| Abstract: | This article describes the trauma and subsequent struggle of surviving a serious car accident. It deals with the physical efforts to keep me alive as well as the emotional impact and suffering. I was an "active sixty-three" when my life changed drastically. The car I drove en route to a vacation unexplainedly swerved, landed in a ditch and rolled over. I became QUADRIPLEGIC in one instant-paralyzed from the neck down, permanently confined to a wheelchair. I spend several unforgettable months in a Florida hospital, hooked up to life supports, hovering between life and death. I was then flown to New York for rehabilitation. A devoted medical team and supportive family taught be to become somewhat independent with the help of high-tech equipment, preparing me to face the world as a "QUAD." Six years have passed and I still mourn my "body beautiful," but I have accepted my limitations and found new challenges in life. |
