NEED TO KNOW
Anna Southerland got in a car crash on her way to her friend’s wedding rehearsalHer dress was destroyed in the accident, so she arrived at the event in her hospital gownShe shared the story in a TikTok and in a new interview
Not even a car crash could stop one California woman from being there for her friend’s wedding rehearsal.
“POV: you get into a car accident on the way to your (friend’s) rehearsal for her wedding. Your dress rips in the accident and you go to the hospital and you still show up to the rehearsal dinner in a hospital gown since you have no clothes.”
This is the experience of Anna Southerland, and more specifically, what she wrote over a TikTok video of her arriving at the rehearsal to a round of applause, according to Newsweek. (Southerland’s Teltok Account is now private.)
Thankfully, the wedding guest, 34, was not injured in the accident, which she told the outlet occurred after another vehicle ran a red light. But, as she shared on TikTok, her rehearsal dress did not make it.
A stock image of a bride and groom.
Getty
The car full of friends on the way to the event “were turning left,” she told Newsweek, “and we had the green light when another car blew through their red light, probably going 60 or more, and hit us on the driver’s side.”
“We were really lucky,” Southerland added of the passengers, “because our driver was paying attention and slowed down, so they mainly hit the front end of the driver’s side and not directly where we were sitting.”
The group was relatively unscathed, or at least, their injuries were not enough to stop them from attending their friend’s event.
Southerland and the other guests were in shock, she told Newsweek. Some were “sore” and “beat up,” but no one suffered any major damage like broken bones — just bruising.
So after a brief stint in a hospital, she headed, as planned, to her friend’s celebration. And, with no dress or extra clothing to don, she had no choice but to wear what she had on: her hospital gown.
She arrived late, and another guest captured the moment she arrived in her “POV” TikTok, which shows her entering in her hospital gown, with her bag and phone clutched to her chest — and which later garnered over 200,000 likes.
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A stock image of a fancy dinner.
Getty
Southerland also clarified to Newsweek that, despite concerns in the TikTok’s comments, her belated entrance to the rehearsal was not a shock to the bride-to-be. Not only was she notified ahead of time, she was just glad her friends were okay.
“The bride already knew I was coming in a hospital gown,” Southerland told the outlet, “because we had been giving her updates.”
Plus, she added, the bride-to-be “was so great about” the whole situation. “She just wanted her friends to be ok,” Southerland told Newsweek. “She stood up and cheered for us when we walked in.”
And the actual wedding was “amazing,” the California resident said — and, unlike the rehearsal dinner, went off without a hitch.
There were “no issues,” Southerland told the outlet, adding that it was “a beautiful celebration of love!”
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