My Resilient Story
It was just an ordinary Monday. August 10th 2009. I was a junior at Rochester Community High School. That morning my oldest sister Emily was singing right beside me in my sociology class. I looked at her and said “It’s just another Monday.” That’s all I can remember about that day. That one day was not like the rest. Maybe it was the wrong place at the wrong time. Or one big mistake that altered my life completely. One minute I was laughing with my mom after school that day talking about how much I wanted to be a writer and a photographer, and the next minute I am laying in a hospital bed in the intensive care unit at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
I was only 16. I had absolutely no idea why I was there. My jaw was wired shut. I had a feeding tube in my stomach, my left eye was completely shut, and I could not move the right side of my body from my shoulder down to my right foot. I laid there wondering why I could not talk.
Exactly eight days later on August 18th 2009, I woke up from a coma. My mother stayed awake for three days straight singing me the songs over and over repeatedly. “You Are My Sunshine”, and “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders. It was a little over a month later when my mom told me exactly what had happened to me. I was in a wheelchair on the fourth floor of Parkview Hospital, the rehabilitation unit. She told me that I was in a very bad car accident.
Before my mom said anything else to me, I was starting to realize my best friend wasn’t there to come see me. I had all of the memories all leading up to that day.
When I was really young. I had my heart set on becoming a doctor. I absolutely love to help people. I even did my oldest sister Emily’s homework and I got all A’s.
But that all changed because when I was in 7th grade, I started writing. I could not stop writing. I was so excited to go to college on scholarships after I graduated high school. I also wanted to be a photographer. When you have your mindset on something you go for it. No matter what obstacles you go through.
Back to that day. I asked my mom if I could walk to the library. My mom told me that I should go with my grandma because she just wanted to spend time with me. But I was only 16 at the time. I thought I was invincible.
When I was walking to the library 3 days after my junior year of high school, I got into the back seat of my best friend’s boyfriend’s fathers white Ford Contour car. What happened next not only changed my world completely, but it changed my family’s lives.
My best friend’s boyfriend was driving at exactly 80 miles per hour on a very busy yet not so busy highway. US 31 South Highway in Rochester Indiana. My best friend was the driver and her boyfriend was sitting in the passenger seat. I can remember some pieces of that day. Not all of them, but just some fragments.
My mother knows every single thing that happened. How I was the only person out of the three people who was wearing a seatbelt that day. The left side of my head slammed into the left backseat. Window completely shattering it.
One big mistake I made changed everything. I am currently 32 years old and even though my entire life completely changed on August 10th, 2009, at 6:06 pm. I have all the abilities. I have such an amazing heart and I know that my situation might be a little bit different than most people’s are. But every single human being has an amazing and wonderful story to tell. Disabled or not, always speak up even if your voice shakes. Always be kind to one another. And never give up on your dreams.
#Resilience #Inclusion #MSDC #NeverGiveUp
