Child Hit by Truck

Swami Bhaktivedanta Sajjan.

Now allow me to tell a true story that happened some 10 years ago in South Africa. The father and the daughter who experienced this event told this story to my friend, a sannyasi and devotee of Lord Nrsimhadev. This stories was also found in the newspapers, and several witnesses of this truck-accident after this incident became devotees of Lord Nrsimhadev. This happened to a simple Vaishnava family that lives there. They had back then a 5 years old daughter. This girl was a great "fan of Nrsimhadev." She found Him simply funny, as He looked half-lion half-man and she felt very attracted to Him. She often told her playmates about her favorite God, a lion, and the kids always wondered about what kind of God this could be--a lion.

What can a five year old girl know about God? She wasn't initiated, not even her parents, as far as I can remember. The father of the family followed a guru and surely later accepted initiation. But there was a small Hindu-community they were in close touch with.

So, one day the girl was playing outside with her ball together with other kids, beside the street. The ball, how else could it be, fell on the street, and the girl ran after her precious ball. There was nearly no traffic, a rarely used country road. But this time a very fast truck came running down the road. The girl in her play didn't see the truck coming.

The father was in the first floor of the house and saw his baby girl running on the street. But he also saw the huge truck coming down, closer to his daughter with huge speed. The father yelled at her, but she didn't hear him. So he jumped out of the window of this first floor to save his daughter, and broke both his legs, when coming down, and remained laying on the ground in pain.

He had to watch how his little girl was hit by the truck and thrown through the air, some 20meter away. All children and neighbors around who observed this froze the blood. The father later said his only desire when he saw this was to die.

From the other direction came a police car that also witnessed the accident. The truck went on and the policeman stopped his car across the street to stop him. The truck-driver hardly stopped his truck and he seemed to be very drunk.The policeman immediately called the ambulance and ran over to the motionless laying girl in the grass.The closest hospital was a small private clinic. The ambulance came, but refused to take the girl, being afraid they wouldn't have the necessary devices and machines to help the injuries the girl must have. They advised the policeman to call the main hospital, as only they could efficiently help her, as her spine must be broken, etc. The policeman was in despair, not even knowing where the father of the girl was. Actually he didn't even know if the girl was still alive, as he didn't dare to touch her, not knowing how injured she was. However, in the end she was brought to a right hospital, the policeman accompanied the girl, and also finally the father was there.

The chief-doctor heard then what happened to the girl, and they immediately x-rayed her to see first results. The policeman wanted to rest assured how the girl was doing, and waited there to see the results. Everybody was shocked to hear what terrific accident had happened to the girl.

So the nurse brought the x-ray pictures to the doctor, who became very upset and started yelling at the nurse she should for-God's-sake bring the right pictures, things were about death and life! He threatened to fire her, as it was unacceptable to make such mistakes. The nurse was scared and didn't understand what was happening. Those were the pictures of the five year old girl that was hit by the truck. The nurse wasn't aware yet of what had happened to the girl.The doc said this cannot be, for on the x-ray there was not a single broken bone. So, the doc all the time again and again repeated "Impossible! It can't be."

Then suddenly the girl awoke from her faint and then told a story at full consciousness, which made its tour through the media.

In the moment she picked up the ball from the street, she saw the truck coming up to her. The only thing she could do was to yell out for help. She didn't call for mommy or daddy, but for her Nrsimhadev. In this moment when the truck should hit her, she suddenly saw how Nrisimhadev picked her up from the ground, smiled at her, and said, "Don't be afraid, nothing will happen to you." The girl continued her story that the Lord had put her on the other side of the street into the grass. But when putting her down, He accidentally scratched her waist, which still hurt her a bit.

She spoke about how beautiful Nrsimhadev was, His hair, His eyes, etc. But his claws were very sharp, He should cut the nails. He wore a golden dhotie, etc. The doctor didn't understand anything and told the policeman she still was in shock and hallucinated, which is normal.

So, the girl was profoundly checked for any injuries, but the only injury they found on her body were those scratches and the doctor said this must be from a wild animal like a lion, as he had cases like this before. So, he was disturbed and asked if they had brought the girl to hospital, as this one was inured by a wild animal, not a truck. Nobody was clear about what had happened. The same doctor and the nurse who took care of her later became devotees, as they later learned from the parent who "that lion" was.

As we can see miracles still today happen. Not only in Mahabharata, Puranas or shastras that are more than thousands of years old. The little girl was very attracted to this form of God, and in her despair she called Him for help. Lord Nrsimhadev did not look if she was initiated and have the right to call His name. He protects His devotees that sincerely worship Him in their hearts.

I am sure this litte girl was no common soul. Who knows what she did in her previous life? The sannyasi heard that she very much liked to eat sweets, and prepared a big plate full of sweets for her to rest assured she will not be able to eat it all up. He gave her the mounted plate of sweets, she took some of the sweets and ran out playing with her friends.

As soon as she was gone from the room, the sannyasi went over to that plate and took the rest, as for him, this was the best maha-prasad available! Who last time has met Lord Nrsimhadev? Narada Muni maybe?? The girl for sure, and she must be a great soul.

                            Jai Nrsimhadev! Hari bol--Shyam Gopal prabhu ! Jaya Srila Gurudeva "!