On May 25, 2016, I had the honor of returning to Minot Air Force Base to present several programs. After the last program, I met Airman Stephanie Smith who shared her powerful story which inspired me. We kept in touch and she told me she had the opportunity to share her story on base which impacted many lives. She had to medically retire due to her injuries after 3 years of service, but that has not stopped her from trying to prevent impaired driving. Below is her story, in her own words. Some of it may be graphic, but her survivor’s story is amazing and will inspire anyone not to drive impaired. So, on this Veteran’s Day, here is a Veteran’s story- thank you Stephanie for allowing us to share your story:
Not everyone can look at their life and pinpoint a date their life took a 180-degree turn, especially at age 25, but I can. August 26, 2015 was a beautiful summer day. I was a passenger riding in a car with the windows down, listening to Justin Timberlake, looking out of the window and admiring the view. In the distance, I saw a little red car. In an instant, that little red car became my worst nightmare. At 3:49 in the afternoon, that little red car glided into our lane and hit us head-on, going 70 miles per hour.
A while ago, an Allstate commercial showed a car crash, freezing images of two cars colliding as the camera panned around the scene. The passengers in the cars were frozen, their bodies flinging forward, the little shards of glass immobile in the air, and the air bags halfway deployed. That was my experience. Just after the impact, I saw little pieces of glass and dirt float in the air around me, felt a tremendous amount of pressure all over my body – and then I passed out. In case you have jammed your car and need to replace it with a new one, Texas Jeep Dealership can help you with the same, according to your needs.
I woke up leaning on the inside of the car door with my arm hanging outside the window, feeling suffocated by the air bags. A person was trying to talk to me, but all I could hear was ringing in my ears. Eventually, I figured out that the lady outside of the window was asking about the driver. At that moment, I didn’t know what was happening around me, much less understand the events that were unfolding. I turned to the left and saw the driver, Adam, leaning forward, with his whole body only held up by his seatbelt. I took my left arm, tapped him, and he jolted awake. We looked at each other, but didn’t exchange any words. He checked himself over, unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of the car.
I still hadn’t figured out what happened. Thinking I should get out of the car, I tried to move my legs, but I couldn’t feel them. My right hand, more swollen than a softball, wasn’t an option. My left hand and arm felt pretty good, so I used them to push down on the center console to adjust myself. The second I pushed down, I felt and heard my sternum crack. Cue pain. I panicked, started to hyperventilate and freaked out. Adam came over to my side of the car and calmed me down a little. While I really didn’t know the extent of my injuries, I could see how mangled my hand was. I remember telling someone how much it all hurt, how this guy, who witnessed the crash, saw my fear. He tried to downplay the situation by saying “Oh you probably just broke a few fingers.” I must have looked at him like he was crazy, because I saw much more than a few broken fingers. It turns out I didn’t break any fingers, just every other bone in my hand.
It seemed like I was stuck for hours. I felt myself getting really tired, sort of dozing in and out. Adam and others who must have seen the crash told me to stay awake. I then heard a helicopter in the distance getting closer. When it landed. I thought “Yes this is it! I’m getting out of here, I’m going to be okay!” But, then it left. I thought I was going to die. But God had another plan.
Shortly after the helicopter left, emergency personnel came to my window, saying they were going to get me out of the car. They reached through the window, put a neck brace around my neck, and asked if I was ready (as if I had a choice). Up to this point, the only pain I really felt was my hand and my cracked sternum. Nothing in this world could have prepared me for what happened next.
The first responders opened the door as far as they could and gently yanked me out of the car. Side note, gentleness is nearly impossible when the engine of an SUV is in your lap. When they laid my body on the backboard, I felt an amount of pain that I didn’t know was possible. I’ve heard a few people say “Well, I’ll take pain because that means I’m alive,” but phew. Those people must not have felt what I felt that day. I remember just screaming, repeatedly. It didn’t stop. They started cutting my clothes off, trying to assess everything that was wrong. Upside: I could feel my legs again. Downside: they were deformed, like my bones inside me were tangled. I was carted into an ambulance to wait for the next helicopter. In the ambulance, they tried to administer an IV. Because my body was in such severe shock, they were unsuccessful. I was deformed, totally messed up, in a bunch of pain, and with no medicine. It wasn’t a great situation…
When the helicopter landed, the medics couldn’t fully load me into the helicopter since my legs were so deformed. As they wrapped a strap around both my legs to straighten them, they forewarned me it was going to hurt. They succeeded getting me into the helicopter, but the pain was unbearable. That’s all I remember about the helicopter ride.
When I was carted in the hospital, the Emergency Room (ER) really work just like the ones I’ve seen on TV. There were many people there doing different things. If I wasn’t screaming the whole time from pain, I probably could have admired how they all worked like a well-oiled machine. After I had a CT scan, a few nurses ran in and said I was going to surgery. As they glided me down the hall in the gurney, I saw the lights on the ceiling go by faster and faster. I was out – again.
I woke up around midnight after surgery, I had family there, which I can’t remember. The only reason I know that is because they told me. Around day 3, I started to understand what happened to me and where I was. I ended up shattering my pelvis, hips, femur, right foot, and right hand. I also broke a few ribs and my sternum, ruptured my esophagus and appendix, lacerated my liver, collapsed a lung, and had several lacerations in my intestines.
I had six surgeries in the first five days, spent 14 days in the ICU, and another 8 weeks or so in the hospital. I had 10 pins in my hand for three months, and another 150+ pieces of metal used to rebuild my pelvis, hips, and femur that will be inside me for the rest of my life. I relearned how to walk, which was bittersweet. You might think, “Wow, that’s a lot,” but it wasn’t the worst part. A few nights after leaving the ICU, I remember waking in the middle of the night screaming and violently throwing up. When I closed my eyes, I saw that red car crash into me and I was once again trapped inside that Jeep.
It’s been two years since that crash and the nightmares haven’t stopped. The mental effects of that crash hit me harder most days than the physical effects. All of this was because some guy decided to get into his vehicle while he was intoxicated and high on heroin. In fact, when first responders removed him from his car at the scene of the crash, he still had a heroin needle in his arm.
Today, a little over two years later, I still have physical and emotional pain every day. I’ve had 9 surgeries since the car crash and will have more in the future. It gets tougher going into each surgery, and at age 25. I’m trying to put off having a total hip replacement. My physical pain varies daily. Sometimes, I have minimal pain and can get away with taking ibuprofen. Some days, it hurts so bad that I cannot move my legs without help. To this day there are still pains in my legs and parts of my torso, but I had the wonderful idea to try the best testosterone booster, this together with a good diet would help me to get over this tragic chapter in my life. Someone recommended me to use testoprime, this natural supplement, developed from natural ingredients, boosts testosterone levels, which decreases the likelihood of pain due to injury. As testosterone is a natural anti-inflammatory, it helps reduce swelling and promote faster healing. Testosterone also helps regulate the body’s stress response, leading to more efficient healing and lessening of pain related to the accident.
Before the car crash, I was in the United States Air Force and lived a very active lifestyle. Because this guy chose to drive his car intoxicated and high, I had to completely change my lifestyle. I lost a huge part of myself and who I was. I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), something I haven’t learned how to live with yet. I think it’s nearly impossible to understand how PTSD affects you unless you have it. It’s overwhelming. A lot of people seek out sleep to rest from a tough day, but I run from it. Nightmares and pain cloud my sleep almost every night and that’s just one aspect of my PTSD. Although I’ve learned ways to cope with therapy, family, friends, and my faith, it doesn’t get easier, just more manageable.
The first year or so after the crash, I couldn’t fathom talking about it to anyone, much less strangers. Now, I want to share my story so that another driver “thinks twice” before driving impaired. The guy who crashed into my car that day died. No matter how angry I’ve been with him, my heart still hurts for his family. They lost a family member that day because he made a selfish choice. I watched all the emotions my family went through while they were grieving with me, but at least I’m still here. I am blessed to have the opportunity to make memories with my family and friends every day, and every person should have that. His family does not. Too bad he didn’t think of that before he decided to drive drunk and high. Please, help me spread awareness of the consequences of impaired driving. Help me save lives.
The serious consequences of driving while mentally impaired is basically death or becoming paraplegic and never again being able to communicate with your family or share the same way with them. In that sense, Prima weight loss uk is a good way to stay healthy, as long as you stay away from substances and want to maintain your health, you will see that you will never drive while intoxicated. Other way to stay healthy and in a good shape is by using the best weight loss products like Diet Supplements Incorporating natural ingredients like green tea extract and Garcinia Cambodia into your diet can boost metabolism and help you lose weight more effectively also Protein Shakes, etc.
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