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| All smiles after the accident |
After going no further than a mile or two, Sam and I were in an accident, and the rest of the night is a blur. From what I barely remember and from what I am told, we hit a ditch at just the right speed to screw up our path and send the honda flying. Though I don’t remember, I apparently grew wings and flew off the honda a few feet and came to a painful halt not far from it. Sam was pinned under the honda with one arm free and we think the adrenaline of the event caused him to be able to push the honda off of him to call for help. With a very confused Paige in tow, Sam guided us back to the village where we met up with our health aid who quickly took us to our clinic.
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| Ready for surgery! |
Truth be told, I don’t remember the accident, and I barely remember the rest of the night. One thing I know for sure is that Sam and I are very lucky to come out of this in the condition that we did. As scary as it is to think about, I realize that I could’ve hit a rock and not woken up. I could have broken multiple bones or have been paralyzed. But I wasn’t.. Those who know me know that I’m the type of person who believes that this happened for a reason and that someone was looking out for us and wanted us to walk away from this incident. Regardless of this belief, Friday was by far the scariest night of my life, and I don’t even remember most of it.
Luckily, our health aid is a very capable and skilled man who took our health very seriously and asked all the right questions to learn about mine and Sam’s injuries. I even had him on the phone with my sister (a nurse) at one point, and he was considerate enough to ask her if she thought he might have missed anything in checking us over. Though we normally would have been taken to the hospital that night, medivacs are quite costly and our injuries didn’t call for immediate attention. Unfortunately, this meant a very painful night for this girl. It also meant that a great friend gave up her own sleep to wake me up every twenty minutes to ask me questions and ensure that my brain was still working properly. I only got one question wrong (I think), and we’ll blame it on lack of sleep..
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| Out of it at the hospital:/ |
The next morning, our health aide came to check on us and to let us know that he had secured us a flight to Anchorage where we would be taken to the hospital for treatment. While I normally stay awake on bush flights, I slept through the entire flight, and missed some great sight-seeing as we flew through an area known as “The Pass” which I’ve never flown through before. Oh well, that is life.. Conveniently, the air field is located right next to the hospital we were going to, and the plane was able to taxi right up to an awaiting ambulance. Talk about first class treatment;) Adding to the firsts, I took my first and hopefully last ride in an ambulance and was wheeled into the hospital on a stretcher.
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| Momma Bear and Big Sister |
Over the next few hours, I was pumped with fluids, taken for a CAT scan, and had X-rays taken right from my room (technology is an awesome thing). My injuries include a concussion with loss of consciousness, a subconjunctival hemorrhage (a.k.a blown blood vessel in my eye which led to severe bruising and a half-red eye), a sprained wrist, and some bruising. I’ve since been told that it’s important that I don’t have another traumatic brain injury (sounds scary, right?!) in the next six months as it could lead to a more serious condition. After I was poked and prodded, I was reunited with Sam who had been diagnosed with a broken collar bone and told to schedule surgery, and we were sent on our way.
Luckily for me, I have an over-protective Momma and big sister who were fortunate enough to be able to hop on a few planes and meet up with us at the hotel soon after we were released. I spent the next two days in a fog, connecting with those I haven’t talked to in awhile and feeling incredibly thankful to have survived with only the injuries I received. My mom and sister even had some time to escape and sight see which I was happy about since they flew all the way to Alaska! Nikki was even able to map out some spots she wants to visit with her husband when they come to visit in just a few weeks.
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| Taking advantage of a trip to Alaska:) |
The past week has truthfully been a blur, and my concussion has not left me unscathed. Friends can tell you that I normally remember very random things and have a great memory, but this week my memory has been tested. I’ve been guilty of asking Sam a question right after I asked him it a first time, with no memory of asking it the first time. I’ve also repeated myself on phone calls and have gotten to the point where I ask someone if I’ve already told them the thing I wanted to tell them. These minor inconveniences are things I will gladly live with if it means that I get to live.
In the past week, I’ve been told time and again this week that a helmet should have been on my head, and I know this is true. To be honest though, hondas are the village equivalent to cars and helmets are not typically seen as necessary. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that they are important and save lives, as am I devoted to purchasing one and hoping to never need it’s protection. However, unlike many people might think, we take hondas out as a mode of transportation and sometimes it is easy to forget how dangerous taking a short ride can be.
This past week has reminded me that life can end in the blink of an eye. The kindness of friends, family members, and complete strangers has brought me to tears and has had me counting my blessings. I am thankful to walk away from this accident with the injuries I sustained, and hope that the next few weeks are calm and filled with healing. Thank you to those of you who have called, texted, emailed, or reached out in any other way. Your thoughts and prayers stay with me and have helped get me through some tough moments.
*I was incredibly saddened to hear about a recent tragic passing back home due to an ATV accident. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the young boy who was lost.