Sounds like your airbox lid and filter were left loose and probably popped off when your check engine light came on. Just the airbox cover coming loose would throw a code if there are any vacuum lines going in to it. Sounds like you had a large vacuum leak when the car started running bad.

Still terrible they did that but your car might be OK.

There should have been a code stored in the computer though. Even if the check engine light goes out the code should still be there. They either didn't check it or may have erased it. If you have an Autozone near you they will scan the codes for free.

 

Of course it's terrible that someone forgot to properly close the box, but blaming the whole shop just for a mistake of one person is a sweeping generalization.

People who forget work anywhere and it can happen to any mechanic even at a presidential garage.

Brenda, when you feel your car is not running right, driving for another 50 miles could kill the engine no matter what the cause is. You should have at least opened to hood and looked there.

As far as damage, as everyone said, it's hard to tell. The least you can do is change the oil and filter a little more frequently now and just watch your oil level and for smoke out of the tail pipe. Hopefully you didn't damage anything. Most likely you didnt'. 50 miles on an asphalt road is not a big deal and you couldn't have had THAT much sand laying around in the engine bay.

Good luck and use this as a lesson.