Rebecca Siemers

Dr. Moore
English 1113
02/16/2016

One Night Of Fun And The Rest Of My Life

Although we may have walked away from the wreck with few obvious injuries, time
would tell a different story of the true effects that I would suffer the rest of my life. At the time
of the accident it was pretty much a given that we were lucky to be alive and considering the
indistinguishable site of the vehicle, no one was complaining about the minor scrapes and bruises
we had viewable to the naked eye. It wasnt until a few days later when the pain and evidence
arose that indicated I was hurt much worse than I ever imagined. So often we judge our injuries
on the obvious without thinking what may occur long term as an effect of the injuries caused by
the accident.
It was a hot summer night in early June, at this time I am only 19 years of age and not
one of wise decisions like most teenagers at this age. My first mistake was the choice to drink
when not of legal age, secondly and probably most importantly was the poor choice to ride with
a friend that had consumed way beyond the legal limit of alcohol that night. There was five of us
that night, enjoying the warm summer air and drinking below the Kaw Dam. It was getting late,
my boyfriend at home, patiently awaiting me to arrive so I tell my friends it was time to take me
home. The fact my girlfriend had a bad habit of driving reckless in the past is what made me
decide to ride with my other friend Tim, the driver and Pete who would be the other passenger
that night. My two girlfriends hop in their car and off into the night they went.

Tim taking a minute to locate his keys, started his Mustang and punched his foot on the gas as he

yelled wait up girls, you cant get away that easy! He took off quick struggling to even get the
vehicle on the main road which lead to the exit. I knew then I had made a bad choice to let him
drive me anywhere. At this time the laughing all had ceased and the gut wrenching reality had
sunk in that this could be a disaster. I began begging and pleading with my friend to please pull
over and stop the car. I told him I wanted to drive or better yet, just let me out. My friend
laughed and made jokes about his bad driving and continued on down the road at a high rate of
speed trying to catch up to my girlfriends who were quite a way ahead of us. We had not
traveled far when we approached a sharp turn. I remember looking at the speedometer which
read 88 mph. I screamed to my friend Tim you have got to slow down! We will never make
this turn! It was almost like a challenge to him for instead of hitting the breaks, he punched on
the gas more. At this point I clenched my eyes closed and gripped both my hands onto the
shoulder strap of the seat belt. The tires squealed loudly as we entered the turn, off one side of
the road then back on and off the other side. Yet never to find pavement again, we hit a side
road and became air born. I recall the first initial impact as the nose of the car went diving into
the ground. Although being knocked unconscious after the impact, it was clear by our marks we
later retraced would show evidence that we went on to flip end over end a total of four times.

Suddenly it was quiet, all movement had stopped and slowly the moans of the others in

the car was a sign we had at least survived. Reality hits my friend Tim after a few attempts to
start the mangled mess of metal that remained of his once pristine condition Mustang GT.
Suddenly, panic had set in and he flung open the door running to my side and began slapping me
on my cheek repeating please do not die, please! I open my eyes yet not able to see very
clearly still, he pulls me from the car and leans me against the side. He quickly moves on to our
friend Pete, still unconscious in the back seated directly behind my seat. I recall hearing him
yelling wake up Pete, come on buddy, you got to wake up! Although I can not recall what
Pete said, we must have found it humorous, because we all started to laugh. My next memory
was one of being slapped again in the face repeatedly as my friend Tim attempted to place his
fingers in my mouth thinking I was swallowing my tongue while unconscious. I open my eyes
spitting and pulling away at his hand as if I thought he was trying to harm me rather than help
me. Apparently when we all started to laugh I fell to the ground unconscious and they drug me
down the hill to more flat ground and closer to the road. It was at that moment it finally sunk in
that we had wrecked, I was hurt and we needed help. No phone and no sight of anyone near, our
only choice was to begin walking towards town. I was dizzy, my head bleeding and a dull ache
in my right shin was not enough to slow us down. I just kept saying, how did I hit the
windshield with my seatbelt and the airbag? After two painful miles of pep talk and army style
chanting to not give up and stop, we arrived at a house where one of my other best friends
happen to live. We frantically beat on her bedroom window till she arose from her dream state
and assisted us with a phone and a wet wash cloth to wipe away the blood in an attempt to see
how severe the injuries were.

We phone my girlfriends we had originally been attempting to follow and told them of the
accident. Tim told her I needed to go to the hospital and so they appear in no time to transport
me somewhat against my will. I was lucky to survive the wreck I had just encountered and was
not wanting to press my luck twice in one night. With no explanation other than the grace of
God, we arrived at the hospital. Seeing I am unable to recall my phone number, my friends
quickly left to go awaken my boyfriend whom by this time had surely given up on me coming
home at the time I had promised.
The nurses and doctor rush in asking more questions than I could begin to know answers
to seeing I could not even remember my own telephone number. The took x-rays and a CT of
my head and luckily nothing was broken or appeared critical so they bandaged me up and
informed those accompanying me to wake me every few hours due to the concussion the doctor
stated I had. Despite the abrasions, cuts and bruises, I felt it could have been so much worse and
could not believe none of us were seriously hurt. Well at least that is what I thought from
looking at myself anyways. Within that first few days, the pain and reality that I was hurt worse
than I thought began to set in. I was attending school at the Vo-Tech at that time and the trip
from the car in the parking lot to the classroom carrying my heavy backpack was almost
unbearable. I collapsed in the hall just outside the entrance to my class crying in pain. It felt
impossible to take another step on my leg and the shooting pain was of a nature I had never
experienced. I came to know that pain well and still frequent that pain time to time now,
eighteen years later.

The months followed were filled with MRIs and doctor appointments, physical therapy

and the diagnosis of two herniated and one bulged disk in my lower spine. There was nothing
that helped with the pain and some days better than others, it was horrible. I began to think my
career path I had chosen to enter as a nurse would be a total loss due to how would I work if I
could not hardly walk most the time. Years went by and the suffering was all I could handle, I
had made the decision to face back surgery and was undergoing expensive testing needed prior
to determine which disk in fact was causing most of the crippling pain. One test down and one
more to go when my sister informed me of a doctor she had seen recently she thought may be
able to help me. Desperate to try anything before surgery, I arrived at his office, walking with
assistance and loaded with MRI and x-ray films, which he never looked at. The man listened to
me describe the accident, the pain I had endured since and after a few minutes of a physical
assessment containing of closing his eyes and feeling along my spine, he rambled off exactly
what the results of the films showed and informed me back surgery would not be necessary. I
kind of rolled my eyes yet actually impressed with his ability to describe my injuries without
ever touching my films, I listened to what he had to say and then consented to letting him try a
few things as he called it. He instantly placed me on what they call a decompression table and
after only two sessions, I was walking without assistance and within a few weeks, completely
pain free. It was amazing, I cancelled the back surgery and from that moment on have been able
to maintenance my back on a as needed basis. There are fine lines I must follow as to what will
send me crashing down into that familiar unwanted pain however I know now how to quickly get
a grasp on it and prevent it from ever getting to the severity it was. Over time I have learned my
limits and things I will never be able to do without causing myself misery but there was a time I
thought I would never be able to function again with normalcy.
When injuries do not appear severe on the outside never assume they are not because

time will tell in the end. A significant amount of injuries from a car accident or any accident with
tremendous impact were likely to cause injuries one can not see or feel immediately. Although I
am still amazed to have survived the accident at all, I will spend my entire remaining life from
that moment on with the effects of it. Always something I will battle and have to deal with and
always something that will limit me for the rest of my life. Some are not as fortunate as I was to
find a doctor who is able to help them without the means of surgery and others are not as
fortunate to even survive the accident period, so that is one thing I do my best to instill in my
children today is to make the wiser decision and never get into a vehicle with anyone that has
consumed alcohol nor to attempt to drive after consuming alcohol as well.