Chapter 3: The Rescuer

Coming back to the site of the crash, was a feeling of defeat. Not only did we crash but I was unable to find help as well. As I approached the car, I saw B.N. still in the car, eyes closed with her head against the headrest.. I immediately ran towards her because I thought of the worst. B.N. wake up! B.N. answer me!!! Can you hear me? Luckily, she answered and mentioned that she was still in lots of pain. 

Even D.S. was still in lots of pain. Suddenly it occurred to me , that both of them could die and I’d be stuck here all alone in desert. I realized that we had to leave the car and start thinking about, how to get out of the desert. We then forced B.N. to get out of the car and started walking. I can’t she replied, I’m in lots of pain…at that moment D.S. start getting assertive and sort of yelled at B.N. ‘Get out of the car…now! We need to go!’

Suddenly we began walking out of the car. We took as much as we could, however a lot of our stuf shifted in the car due to the cars and therefore we couldn’t find the water bottles and one bag with clothes. We really had to move to the top of the dune, because otherwise no one will ever find us. Also the car was starting to make a lot of noice. As we were walking, B.N. was complaining about her pain and that she couldn’t climb the dune. T.D and I started pushing and pulling her a bit. We also motivated her by saying that she was doing well. Step by step, we reached the top of the dune. 

At that moment D.S. dropped down, mentioned that he was in lots of pain and needed to sit down. B.N. and I started calling for help. Because it was too windy at the top we walked slowly and B.N. was complaining about not being able to breathe normally. I think, it was because of the shock, but again…she did injure herself alot as well. My throat was getting really dry and I needee water. Also B.N. admitted she needed something to drink. But first priority was calling for help, but how will we do that, if we don’t think about ourselfs first? That’s the reason why in an aircraft they always say “Please put on your oxygen mask first, before assisting others”. 

As I continued to calm down, B.N and I agreed to call her colleague at work who knew about our trip to the desert. The phone rang, but the sound of the wind was overpowering. Luckily he answered the phone and I immediately told hime that we were in danger, we’d crashed and needed help right away.The first question was if we were ok, I respondend with ‘sort of’. B.N. is in lots of pain, but its bareable at this moment. Can you please send help I asked him. He didn’t know what to do either,so he suggested that he find out what to do and call us back. It occurred to me that it would take a long time for help to arrive. I mean no one really lives near the desert. B.N. repeated that she needed water and couldn’t take it anymore. Minutes later, we received a phone-call with instructions. ‘Daniel… you need to call the local police and tell them where you are, here is the number’. I was unable to memorize the number…and asked him to whatsapp it to me. 

Straight away I called the police, but their english wasn’t the best. It was a challenge..B.N. took over the phone as she could speak a little bit of Arabic. We were able to relay that we needed help and they told us that we needed to call a different department. They gave us the number but again I couldn’t memorize the number and the police officer was gettting a bit frustrated… ‘I can’t sir… wait…repeat please…. B.N.. can you say the number out loud…’

Finally, we reached the right department and explained everything. ‘We need help now..sir.. please! Come! My friends are in lots of pain’. I need help..’. They wanted our location to be sent via whatsapp and we did that right away. We got the confirmation that they got it. Suddenly I saw T.D walking down the dune, with a bag in his hand. I immideately walked towards him and saw the pain in his eyes. “D.S. im soo sorry…. Im really sorry.’ With tears in my eyes. He replied that he got the water bottles out of the car, because the car had stopped making that noise’

It was quite a relief and I insisted they start drinking as much water as possible. You guys need it, I just want a sip to hydrate my throat. As we stood there, we still couldn’t believe that this had happened. Suddenly we spotted a car in the far distance. I called the whatsapp number and asked if it was them. They asked if I could see the flashing car lights, I replied YES! I see it! I see it! ‘D.S and B.N., they are there! They found us.’

‘Sir, do you see us flashing the lights’, they asked again. Yes and I started waving desperately! But Sir… we cannot reach that point with our car.. It’s too windy and dangerous. The call was on loud speaker and at that moment I remember D.S. looking at me… tears in his eyes…it was like finding light in the tunnel, which suddenly went all dark again..