“When he got home and said to me, ‘I was sitting in your spot’, that’s when I lost it,” recalls Danielle Caillier. “It was like 10 minutes; he left here at 1109 and I called 9-1-1 at 11:20.”
Just over 10 crucial minutes near Highway 31 in Breaux Bridge; 10 minutes that made the difference between damage and tragedy for Danielle and Kelly Caillier.
“And I woke up to a loud ‘bang’, and I saw my bedroom door come off the hinges and fly through my bedroom, when I got up I realized… that a truck was in my house,” she continues.
Let’s give you some perspective on just what happened Monday morning. A pickup truck traveling on Highway-31 between Breaux Bridge and Parks, veered off the highway for some reason, and headed across two fields, essentially making a beeline for the Caillier’s home. The truck somehow jumped a ditch, obliterated the Caillier’s mail box, blasted through the front door and wall of the home, went through another wall, and then stopped---only feet from the bedroom in which Danielle was sleeping.
Danielle heard the ‘bang’, the sound of the collision, but was uninjured and called 9-1-1. “The operator’s like, ‘Ma’am, take a deep breath.’ I said, ‘You don’t understand; I have to find my husband.”
She climbed out the window and was quickly blessed…b lessed to see that Kelly was no longer sitting in her spot. He had gone to run an errand just minutes before the crash. “So, God saved both of us. I was laying in the bed, I was not touched.”
The investigation is ongoing, but the driver of the truck was alert when Danielle reached him. “He was alert, and he just moved the airbag and said, ‘I’m sorry’ twice.”
And now comes the follow-up: decisions on the next steps to take. The family’s 13-year old dog died in the crash --- there’s a bigger picture perspective. And realization that in 10 minutes, something happened to ensure that the Cailliers’ lives… go on.
“I truly believe it’s a miracle. This could be a lot worse,” says Danielle. “The driver didn’t seem very hurt. We aren’t hurt. It’s just a house.”
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