Could've Been Much Worse

I was really tired this evening. On my way home from the long day of co-op I kept noticing that my car was handling strangely. It felt like my tires might be low. I made a mental note to self, tell Travis about the tires, whenever I actually get to see him again.
Low and behold Travis was home and awake when I got here. We were talking about a funeral that a lot of people we know had gone to of a teenage girl that pulled out of a gas station parking lot and was plowed into by a truck, losing her life. I also informed Travis of two fatalities in the accident that kept him from getting home on Saturday night. These two things reminded me about my tires.
Travis said he'd "check them later". I said I would check the tire pressure before taking Kendra to work in the morning - which made him decide to go out and check them right away. He came back in to get me and had me put my hand along the inside edge of my driver's rear tire - you could put your hand INSIDE the large gap in the tire and feel a bunch of steel wires sticking through.
He asked me how fast I had been going. I said "oh 70 - 75". He just walked away from me shaking his head saying, "oh my God".
I was bummed about the prospect of having to buy a tire - but I guess it could've been much much worse.