The Accident, the Aftershock
On Dec. 15th, 2012, I had just finished the semester and I was headed toward my apartment with my father, he was driving at just under the speed limit of 55 mph. I lived about an hour away and he wanted to come over and help me install a ceiling fan. It supposed to be a sort of father-daughter day. We were just over half way there on the highway and we got to a small hill that creates a blind as you go over it. As soon as we could see the other side we saw a car headed towards us, against the traffic.
Dad had seconds to react and tried to veer away but the car immediately moved into alignment. I remember the seconds just after the crash. The sudden stop, the sounds of the metal compacting, the sheer panic and the numb feeling in my limbs, then the airbag deployed and my vision went black. Next thing I knew was the smell of burnt rubber and metal. I wished with all I had that it was just a bad dream and that I fell asleep in the car. I opened my eyes, and I knew I was wrong.
I couldn’t breathe, I had to force myself. Then, I heard shifting to my left, my dad was there, I was happy that he was alive, but then I saw he was bloody, he was missing teeth. Then I looked down and saw my own broken body. Both my hands were fractured, my side was bloody, and so was my knee. I saw people around us, police officers and EMTs, but I guess they were paying attention to the other car and didn’t realize we were awake. They didn’t see as many injuries on us so they gave the other driver priority. Of course I panicked, but I tried to calm down, then my father touched my hand. That opened the floodgates to all the pain. Everything hurt but my abdominal area was the worst, I knew I was in trouble. I screamed, both in pain and fear, I kept screaming until somebody came.
Finally, they realized that maybe we were worse than we seemed. Even then though, they didn’t understand. Hours passed in the local hospital before they checked us, they thought we were just lightweights I guess. My mother got there and things got moving. My father got checked out, bruising everywhere lots of cuts, missing teeth and his heel exploded from the pressure. He was in pretty good condition considering, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Then after my x-rays, it went bad, I started throwing up blood all over my mother. The on duty staff took notice of me then, especially when they fitted me with a foley catheter, all that came out was blood. The aerial ambulance (helicopter) was called in, the more experienced team of EMTs that came with it took one look at me and not 10 min later we took off with my mother looking on.
I arrived at the best hospital in the entire area and was immediately admitted into surgery. I woke up about a day later in ICU and stayed there for the next 2 weeks until I was released into home care. I had learned during my stay that I suffered a ruptured bladder, the outer wall of my large intestine had been torn off, my appendix had exploded, most of the muscles in my abdomen had been ripped apart, both hands fractured, broken clavicle, deep cuts on my right side and left hand where the bone could be seen, a concussion, and, of course, all over bruising. The accident was caused by someone who was suicidal and decided that going onto the highway against the traffic at over 120 mph was the right way to end it all. It took me 2 months to learn how to sit, stand and barely walk again, and I can’t lift anything more than a gallon of water for the next year. Also, until July 2nd, 2013 I had a colostomy. I have nightmares every once in a while, and I have to close my eyes and put on my headphones when I’m in a car to distract myself. Now I start my last semester in school in August, I was supposed to finish in May but plans change. I haven’t driven yet, and I’m afraid of what will happen when I’m behind the wheel, but one step at a time right? Even with all that happened, the worst is past and the only way to go is up.
