I am still shaken up over this

I personally think, that sometimes, when we "NEED" to be---our adrenaline kicks in and helps us get through these kinds of things! A similar thing happened to me--but, it was an older person slid into a ditch with their car---and I felt so bad---I started to shake when I saw it--but, pulled over and helped her get herself out of the ditch, called a tow truck, had her in my car to keep warm, etc.....I was calm and cool the whole time---but, afterwards----I was very shaken (literally---my body was shaking for a while)!

I don't have any advice for you---except maybe practice breathing exercises to get you through the 'shakes' if you get them---breathing helped me get through mine! Good job though-----:)

Laurel

Crying -
Years ago when I worked in a hospital the call came in that they would be bringing an older woman in who had been in a roll over once they extricated her. That took 45 minutes, after which she said her 8-year-old granddaughter was in the vehicle with her. She ended up being pinned down by the floor board so none of the EMS had seen her and the woman hadn't said anything (she didn't see her and thought she had been removed from the vehicle before her). They brought them in and I watched as they were trying to revive the young girl. The doctor was calm and calling out his orders, the nurse doing CPR was crying, all was a flurry in the ER.

At the time I felt calm, I cried a bit when they pronounced her deceased but felt numb. It was on my drive home when I came upon the scene at 3 a.m. (they were still cleaning it up and had detoured the traffic), once I made the turn to detour I had to pull over and broke down.

At the hospital they had the chaplain on hand for several days afterwards. The first and foremost was for the family and after that it was for those who had been involved. My point is that something like this impacts everyone involved, and you were involved once you left your vehicle to help this woman....your response is COMPLETELY NORMAL. Just talking about it will help you immensely. It makes you face your own fears and mortality. In my opinion, you seeing the car seat in HERr vehicle made you connect because you had your child in YOUR vehicle. Please know that your response is normal and your mind will process it in its own way.

Hey it sounds like you were amazing, congratulations for being such a helping and supportive person despite your anxiety.  i had a car accident myself just two weeks ago and (thank goodness it wasn't serious) I was completely numb for days...it tirns out i was in shock but I couldn't feel anything.  I think our brian just takes over and protects us when we have to do incredible things.

Keep smothering that family in kisses and pat yourself on the back, you did a wonderful thing, especially considering your past trauma. Kudos to you