My Accident - what happened

**********************My Accident - What Happened**************************

The introduction of “Who Am I, Again?” setups up the story correctly - I was early in my senior year of high school when I was called upon to take my sister to her small, rural, Quaker elementary school - Greenwood Friend’s School - for an overnight party as part of the newly established middle school - at the time, there were only 4 middle-schoolers enrolled in the school.  I was a relatively new driver, and had just had an adolescent spat with my mother, so it was exciting to get out of the house and just drive. 

At the school, after letting my sister run off with her friends, I had a discussion with her middle-school advisor - as I used to attend the school, she was also my former French teacher.  I remember feeling a sense of maturity talking with my French teacher - I was an almost adult (17 years old), not just a kid like my sister and her friends, and I could have conversation about more adult things - plans for college and the artistic projects I was currently involved in.  The way she respected my plans while sharing her experiences - and the fact my parents were nowhere near me - made it feel like one of my first truly “adult conversations”.

My last memory is as stated in the performance script - “..watching her wave goodbye, through my rearview mirror, as I drove off into the night.”

The accident occurred on a quiet, narrow, country road - it’s not the main road between my house and my sister’s school, but it’s a route that takes a little less time and is much more interesting for a new driver.  I don’t remember the drive leading up to the car accident, but I have been told that a car had just passed me - traveling the opposite direction - when he saw me loose control and crash into a telephone pole (through his rear-view mirror).  My guess - I was driving a little two fast (10ish miles over the speed limit), and - being relatively new to the road - when I passed the other driver I swerved just enough that my wheel dipped over the side of the narrow, country road, making me lose control for just a moment, but that moment sent me into the telephone pole.  That’s my guess at what happened - not proven, but it makes sense to me.

What can be proven are the events that followed: the man who witnessed my accident rushed to the nearest farmhouse, banging on the door, asking to use the telephone (occurred in the BC era - Before Cellphones); fortunately, no other major accidents had happened in the region so the hospital was able to immediately send out their emergency rescue helicopter; and the volunteer emergency crew - that just happened to include our auto-mechanic and family friend - responded in record time and flew me to Geisinger Medical Center, the large regional hospital.

Those are the facts surrounding my accident and rescue - a nearly textbook-perfect rescue situation; several friends have commented on how lucky I was - except that I had an accident.  I recognize this good fortune and have no doubt that the timeliness and quality of the rescue were factors that allowed my exceptional recovery, but I also realize that a rescue alone cannot predict the path of recovery; be it a solider on the field of battle, a young mother tripping down the stairs, an athlete in an accident on the way to the game - when brain injury occurs every survivor begins a long journey.

My recovery has been a gift - whether that gift comes from God or circumstance is inconsequential: I have been given the opportunity witness and experience a full journey of recovery and then to use my training and talent to share that story.  By terming it a “gift”, I do not mean to make light of any of the tragedy in this experience - but I did survive, and by surviving believe I have gained a rare understanding of a tragic situation - this privileged understanding is what I term a gift.  It is my hope that with this gift, other survivors and caregivers will be inspired to recognize their own tragically gained gifts, and by sharing experiences can help to educate the world about the realities of brain injury and recovery.

That’s where I began my journey, and where I hope it continues to go.  In these first several entries, I’ve tried to setup the logic behind my thoughts as well as introduce the performance piece - I’m not sure where we’re going from here. My goal is to post two entries a week as I comment on “Who Am I, Again?”, but there will likely be some missed and/or late entries do to life situations.  Follow along, subscribe, share with friends, and please leave comments with thoughts on my writings or parts of your own story - I’m excited to see what you write.

Until then, all the best and chat soon.