help even one person to understand, to cope and to be brave.
I was married to a wonderful man for almost 7 years. We had a son and a daughter and we had our own busniess.
All seemed to be right with our world until that fateful night on Aug.11/1984.
The tie rod on our 67 mustang snapped when we were driving at the speed of 80 mph.
My husband was thrown out upon the first impact and died almost instantly. I on the other hand stayed in for 7 rolls of the car, then was thrown out the passenger window, landing about 300 ft. from the car, landing in a muddy swamp.
A young man found me and knelt by my head, supporting it so it wouldn't sink in to the mud (so I could breath). I didn't know it at the time, but my body was positioned in such a way that even though I was laying on my back, I was twisted at the waist with my butt pointed towards the sky. it took the EMT's about an hour to transport me to the hospital. Once stablized, I was the transferred to an other hospital about 200 miles away for spinal surgery.
After an 8 hour operation, 4 herrington rods and a stroke, I opened my eyes on the 3rd day to see my father standing at the end of my bed. I knew my husband was dead, so I asked Dad to go home to take my place at the funeral.
I stayed at this hospital for 5 weeks, then was transferred to another hospital for rehab. Here, I was even further away from my kids and family, but it had to be done.
Once at this hospital, I was taken off my much loved demerol and morphen -- I wasn't a happy camper at this point!! Needless to say it was the best that could of happened , as without pain killers, I was able to heighten my tolerance for pain. In doing so, I was able to push myself to a safe limit, so I could advance my therapy.
In water therapy, I was able to move my big toes just by looking at them, and with this was told that by using my eyes as a contact to lower limbs, it was a 1 in a million chance that I would someday walk.
Believe me it wasn't easy and I could go into all the gory details, but I won't.
Instead, by Dec, I was able to go home for xmas. Guess what... I didn't go back !!
I just couldn't see leaving my kids who were 5 and 3, alone again.. yes, they had people to look after them, but they had lost enough over the months and I needed them as much as they needed me.
So, with alot of blood, sweat and tears,I took the next 3 years to graduate from wheel chair to walker then to a cane.
It's 19 &1/2 years since that day and I still use a cane, because I only have about 65% balance and about 70% sensation from the knees down.
Being a single mom hasn't been easy and nor is having a disability, but I cannot ignor the second chance I was given to see the world in a different light and with this experience see how others judge without knowing anything about the person they are judging.
I may never know why this happened to my little family, but we have survived many highs and lows over the years, but we are stronger, we trust and rely on each other and things like love, laughter, sillyness and appreciation are noticed each and everyday.
To you the reader, I wish you much joy, love and have a safe journey through lifes ups and downs... smile and bless you all.... Debbie
