Such A Tragedy

Life is so precious & unpredictable, & we have no way of knowing what or how events in life are going to impact us. I got an almost completely incoherent phone call tonight from a neighbor up the road. Something about a horse hit on the road & a foal being born, with an almost hysterical plea to get there fast. I threw on jeans & 1/2 dressed I hurried up the road, on the bumper of the first CHP responder. What a horrific scene, one that will long be burned into my mind.  Blood everywhere with a disemboweled mare laying in the road.  The collision with a truck had split a very pregnant mare, spilling her filly onto the road. My neighbors had grabbed the filly & got her to the side of the road, bundled in blankets.  Half a dozen people stood around, not knowing what to do, wondering what they could feed the filly.  A number of children were sitting on the side of the road, playing in the dirt, one asking questions about what he was seeing.  Flashing lights arriving, 1/2 dozen vehicles (including mine) blocking the road, the sound of a wench & chain.  It was a very surreal scene, somewhat like a slow motion horror movie.  A pretty chestnut filly with a star & some little white socks. Not quite ready to be born, but close enough that her knees felt good , her ears weren't floppy, & she had a suckle reflex. She struggled to get up so I sat with her, holding her sternal & keeping her warm.  Wishing there was more I could do, but at least she wasn't alone.  Wondering if I could take her home & try.  Wanting to cry because she was so fragile & deserved so much more.  Gradually, as I sat there in the night holding her, feeling the cold blood soak through my jeans, her respiration & pulse slowed. By the time a vet tech, called by AC, got there the poor little filly was no longer struggling & had lost her suckle reflex.  It was so very heartbreaking to watch her fade as AC & the tech whisked her away. I can only hope they pull the filly through, but wonder if she even made it to the vet hospital alive.  Such a tragedy that will long haunt my thoughts.