For my project, I wanted to share with everyone
something that I experienced this past summer
I decided to introduce it with a short video
If you haven’t seen it, be sure to go **back** and watch it first! ;o)
***********************
if you've already seen it, scroll down!
***********************
On June 25 of 2008
I was on my way to summer school at ACC via bike
I decided to take the sidewalk after some cars were intimidating me
The first alley way I passed, I got hit by a car.
It struck me on my right thigh
leaving an impact wound in the shape of the Mazda logo
Then I flew forward
Catching myself with my left wrist
And landing on my face
In shock I sat up on the concrete
Bleeding everywhere
Knowing my face was the source
The owners of the vehicle stopped
But never came to help me
A kind stranger actually stopped in the middle of the street
and ran to my aid
She called the ambulance and the police
Then picked up my phone and asked who I wanted her to call
I told her to call my friend and wake up my boyfriend, Ryan
(hehe)
She held my hand and tried to keep talking to me
Trying to get me to take my mind off the shock
Once everyone showed up…
She disappeared
To this day I’m convinced
She’s a superhero!
On the stretcher in a neck brace
Riding in the EMS to Brackenridge
The whole time I was trying to crack jokes
And start up friendly conversations
With several doctors hovering over me
With concerned faces
One minute I was crying, then laughing, then back to crying
Forced to swallow all the blood from my nose in that inconvenient neck brace
I’ve always been scared of hospitals.
I was helpless as several strangers grabbed me and poked me
Walking by my room to see how bad I was hurt
Not letting me in on what was being done to my body
It was the longest wait for a familiar face
Until Ryan showed up I felt barely human
Deviated septum, loose front tooth, stitches, small wrist fracture,
impacted molar, and a shallow but huge scar of a Mazda symbol
Two surgeries and several hospital bills later,
My parents and I are still trying to figure out a bunch of court business
Because the middle aged couple who hit me refuses to take responsibility
I chose this story because so many aspects struck me as significantly uncanny
The feeling of something completely beyond your control
With the ability to permanently change your body map
When you’re not expecting it?
(like we were talking about a while back in a class discussion)
But when are we ever expecting it?
What does it take to realize how fragile we are?
For me it took a month’s worth of doctors and surgery and medication.
How inhuman is it that the people who caused the accident
Are only available through a lawyer?
A simple apology would have sufficed
Maybe sticking by my side after putting me through the painful experience
Accident or not.
Instead we have to provide proof of who’s fault it is
So we can steal their apology in money, and maybe even only
enough to pay for my months detours,
Pay for my time,
Pay for the physical and emotional scars.
Too bad no amount of money can pay for a sincere apology.
On the Brightside,
I’m not scared of hospitals anymore. ;o)