Conservative Student News

Think that your life looks pretty good? That can all change in one night. When it does—it’s up to you to get things back on track. If you work hard enough, you will not only overcome the obstacles life throws at you, but will also learn something from them.

My story takes place on Aug. 29, 2006. I took a trip up north to celebrate my brother’s recent engagement. I was a St. Thomas student, just like you. I was majoring in Accounting and Entrepreneurship, taking 5 classes, and working over 30 hours a week—busy, just like you. Things were going very well and I was enjoying my life. However, in the blink of an eye, my whole life was about to change.

On that evening, I was riding with my brother and his friend in the friend’s car. The ride abruptly ended; we had crashed.

Thankfully, my brother and his friend escaped with only bumps and bruises. However, I did not fare quite as well. I suffered from a punctured lung, a torn diaphragm, and broken neck. I also suffered brain damage, at the point of impact, as well as shearing throughout my entire brain, especially within the frontal lobe.

I spent three months in the hospital, due to these injuries. The doctors thought that I would not make it and if I did, it would be in a paralyzed state. While this was not the case, I did suffer quite serious brain injuries.

The area of my brain that suffered from the direct impact of the crash is that which controls balance, coordination, vision, and speech. Because I lost control of my balance and coordination, I needed to use a wheelchair for the three months I was in the hospital. Also, because this area is linked to my vision and speech, I have double vision and slightly slurred speech, to this day. These symptoms continue to resolve as my condition improves, but nerves always take the longest to heal.

The damage to the frontal lobe was also quite significant. The frontal lobe controls higher cognitive functions, such as problem-solving, self-monitoring, attention-skills, mathematical cognitions, and any complex thinking. However, every brain injury is unique. This is where I got lucky. I underwent numerous tests and each revealed that none of these areas had been negatively affected!

I had gone from a successful student to a guy in a coma just in a matter of seconds. Once I woke up, therapy began. While I was in the hospital, I had therapy from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. However, I wanted to get better and go home. At the end of the day, when therapy was over, I went back to my room and worked out for a few hours. Then, to keep my mind sharp, I also read until after midnight.

Once I got out of the hospital, my recovery period did not come to a close. I continue to progress physically—working to get back to where I was. Before the car crash, I had a 4.5 mile run that I took three or four times a week. Currently, I am able to run two miles non-stop. I have also been going to the gym since mid-December. At that time, I could bench 45 lbs., 10 times. Now, I’m up to 110 lbs., 10 times.

Also, to keep my accounting skills sharp, I have been reading my old textbooks and doing problems from it every night. I have had my former professors e-mail me the check-figures so that I can check my answers.

Recently, I got a job at a nearby grocery store. The manual labor will help to build back my coordination. At the beginning of February, I also regained the ability to legally drive, and have been enjoying the freedom from that. This summer, I am going to move back to St. Paul. I will also be working at Deloitte, which has been an excellent source of support to me throughout all of this.

This whole incident has taught me one very important lesson. After the accident, my life appeared to be in shambles. I could have easily just passed the rest of my time collecting my insurance, unpaid wages, and watching Wheel of Fortune.

However, I also saw this as a challenge and decided to work to make the best of it—rather than give up. Things I had taken for granted—I now had to work for. The odds were against me, but I found that my persistence and stubbornness would not allow me to let this accident get the best of me. While it has been a hard road, I picked the path of hard work and haven’t slowed down for over six months. If you work hard enough for something, you will achieve it.