In Seconds
Growing up I guarantee we all have heard “don’t take it for granted”, but in the end we always do. We all live our lives day-to-day not appreciating things like being able to walk,run,drive, and jump. Never even noticing that’s a privilege we get, and never taking the time to be grateful. In seconds anything can change.
In 2008, about 11 years ago, my life, my perspective, everything changed. It was a cold, icy, day in Bend and my family went skiing. I was only about 5 and not a great skier. A group of parents, I was with, were teaching all the little kids how to stop, slow, and how to get off the lift on skis. We practiced all day going up and down the bunny hills, but I still wasn’t getting it. Everytime I needed to stop I would just crash, or simply just sit down on the frosty snow. This would just happen over, and over, I would just crash and restart. My mom didn’t want me to hurt myself so her, and another mom, tried to teach me to turn my skis to get me to stop. I would go down small hills and turn them to the left and it would stop me. I could ride around with everyone else there and stop normally. It was a big accomplishment to me. When I saw the older children going on bigger hills I desperately wanted to go with them, so I did. A mother went with us, and took the children up to a very steep hill. We all started to go down, but since I was so light I glided down the mountain extremely fast, getting much farther than everyone I was with. I got worried and decided to stop and wait, but I was going too fast. Trying to whip my skis around to the left to stop I spun up the ice bank, soaring six feet in the air, and crashing back down on my head. Dizzy, cold, and confused I lay there in the snow in complete silence.
“Are you ok?” I hear in the distance. Not being able to move, or breathe, I reply with a soft “no.” I vividly remember this moment, as it is the first time in my life I had ever remembered answering that question with no. As I got dizzy I layed back on the snow. I heard the same man trying to talk to me, asking me questions, but I just layed there and his voice had become silent. All I hear is a soft ringing in the distance. All I feel is a spreading numbness from my spine. My whole body just completely numb, and I start to only see a blackness in my eyes. A few moments later the mother I had just been with saw me and stopped immediately. The man explained what he saw and together they got me up, and I skied back down the mountain to my mom.
As soon as we got home we ate mac and cheese, but I didn’t feel good. Sitting alone, away from everyone else, I layed on my parents’ bed with a heating pad for hours. Everytime my mom would check on me I would point to the same spot on my back telling her how much it hurt. The next day we went and got x-rays. In a giant scary place the nurses made me laugh and dressed in a hospital gown, that was way too large, and drenched a lead cover all over my body. After what felt like hours of x-rays, I got a head exam. With a confused look on her face my doctor left the room. Coming in moments later asking me questions about what I was doing, what happened, etc.
“Were you wearing a helmet?” she asked.
“Yes”, me and my mother both responded.
She leaves the room, and another doctor comes in moments later.
“You have a broken back, a level three concussion, and you are very lucky.”
“Lucky?”my mom said.
“Yes, if she was to not wear her helmet her head could have serious injuries, or she could have been paralized from the waist down.”
After getting my diagnosis, and treating my injuries, I have never been the same. Everytime I go snowboarding, or skiing, I can never unfeel the chilling numbness. I can never forget the feeling of falling down six feet. The fear is still petrifying, but it gives me perspective. Ever since this day eleven years ago I always am grateful for my brain working correctly alongside with my legs. They are a privilege to me, and I will forever be thankful that my life turned out the way it did. You never know if your life is going to change. All it takes is a few seconds.
