RE: Surviving a Drunk Driver - my true story - part 1
Part 2
I found out that 4 hours after the accident that the drunk's BAC was still way over the legal limit. It took the 4 hours because the Drunk wouldn't submit to the test so a Judge had to be woken up on Christmas Eve morning to sign the paperwork.
I woke up from my coma after having over 10 surgeries which included a rod in my left femur, knee to waist, staples in my chin, my scalp, my left butt cheek where they put in the rod, and stitches, stitches, stitches. I was awake but everything was foggy and I felt like I was in a dream...or nightmare. I hit my larynx in the crash so my voice box was swollen and I could only speak in whispers for several weeks. My vocal cords became stretched from screaming from the pain from everything. My vocal cords are still stretched and certain sounds don't come out so I have to try to think of other words to say "on the fly". I was stuck in ICU this way for several weeks as I was having other surgeries to do more repairs. 7 weeks of this before I was transferred to Rebound Rehabilitation at Independence Regional Medical Center in Independence Missouri. Rebound was a specialty rehabilitation center for head injuries in the main hospital. I had a closed head injury from hitting the rearview mirror. When I arrived at Rebound one of the nurses noticed I had a bladder infection so I was seen by a urologist. That doctor found that I had a torn urethra, which was where most of my pain was coming from. He stitched me up and a lot of my fog lifted. I was able to think more clearly with less pain and less pain medications. I spent 4 weeks at this hospital where I had occupational & physical therapy to learn how to walk and use my hands properly. I had speech therapy to try to improve my talking but I was still too swollen for it to help much. I finally got to go home but I had outpatient therapy for several more weeks. I was picked up everyday by a van and taken on a 30 minute drive to Rebound Outpatient for more therapy's 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I finally could use my hands a lot better and I went from a wheel chair to crutches to a cane. I also started getting my missed assignments from school. I had to catch up four months of classes while rehabbing. A teacher from my high school would come to the house after school got out for the day and would spend an hour with me to answer any questions I had on the homework. One month later I was back in school & out of rehab because insurance wouldn't pay any more. I went back to school and was only greeted by a few friends. Most people just looked down and walked away which really confused me. I was victimized by the drunk and now I was being victimized by supposed "friends". My high school had 2000+ students and only 15 or so were talking to me. That number went up some after a week or so but it was still far less than pre-accident. Many of John's friends would come up and talk to me but people that I had known for 8 or 9 years still ignored me. Even in marching band, that had a couple hundred people, there were very few that would say more than hello in passing. I was already depressed from the everything else so this just piled on. This is when I found out from a very close friend that the girl I was dating, that kept visiting me in the hospital, that told me she was pregnant before the accident but mysteriously wasn't afterward, was screwing around on me with many others!!!
(I will write more later...I've become too emotional right now, sorry)
Surviving a Drunk Driver - my true story - part 3
There wasn't much time left in the school year so I just smiled a lot because I didn't know what else to do. A few days before school got out for the summer I was approached by 6 people, individually, that apologized for not being more polite & nice to me after I got back. They explained that most people at the school didn't know the truth about what happened. They were told that John & I were in an alcohol related accident. The few people that knew what had happened weren't asked or were using the truth or their own good. (see the last couple lines of part 2 and use your imagination)
I don't mean to dwell on school but that's when it happened and that's when I was affected the most. John & I had plans...my original plan was to take my GED out of 8th grade and go on to college. I was the only person in Missouri to school a perfect score on a Missouri wide test that all students take. I had spoken to a couple colleges and universities and they said if I had my GED that I could start in the summer semester. My alcoholic father decided to "fly-off" to Vegas one morning instead of attending a meeting with the school officials. John & I talked about it and he talked me into going to High School instead of getting a new meeting. I decided to enjoy a couple years in high school then move on to becoming an Engineer. I took mostly academic classes and Acting. I also decided to tryout for the Freshman Football team. I wasn't any good but I thought if I didn't do it then I'd regret it. Luckily for me this is what got me into good enough shape to survive the wreck. I played for two seasons and had become a pretty quick runner. I ran 40 yards in 5 seconds flat in full pads. I couldn't catch a ball to save my life but I could run. I was going to run track in the Spring but I never got the chance. I was also signed up for Acting in the Spring but with my voice being damaged I didn't want to embarrass myself so I just dropped that dream. My Doctors kept telling me that I would be able to play football again after the rod came out so I became the Football manager my Junior year so I could keep busy during my dark times. Being Manager kept my mind busy on Non-suicidal things. I realized after the rod came out that I wouldn't be able to do any sport except bowling. John & I bowled every Saturday morning in a league so I stuck with it for as long as I could after I lost him. Bowling kept my mind busy so I had little time for other thoughts.
(I'll write more later)