May 26, 2015 started like most days – my sister, brother-in-law, my neice and my parents all went out for breakfast, then dropped me off at work. I worked as a receptionist and editor for two companies for several years now, and at 6:30 pm, I left the office with my coworker and her husband, who were kind enough to give me a ride home (I’m legally blind, so I can’t drive). Unfortunately, while turning left at a yellow light, we were t-boned at high speed by a pickup truck, whose passengers and driver all fled after totaling their truck on our compact car.
The only things I remembered were some crazy nightmares and lots on intense pain, and thank God when I woke up, my dad was there. Waking up with no idea where I was, why I couldn’t move, and seeing the external fixation on my right leg (large blue dials, like the inside of a watch) was the most frightening and out-of-this-world experience I’ve ever had.
He explained everything to me. I had a bad fracture on my right femur, low back, and cheek bone, was in a coma for 10 days, had ligament damage in my chest…I thought I had woken up from a nightmare to another nightmare. Literally everything was bruised a cut/scraped, even my toes. And talk about pain…
I ended up spending four full months in various hospitals, with a full 2 months in just the trauma ward. It was only with God’s grace that I managed to get through -I learned that my entire church, my relatives, friends, and their churches were all praying for me on a daily basis. I had visits from friends from the other side of the country!! I couldn’t believe the support and encouragement I felt, and I even got visit from friends of friends, who through the love of Christ, visited a complete stranger.
I guess it takes a major incident like my car accident to realize just how many people are pulling for you. I still thank God every day for them all. Even now, when I’m going through physiotherapy, pain, working on relearning daily tasks, I remember how far I’ve come, and who it’s thanks too. It has been 3 surgeries total now for my leg -external fixation, the metal brace around my femur bone, and the removal of scar tissue from my knee. I’m still fighting and working through the pain and medical side effects, but despite that, I’ll be forever grateful for the nurses, doctors, and friends who have brought me through, and are still pulling me through, everyday.
