To the editor:

This afternoon (Sunday) my wife and I had a serious accident at the corner of New Meadow and County Roads. We were attempting to turn right from New Meadow onto County. A woman coming from the direction of Warren had paused her car to allow a driver who had just crossed the Barrington River bridge to make a left turn on New Meadow. That driver, in his zeal, had accelerated too quickly and cut the corner too severely. Result: head-on collision with our car.

We were appropriately seat-belted and our airbags deployed as advertised. The end result was that my wife and I were able to hastily exit our car with the smoke of the airbag detonation still in our senses. The front end of our car was demolished, even with such a low speed collision. In the ensuing chaos, we discovered that right behind us in a box-truck labeled “J’s Junk Removal of Bristol, RI” were two men who stepped right up and did the right thing. 

First they called 911. Then they wanted to know what shape we were in. I was okay, but my wife was a little shook up and starting to feel back, neck, and rib pain. While I dealt with the other driver exchanging insurance information, removed from our car what we needed, and also dealt with the police, fire and rescue people, these two guys from “J’s Junk Removal” were a pair of rocks. One of them kept dealing with the traffic build-up and the other keep a reassuring arm around my wife’s shoulder as I dealt with the administrative side of the problem.

The presence of mind in this crisis by these two exemplary men from J’s Junk Removal reminded us of those whom we served in the military who had that great gift of keeping their heads and remaining the calmest people in the room despite the unexpected trauma in their midst.

Thank you gentlemen from J’s Junk Removal, and thank you Barrington Police, Fire and Rescue.

Brian Power, Lt. Col. USMCR, Ret.

Kathryn Power, Capt. USNR, Ret.

Barrington