The day of the accident:
It happened the first week of summer 2018. It was about two weeks after finals were completed. At this point, Wilmington was a little bit of a ghost town. I had been working all day at my internship and I decided to treat myself to a little break. I decided to go to the beach and watch the sunset.
I was driving to Wrightsville Beach and it was roughly 7 PM. I normally go to Shell Island when I go to the beach, but something today told me to go to the other side near Oceanic. I made my right turn at the intersection near Wings and that’s when everything changed.
There were two cars in front of me and I was minding my distance. I happen to take my eyes off the road for a split second and looked over at the water and that’s when I heard a huge crashing noise and I immediately whacked my head on the wheel with my whole body going forward. I had blacked out for a second. When I regained consciousness, my chest was super tight and throbbing, my head was pounding, and I couldn’t feel my right hand. I looked up to see smoke coming from my car and it crushed from the front side. My first response was to immediately start crying and I began to look for my phone. The impact caused my purse to go flying so basically everything inside my purse was at the bottom of my car.  What had happened was the person in front of the car I was behind braked suddenly, causing the car in front of me to slam on his brakes. I didn’t have my eyes on the road when this happened, causing me to crash.
A bystander came running up to my door, opened it and asked if I was okay and if I could move. I knew I could walk on my own and that my legs weren’t injured, but my chest was throbbing and I was having trouble breathing. She called 911 and was able to get me and my purse out of the car. The guy I hit got out of his car and he was fine. He asked if I was okay. I think he could tell I was pretty shaken up and in a ton of pain.
The police and ambulance arrived soon after. They began asking questions about what had happened. The EMS checked me out and began asking me basic questions to make sure I was aware of what was going on. I remember I kept complaining about my chest and they felt that I needed to be checked out and taken to the emergency room as soon as possible. They were also concerned because my blood pressure was very high, and it was not going down. They tried as much as they could to calm me down before I was taken to the emergency room, but nothing was working. I just wanted to go back an hour and stop myself from ever leaving my apartment.
I arrived at the emergency room and it felt like forever before I was seen. I had to get X-Rays on my chest and my hand. The doctor didn’t think I had brain damage or a concussion, but told me that if I didn’t feel good within the next few days, I would have to come back and get an MRI done. I had sprained my thumb and I had chest contusion from the impact. I was given a brace for my hand and pain meds for my chest. I was ordered to rest and take and easy for the next few weeks. Within those next few days, I was very sore, in pain and had bruises all over my body.
The aftermath of my accident:
After my accident, I was hesitating to get back behind the wheel and drive. I was very fortunate to have great car insurance. The insurance agency not only worked with me throughout my accident but were able to give me a rental car. My car was totaled, and I had to get rid of it. I was heartbroken because that was my very first car and my baby. I was able to find a very nice and reliable car a week after the accident. Every Wilmington local or college student knows that people are crazy drivers down here. When I was getting back to normal and began driving, people tailgating me terrified me. I have had a few panic attacks on the wheel because of people tailgating. It has been five months after my accident and there are times I still get anxiety while driving and have mini flashbacks. Even though it has been five months, I am still healing physically as well. There will be times where I bend the wrong way or move too quick and my chest will begin to hurt.
I was very fortunate and lucky to be able to write this article and be okay today. I had a little angel watching over me that day and the other people involved. I think being in a car accident has made me realize that life is too short and anything can change within a second. This was a very valuable lesson for myself and my driving. I need to pay more attention on the road and reduce my speeding. I had to learn to take my time and to really watch my distance. All I can say is I was very lucky.
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(Photo courtesy of Taylor Winch)