Hardships

October 12, 2006, that is the only date I remember because after that, it was chaos. I was riding my bike to school on that sunny Thursday morning and trustily went down the curb to cross on a green light. At the same time, a man who had rented a truck hurried down to make a right turn on that intersection without looking my way. Quickly, break! A blow to the head, four back tires approaching me, blackness, and then the sun was back on top of me. What had just happened? It is amazing how the body reacts to these kinds of situations, whoever I was came out; whoever we all were came out. Laying there, conscious, on the street, it was one of the most confusedly grateful moments of my life. There was nothing I wanted more than to see my mother, my stepfather and my boyfriend who had helped me overcome the big challenge of coming to this country and he himself is a big part of its Brightside. I felt bleeding but saw no blood and felt tired but could not shut my eyes and just go to sleep. People that I do not even know and would more than anything like to see again to thank ran everywhere, calling the paramedics; I like to think of them as angels in my city. I never saw the man who was driving the truck and he was too busy defending his “good driving” to join the others and call for help. That is when a big part of life was uncovered for me, right there and then, when I was lying on the floor waiting for help to arrive. I learned not everybody is there to help you directly, but they all affect you, and for every man that does not look before he turns, or defends his name before looking at the damage he has done, there are fifteen who call 911 and come up to look at the one who fell to the ground outside, but never inside.

The hospital was a whole different story. This accident shattered my liver and caused lacerations to my bladder, intestines and kidney, and a pneumothorax. All those were fixed by Timothy Van Natta, the most humanistic and caring doctor that I have ever heard of or had the pleasure to meet as well as patience, good treatment and a lot of love. The injuries that presented the biggest challenge were the fractures on my pelvis and lower back that prevented me from walking. As I got better my injuries were confessed to me and even the idea that at one point, they were waiting to see if I was even going to live. I had all the support in the world from my teachers and friends from everywhere; church, police explorers, school, Riordan program, etc, how could I even think to leave them and all my dreams? I tried to always keep a smile of my face to make the personnel want to work with me and show my loved ones that I was always getting better, and that itself kept me always improving. The once stated “sentence” of four months at the hospital was reduced to twenty days and by Halloween of 2006 I was at home recuperating at an even faster pace. Today, November 29, 2006, I went to school to pick up some more work to do at home until I am completely discharged from the hospital and heard about this amazing opportunity. For the first time in years, I felt like home was there, with all these shiny eyes and surprised faces who could not believe it was me, back on my feet and ready to take on any new challenges that I can learn from. Therefore, whatever comes at me I will always know that I never have the worst case and that I can always get back on me feet to help those who are still trying.