|
| Free Books & Music |
Click to join Brainstormers101
The EzineXchange - Your Source
For Free Newsletters
Four Wheeling into Trauma
By Regina Starnes
Saturday,
November 4, 1995 would prove to be a day that the Starnes' family would never
forget.
Regina tells it like this:
A friend called to ask me to go four wheeling with him. I was writing one of my term papers and he said we would be back in a little while. He was driving the four wheeler too fast, it skidded, he jumped off and I hit my head on a rock or a tree. No one knows for sure. I was air lifted from the crash site to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C. I was given only three days (at most) to live. I got through the first three days, and it began to look as though I was going to live. I was in a coma for three months.
Later, I was transferred to Charlotte Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlotte, N.C. I stayed there for three months. I had rehab there and learned to feed myself soft foods. At this point, I had a feeding tube.
I had therapy in Frye Regional in Hickory, N.C. for almost a year. I got out of Rehab in Charlotte in February. My mom and I wrote my term papers using an alphabet board. I still could not talk at this point. I did graduate in May, 1996 with a major in Political Science and a minor in Criminal Justice. I recently spent five weeks at Thoms Rehab in Asheville, N.C. I did this to improve my ability to walk. I gained a lot of confidence in myself and am now able to stay alone while mom works.
I have two younger brothers. We all still live at home with mom and dad. My brothers both work. I have two dogs that I adore. They are my constant companions. My lab will not let anyone he does not know get around me. Which my mom is thankful for.
This is all I can think of for now . . .
