Original source: http://www.glynn.k12.ga.us/~pwilliam/juniorproject/durham/janinem7470/home.html
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| The interviewee was my mother, Mrs. Peggy Gilliard, who was reluctant to do the interview at first. As I kept asking questions about the event, she came around. The event occurred in 1972, when a boat hit the Sidney Lanier Bridge called the African Neptune and the bridge collapsed. The accident took place on November 7, 1972 around 9:50 p.m. The African Neptune was supposedly off course because it missed the span by 300 to 400 feet. Immediately about12 to maybe 15 cars were sent in the ocean at once. The New York Times reported on Nov.8, 1972 that one person was killed and eight were missing. Later according to the Savannah Morning News on Nov.9, 1972, the death toll reached 15. W. Lance Smith III, of the Smith & Portman law firm located in Savannah, Georgia told The Brunswick News on Nov.9, 1792, "there was no indication of a mechanical malfunction." The investigators decided to investigate more before they could come up with a just cause. The people of Brunswick were worried and terrified about the thought of a new Sidney Lanier to cross. My mother felt the same way at first about crossing another bridge. |
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This event had an impact emotionally and mentally on my mom and many others. She was around 13 years old and in the seventh grade. According to her, she was home with her family asleep in bed at the time the accident occurred. When she awoke the next morning she was alarmed to find out that a boat had hit the bridge. She recalls going to school to hear? That the aunt of one of her classmates had died that night in the accident. Her aunt was one of the people who had fallen from the bridge and she didn't make it out. My mother remembered telling the girl she was very sorry for her loss and gave her a hug. At the time my mother was sad and she really didn't understand what had happened or why. When she first heard about it, her immediate reaction was shock and disbelief because Brunswick was so small. She thought, "Anywhere but here! Her reaction now when looking back is that some people might be still afraid to cross any bridge and especially the new one being built. She still thinks it will never be safe no matter how high they build it because anything could happen. Her perspective has changed greatly because now she knows the new bridge will be built higher than the old one was which is a little more secure. She has gotten older, and she sees now more clearly and says that "anything built by man can come down, but if its built by God it can stand forever." because she was in the seventh grade and only 13 years old, the bridge accident didn't actually affect her life directly. She just felt emotional and sympathetic towards others whose families were harmed because she knows it could have been hers. Her life didn't change much, and she still did the normal activities a 13 year old did. She had no real fear in crossing over the bridge again, it's just that she and many others chose not to .Her advice for others who may have to cope with a crisis or event such as this one is to" Trust in God and live one day at a time". "If it's a car, plane, or train you will never know tomorrow isn't promised."
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Photo available at http://www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/preconstruction/bridgedesign/sidney/index.html |
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