“I hadn’t laid eyes on him for at least 10 minutes — or had it been 20? Immediately, everything around me swirled and blurred. The only thing in focus was the red flag flapping violently above the lifeguard station. The white-capped waves were deafening. Horrible scenarios flooded my mind.”
‘I lost one of my kids. As the crowd dispersed, two of my boys walked over to me, but my son was nowhere to be seen. I called his name, paralyzed in fear.’
‘His last text said, ‘Bank robber.’ My heart raced and I ran upstairs. I received a message from a stranger offering condolences to my fiancé. I had no idea what was going on.’
“After several unanswered phone calls and texts, I rushed to the hospital. The surgeons called me into a tiny room with a white board. The news didn’t hit me until I had to relay it to my parents. All we could do was sob.”
‘John was my PATIENT, and I was married. With tears streaming down my face, I looked at him. ‘Do you want to get married?’ We held each other in the tightest hug, and just sobbed. Hard.’
“I was working in an oncology clinic. John was a new patient. I couldn’t help but notice his sparkling eyes, and nervous smile. His doctor came in and held his hand. ‘It’s time, John.’”
‘I looked over at my beautiful baby girl, her blue eyes staring back at me. ‘I’m going to get through this. I’m going to get back to you Casey.’ Fighting for my life was the only option.’
“I couldn’t even fathom what he was saying to me. I was 26 years old, and just gave birth to my daughter 3 weeks before. ‘I can’t stay in the hospital. I need to go home and take care of my newborn.’ ‘Call your family. Tell them they need to come here, right now,’ the doctor told me.”
‘My friend was sure I was dead. I was pronounced dead on arrival. The first call was to the hospital to get the body bag ready, then my aunt to tell her I was clinically dead for 6 minutes.’
“We stopped in the middle of our street after a car drove up next to us. My mother asked for my clothes and shoes, but my aunt told her they were too drenched with blood to save. Blood was pouring out of my shoes.”
‘We just don’t know right now. We will have to wait and see.’ WHAT?!? In less than 24 hours, my sweet, active, PERFECT baby boy was paralyzed from the neck down.’
“As the doctor was trying to tell me it was ‘just a virus,’ I looked at her and said, ‘But he can’t move.’ She suddenly stopped and looked at him a little closer. After prompting him, he still did not move. I saw the panic rush across her face. My entire world collapsed in front of me.”
‘Who is this,’ I asked. ‘This is Ty’s assistant principal. I just came upon a car accident on my way home. It’s Ty, and he is not good.’ Wait, what?
“I told him I would let him know when I was home from school, so he could come pick me up. Little did I know when I made that phone call, the details I heard on the other end would change our lives forever. Nothing would ever, ever be the same.”
‘I was ejected and thrown 50 feet from my car. I died that day. I knew I couldn’t feel my legs, but I didn’t know why. I was told I would never walk again.’
“I think every girl dreams of walking down the aisle to her husband. I had pictured it in my head since I was a little girl. I didn’t want that picture to play out differently just because of my accident. So I chased my dream.”
‘I have a confession. I have a crippling fear my child will get taken.’
“The fear of losing one of my children at a park, or the zoo, or even the grocery store, has paralyzed me. The fear of someone taking one of them is so overwhelming, it is often easier and safer to just stay at home.”
‘What is happening? I am trying to move but nothing is happening. Am I going to die?’
“My arms weren’t doing what I wanted them to. They felt clumsy and my thoughts seemed to be in slow motion. The next thing I knew, I was collapsing onto the floor of my closet.”
