In a moment, everything can change. Sometimes for the better, but other times for the worse. I talked to my mom around 5:30 PM on her way home from work. I talked about how my day went, asked her about work, and we talked about what we were going to have for dinner that night. A mundane conversation that ended with a heart-felt "I love you." After that I went upstairs to study for my final that Monday, and everything seemed fine.
And then I got this text:
The world stopped but my head was spinning. I read the text a few times over but the words couldn't stick in my head. I didn't cry at first, but I certainly didn't breathe. What was I supposed to do? Do I bring clothes to the hospital, should I feed the dogs, is my mom even alive? And then it hit me. The conversation I had with my mom 30 minutes ago could have been the last time I talked to her. I gained what little composure I could before making my way to the hospital. Everything was going to change.
When I was finally able to see my mother, my heart stopped. Her foot was wrapped in what looked like a mile of bandages and her breathing was incredibly shallow. She broke her sternum, tibia, fibula, and sustained a compression fracture on her L1 vertebrae. Recovery time was going to be long especially because of her age, but she was alive.
My mother was in a head on collision going through an intersection, hit on her side by a driver turning. The other driver took the blame but we don't know why she ran the light and or if she was texting and driving. Either way, all of our lives have been greatly altered by one person's lapse in judgement. My mom will probably be in pain for the rest of her life since bones don't grow back as well in old age. On top of that, the hospital bills are adding up, and will continue into the future. My mom had surgery on her foot and though the bones will make a decent recovery, her cartilage damaged by her talus (ankle bone) is forever impaired. Though bone can grow back, cartilage will only heal as scar tissue and won't maintain proper function. Because of this, my mom may need an ankle replacement in the future. Between that and the Physical Therapy lessons she will need, the monetary expenses won't end anytime soon.
The anxiety of not knowing if my mom was alive or not was terrible, but it doesn't compare to the harsh reality. We are incredibly lucky my mother survived such an awful accident, but the idea of seeing my mom in constant pain is going to be unbearable. And once again, this all stems from someone choosing to not pay attention. We've all diverted our attention away from the road , thinking nothing bad could happen to us but we have to think about other people too. My mom was obeying all the traffic rules and only got hurt because someone else decided not to. It may be your choice to ignore the rules of the road, but you can hurt more than just yourself when doing so. Please be responsible when driving.
