180° LIFE FLIP EXPERIENCE

By Aunee Azam

I fidgeted impatiently in a queue at the gate of the departure hall on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I dialed Mom to update her of my current location as the PA system echoed out last calls. The line inched slowly as the staffs scanned passports and boarding passes. Minutes later, I found myself sandwiched between passengers searching for their seats, and those blocking the aisle storing their belongings in the overhead compartment. When everyone finally settled down and buckled up, an announcement aired. The lead stewardess read out the safety guidelines while a few cabin crews demonstrated the usage of vests, masks, and other emergency equipment and pointing out emergency exits. I barely paid attention though, eyes fixed on my latest Ricky Riordan novel instead.  

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain Arif speaking, please be seated and buckle up your seat belts, as flight MH1741 is about to take off. Our flight to Paris will take 16 hours and 25 minutes. The weather en route is expected to be quite clear with minor thunderstorms as we approach the European continent but otherwise it’s a fairly good forecast. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy your flight. Thank you.” announced the pilot.

As the plane started to ascend, I glanced around the cabin. Some passengers were having a tete-a-tete, some were enjoying the picturesque view of the ground below the clouds, while others were searching for in-flight movies. I took one last look at my hometown, now a mere Lego-sized juxtaposition of blocks and slowly drifted off to a sound slumber. I was awoken abruptly by a violent shaking due to turbulence. Just then, the co-pilot’s calm voice aired through the plane.

    “Ladies and gentlemen, please refrain from using the lavatories for now and return to your seats. We are experiencing an unexpected turbulence. Please remain seated and fasten your seat belts. Thank you.”

A few stewardesses went around making sure we fasten our seat belts while assuring the passengers that the situation was completely under control. I peered outside the window and saw massive dark cumulonimbus eerily engulfing the plane. My heart did a sudden somersault...I had a bad premonition about this, but I tried to reassure myself. It’s going to be fine, the pilot sounded calm and experienced, he must’ve gone through many similar instances. But these darn butterflies in my stomach just won’t go away...  

    Out of the blue, a massive clad boomed through the cabin followed by ear piercing shrieks and screams. The plane was literally nose-diving! Wait, what?!! The quiet scene earlier turned into a chaotic havoc. Cries of panic broke out. Everyone was hugging their loved ones or clutching onto their seats or simply praying as bags flew out of the overhead compartments. The lady beside me prayed out loud with tears streaming down her cheeks. Suddenly, the oxygen masks dropped out from above and that induced further panic as everyone started reciting what we thought would be our last prayers. Waves of tumultuous agitations preceded a tremendous bang and then, total darkness and deafening silence. A heavy impact hugged my body with stealth. My consciousness faded away, I swore my life flashed before me... then, everything went pitch black. 

    After what seemed to be an eternity, I came to. I could not feel my limbs. I opened my eyes and saw white. Just white, everywhere, blanketing my body and all around me. Am I…umm.., dead?? I winced hard, trying to make sense of the freezing cold as numbness crept in. I squeezed every ounce of strength humanly possible to force myself up.  My eyes were definitely not prepared for the terrifying sight unfolding before me. Absolute massacre. Bloodied cadavers and debris scattered everywhere. Some corpses were burnt to crisps. To say the scene was nauseating is an absolute understatement!

We crashed, I muttered under my breath. Mind racing trying to put pieces of events together. How did I survive this hellish crash though? What happened? Where are other survivors? Where am I? My mind has gone haywire. I frantically screamed on top of my lungs, alas, nothing came out. I tried to stand up but the pain in my legs was excruciating. After a few mighty attempts, I managed to crawl pathetically around the crash site. My eyes erratically scanning for other survivors. There was no sign of life.  

    “Mayday! Mayday! Control tower we’re losing altitude! The left engine…….” were the pilot’s last words before all hell broke loose.

    For a moment, I lost all hopes for any rescue, as I looked out to the vast plain of snow. Could the search and rescue team track the plane? Was there a SAR unit for this plane to begin with? Apparently, we crashed landed somewhere in the mountains. Which mountains? Where? What do I do now? How? A trail of questions buzzing in my head as I curled up unconsciously into fetal position trying to retain heat in my body. I then passed out. Again.

I vaguely recalled staring into a glaring light and hearing a deafening whirring of a helicopter and some voices.

    “There’s someone there!” someone shouted. 

    “Hurry up and bring the stretcher along” said another.

   I gasped for air and let out a scream. My heart skipped a beat when I heard a familiar soothing voice gently calling my name and felt a soft squeeze on my arm. Mom? The soothing light floral fragrance of her favorite perfume and warmth of her body enveloping me in a hug was heavenly. If this is a dream, then I would not want to wake from it. But she called me again, this time more firmly, to snap me out of the daze. 

“Mom, it’s really you?!” I exclaimed, euphoric beyond belief. 

   

   She calmed me down, told me to breathe deeply and started to recount the narrative of my rescue. I looked up to see relieved faces of Dad, my siblings and grandparents. Just then, a doctor came in to check on my vitals. He told me how lucky I was to have survived, first from the crash then to endure the blizzard afterwards. I stayed a few more days warded to recover from a broken right hip bone and left femur, a fractured ankle, hypothermia effects, frost bites and dehydration. Truth be told, these injuries seemed minuscule compared to how I felt beyond grateful to be alive and reunited with my family. 

   My perspective on life took a 180-degree flip as I move forward after the ordeal. Reminding myself constantly of my luck, how I was given a second chance in life thus should not take things for granted. To always be thankful, be grateful, be content...to embrace the positives and focus solely on important matters, not fret over menial stuff. To be mindful...to forgive more, to smile more, to give more... To appreciate little things in life, to always stop and smell the roses. The experience was a life lesson 101, no lecture no classroom no institution could ever deliver. Instigating my inner conscience to never regret a day in my life…as good days give me happiness, and bad days give me experience. I can’t go back to change the beginning, but I can definitely start where I’m at, right at this moment in time, to change the ending. I can become a better version of me, due to this horrific accident. It’s a wake-up call from God.

Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not of your past misfortunes, which all men have some.