一場意外帶來的命運轉折

Renee Montagne （Host）： Time now for StoryCorps. Earlier this year， we aired a story about two families that came together after a car accident.

（Soundbite of Archived Broadcast）

Megiddeh Goldston： Raphael， you could easily be still in that hospital bed， angry， like， screaming at the world.

Raphael Hameed： Nah， we love； that’s how we roll.

Montagne： That story of forgiveness led to another StoryCorps interview. A listener named Jeff Wilson heard that conversation and was reminded of something that happened to him in high school in 1984. He was driving to school when the sun got in his eyes and he hit another student as she was crossing the street. Jeff shared his story in an online comment， and StoryCorps suggested they do an interview together. So Jeff and the woman he hit with his car 30 years ago， Tammie Baird， came to StoryCorps in San Francisco. They had exchanged e-mails， but this was the first time they’d seen each other since high school.

Jeff Wilson： I saw something fly over the 1）hood of my car. And then I saw you lying there， and I pulled over and， you know， got out， and you were unconscious. I was absolutely sure that I had killed you. And then for a few days after that I really did not want to live. I just felt like dirt. But I called to find out how you were， and I remember speaking with your dad. And he could’ve just been 2）irate and angry—and I was prepared for that because I felt that’s what I deserved—but I told him how sorry I was， and he said I know what you’re going through because I went through that same thing when he was about my age. He’d hit a child that had run into the street after a ball and got really hurt. He said that he forgave me， and I’m forever grateful for that.

Tammie Baird： I’m glad that that day he answered the phone because he was just so kind， and he didn’t hold 3）grudges. I’m surprised， honestly， he didn’t make you come over for dinner.

Wilson： No， I didn’t know you when I hit you.

Baird： Right.

Wilson： If I saw you， I’d be like， oh， God， that’s the person I hit. I don’t want to deal with this.

Baird： So did you think it was crazy when 20-something years later， out of the blue， I just send you this e-mail？

Wilson： Yeah. I opened it up， and the first thing you said is， you may have been the first person to hit me with your car， but you weren’t the last.

Baird： Yeah. I became a 4）stunt woman. And now what I’m known for in my industry is car hits. I just really felt like I had to let you know that.

Wilson： I’m so glad you did.

Baird： You know， people will say things like wow， you do car hits. How did you get so good at it？ Oh， well， this guy hit me my freshman year walking to school.

Wilson： The fact that you made something good out of it， it just amazes me. It really does. And it’s just kind of this beautiful 5）symmetry because I’m a 6）surgical technician and I do a lot of 7）orthopedic surgery， so I see a lot of people that come in from car accidents. And it gives me a great deal of satisfaction feeling like I’m helping people， I’m putting people back together.

Baird： That’s awesome.

Wilson： But I’m， you know， forever sorry.

Baird： But I hope now you won’t be.

Wilson： It’s 8）spectacular to be able to， to make this connection after so many years. It really 9）blows me away.（Soundbite of Music）

蕾妮·蒙塔（主持人）：又到了“故事團”的時間。今年早些時候，我們播出了一則因一場交通意外而讓兩個家庭走到一起的故事。

（存檔廣播片段）

瑪吉德·高德斯通：拉斐爾，你原本很可能仍躺在醫院的病床上生著氣，對著這世界尖叫。

拉斐爾·哈米德：不，結果我們相愛了；我們就是這樣的。

蒙塔：這則關于諒解的故事為我們引出了另外一個“故事團”的訪談。一位名為杰夫·威爾遜的聽眾聽到了這一對話，想起了他在1984年上高中的時候發生在自己身上的事情。當時他正開著車去學校，因陽光刺眼，他撞到了一位正在穿過馬路的女學生。杰夫把他的故事分享到了在線評論網上，“故事團”建議他們聚到一起做一次訪談。因此，杰夫和那個3 0年前被自己的車撞倒的女人，塔米·貝爾德，來到了舊金山的“故事團”。他們之前有通過電子郵件聯系，但這是他們自高中以來的第一次見面。

杰夫·威爾遜：當時我看到有什么東西從我汽車的引擎蓋上飛過。接著我見到你躺在那里，我靠邊停車，你知道的，接著下車，然后發現你已經不省人事。我當時十分肯定我已經撞死了你。在那之后的幾天，我簡直不想活了。我覺得自己是個混蛋。但當我致電你家想知道你的情況的時候，我記得和我通話的是你爸爸。他當時完全可以大動肝火——我做好了準備，因為我覺得那是我罪有應得——但當我告訴他我有多么自責和抱歉的時候，他說他明白我正在經歷什么，因為當他大約在我這個年紀的時候他也經歷了同樣的事情。……