nothing short of miraculous.”
09-23-2004