A Woman of Warning and Comfort

Witness: Danielle
Location: GVSU, Allendale, Michigan
Date of Encounter: February 15-22, 2002

Last year, I was up at school at Grand Valley State University, near Grand Rapids. Just about every night, my roommate, the two girls that lived across the hall at the dorm, and I went to 7-11, for lack of anything better to do, and our insatiable desire for Slurpees.

One night, about the 15th of February we were on our way back to our rooms around 1:00 AM or so. I was driving down Philmore — this dangerously curvy country road that leads to the university, when I saw a woman standing in the road. I hit the breaks, and as I slowed down I didn’t see the woman anymore. I looked around, and as I started accelerating, I looked through the back window over my right shoulder. On the side of the road, I saw a woman in with dark hair, and a long light colored dress or nightgown. She was looking at me and pointing towards us. I looked at my roommate who was in the passenger seat and said her name, before I felt foolish and was like, “Never mind.”

When we got back to our rooms, I told the other three about it. My roommate seemed to believe me, but other girls thought I was seeing things.

Later that night, while we were going to sleep, I was laying in my bed looking out the window. Our beds were in an L-shape, with the head of mine over the head of hers, and mine was right in front of the window. Behind our building was a sidewalk, some trees, and then a rail before a drop-off where it was all woods. Not many people went back there, especially at night — besides the smokers, who stood by the door, where I couldn’t have seen them.

As I looked down out the window I began to fall asleep. I felt a funny feeling and opened my eyes and looked down. There, by a tree was “The Woman.” She was standing there, looking just as she had on the road, staring and pointing directly at me.

I screamed and jumped out of bed, into my roommates… before I could tell her about it, we both were unbelievable scared and ran across the hall, banged on the door. We both were crying, and half-laughing so hard that it took me a while to tell them what I saw. Needless to say, I think we spent the rest of the night in their room.

I called my mother and she told me that she thought that someone must be watching over me. And that I should try to talk to her. I tried a few times, but didn’t see her as clearly again.

On the afternoon of February 21 at about 2:30 PM I was on my way to work on Philmore and I lost control on a curve in the rain and was hit by an oncoming car. I remember hearing my own brakes, and then looking to my right where the oncoming traffic was. But instead I saw someone sitting next to me looking back at me. I heard, “It’ll be alright.” just before I don’t remember anything else.

When the ambulance came I was very upset and asked where my roommate was, because I was SURE that she had been in the passenger seat. They told me that no one else was there, and if they had been there would be no chance of them surviving. I insisted there was, but was repeatedly told no.

In the hospital I had many dreams of the woman, and the instant when I
heard the reassurance.

My car, a Mercury Topaz, was totaled. The frame was pushed off of the body, the trunk was practically non-existent, the passenger door was ripped from it hinges and the entire car compacted. Mysteriously, the driver’s area, from the gear shift, to the steering wheel and seat were completely intact, with not a thing wrong with them beside what the jaws of life had done to get me out.

I suffered a lacerated spleen, lacerated kidney, punctured and collapsed lung, 5 severely broken ribs and other internal injuries, because my seatbelt had not held and I was tossed to the back. My parents were told I had a 22% chance of living and was touch and go for over a week. Today, everything has healed 100% and I have no lasting evidence of the accident besides pictures of my car, and a tiny scar from a breathing tube. The doctors said they had never seen such a recovery, by all rights, I should be dead.

But I believe “The Woman,” was warning me, then she comforted and protected me, and she is the reason I am still alive today. I have never seen her, or any other “spirits” or “ghosts,” what ever you want to call them, before or after this incident.