Saw a possibly traumatic incident

[ringo-no-ki]

I'm not traditionally considered a mother, the two girls im going to mention are my little sisters but I had a complicated family situation and I've been a second mother to them since they were born, spent everyday caring for them and basically raising them so I feel like they're my own kids. Anyway, today there was a terrible hit and run on the corner of our street. A homeless man that we're familiar with, who often stayed over at our neighbor's house was crossing the street when a car came speeding through the intersection and hit the man then didn't stop, and ran over him again with their back tires before speeding off. The homeless man was taken to intensive care, and it's a terrible thing to hear about let alone witness but as luck would have it my nine and seven year old sisters witnessed it while we were walking home from the supermarket. Now my question is, how traumatic will this be for them? What should I do? Should I dicuss it with them? I talked with them after it happened and my nine year old seemed fine, went to a birthday party right after in fact. The seven year old was a little more shaken but she also seemed ok after the incident. I just don't want them to be scared or sufferring when there is something I can do to help.....if I can.  

[Miss_XxAriaxX]

Not every kid react the same. You can guess if they are traumatized or not.
Like, is their behavior changed etc... If you notice some change, just talk with them.

Like I knew someone that found his dad dead... but he was not traumatized...  

[I Love Bad Puns]

If you want a perspective from someone who has also witnessed an event that could be deemed traumatizing, I have a story of my own. Back when I was little, about 7 or 8, my mom used to be married to this scumbag who isn't fit to be called a man. Time and time again I would be woken by their fighting, not arguing. Physical fighting. It terrified me. I wouldn't leave my room, but my mom just assumed I didn't leave because I was shy around people. (Sometimes her friends came over.) There were a couple of times that I did manage to come out of my room while they were fighting. My mom told me about a night that he had hit her so hard she passed out, and I had seen it. She said when she woke up, I was crying over her. Though I can't remember anything about that night. I can't remember much at all when she lived with that man. I just remember the sound of their fighting. Perhaps my brain wanted to shut it out completely. Either way, now I find it hard to sleep at night as well. Perhaps it's because part of me is still expecting to hear that terrible sound of a fight going on.

So you may want to keep an extremely close eye on your sisters. Try to notice even the small changes in behavior. Ask them about it when you see it.  

[ringo-no-ki]

Thank you all for your advice. I've been watching them closely over the weekend and took them to alot of events and they seem to be perfectly fine. I'm going to continue to keep an eye out just to be safe. I saw a similar thing when I was around 5, and witnessed my friend be ran over by a truck. The memory is partially blocked, my own brain doing its protection thing, but I was worried since they were older than I was it would affect them more. Thankfully they seem to be alright  

[Aquatic_blue]

Sometimes those who have seen a traumatic event sometimes can hide it well. Although, in people there are behaviors that are more evident than others.

Traumatic events like that are scary. My sister saw something incredibly similar at one point where she was older, but still disturbed by it. Some people got in an argument and one was driving, the other walking. When the other was crossing the street, the person in the car ran over them intentionally and sped off. My sister had to call it in and said it was so hard to see because the person didn't know what hit them because their brain function was dwindling dramatically and they didn't know what was going on. I was afraid she was affected by that and just doesn't say anything about it and keeps it silent and I worry about it, but hope she'll be alright.

Perhaps it would be a good thing to also stay up one night while the kids are all sleeping and see if they often have nightmares about the incident or have night frights about it if you haven't done that already because if you sleep when the children do - this one may go unnoticed. If they are excessively tired because they can't sleep due to nightmares then it could be an indicator. If a person seems to be in la-la land a lot of points in the day, it could possibly be a flashback to the event.

Anxiety like symptoms are also common like having a stomach ache, dizziness, and light headedness if they see a similar car or perhaps see on tv someone get hit by a car in a movie trailer or a show.

Talking about it isn't going to do any good whether they are traumatized or not since the brain can block it out to protect itself and to ignore the pain of that event.

Being edgy can be a symptom - like sweating, being jumpy, etc. because they feel that they can't let their guard down.

Symptoms of being traumatized by an event can form way later than when the actual event happen so it's always good to be aware of such symptoms and if you notice it to seek help. Although, I hope that the kids continue to be alright smile