Ever had that feeling of adrenaline rush through your body? It’s a wonderful sensation that most people are afraid of, but I live for it. Whether it’s riding fast on jet skis and being air born from the waves, diving off cliffs, or doing any other crazy thing I love that rush of adrenaline. I never realized how much of a dare-devil until July 7, 2006, the day I had my four-wheeler accident. The day started off wonderfully. A few of my relatives and I were in Pickwick, Tennessee at my nanny’s lake house for summer vacation. We all woke up to a delicious family breakfast.
My nanny woke my cousins and I up just like old times. She walked in the room, sat on the bed and said, “Rise and shine sleeping beauty. ” Then of course my grandfather yelled through the house, “Wake your butts up breakfast is getting cold. ” We had everything: sunny side eggs, smoked bacon, salty country ham, all kinds of juicy fruit, hot cakes, sugary waffles, and every flavor muffin you could possibly think of. It was so mouth-watering; my taste buds were on a rollercoaster. After breakfast, the parents went out on the lake to have “adult time. So my cousins and I decided to go riding back in the woods. Chelsea and I were doing wheelies on the four-wheelers. Wheelies are so fun; I get the feeling of butterflies in my stomach every time I do them. Jessica was riding her four-wheeler backwards. Johnathan was doing tricks on his dirt bike. We were doing all kinds of tricks and cool things. We even had races to see who could go the fastest. Then we found a spot in the dirt that was really wet. We saw that is was safe, so we started playing around in it. We did what most people call “mudding. We all had a blast until Johnathan flooded his engine, and Chelsea started complaining about having mud all over her. So they decided to go home and let Jessica and I keep riding. Since Jessica and I were by ourselves, we went back to riding on the road in front of the lake house. Jessica wanted to go to what we call “The Drop. ” The Drop is a huge and very steep hill near the entrance of the neighborhood. Riding down the slope is very fun, but I wanted to make it even more extreme. I wanted to ride down it backwards! Jessica said, “Angel I wouldn’t do that, it’s not safe,” but I had it all planned out in my head.
I would ride to the top, put the four-wheeler in neutral, ride down it in reverse, and land safely at the bottom of the hill. In my head it seemed like a great plan, and I thought nothing would go wrong. I drove to the top of the Drop, put the four-wheeler in neutral, started riding down backwards, and everything was just fine. Then I turned around to make sure I was heading in the right direction. The only thing I saw was I huge tree! In this situation, most people would have hit the brakes, jumped off into the grass, or something, but I stayed on the four-wheeler.
The only thing I could think about was, oh crap I am going to hit that tree. I hit the tree and started flipping. Since I was on the top of a hill when it first flipped, it flipped continuously until it stopped at the bottom. The four-wheeler, with me still on it, flipped eight times before reaching the bottom of the hill. As it rolled down the hill I continuously banged my body against the four-wheeler and asphalt. Miraculously, the continuous beating did not knock me out. Though, it did cause me to close my eyes in fear that I was going to die.
My life was simply flashing before my eyes with each flip. While flipping eight times might seem horrifying, the true horror for me was at the bottom of the hill, when I had stopped flipping and finally had a chance to open my eyes. I opened my eyes and saw nothing but red! My first thought was that I was in h-e-double hockey sticks, until I heard Jessica’s voice hollering, “Angel, Angel, are you ok? I’m going to get help! ” Once I looked at the ground and felt the puddle of blood, I came to realize I had busted my head open, and the redness in my eye sight was from the blood gushing down my face.
I then tried to move and noticed that I was sandwiched between the four-wheeler and the asphalt. After noticing my position, the “super woman” in me kicked in, and I began to try to get the four-wheeler off of my body. In doing so I used all of my energy, and burned my leg on the engine. I had lost all control of the situation at this point, and could do nothing more but lay in pain wondering when God would just take me. That is, until a bright light appeared a few yards away from me. My first thought was that the light was my calling to Heaven, but it began to get closer and closer and I saw that it was only a truck.
In this truck was an old man who lived up the street. This man noticed me and came over to help. He pulled beside the four-wheeler and got out of his truck. He and Jessica then helped me out from under the four-wheeler and drove me home. Still to this day I do not know that man’s name, but I do know I thank him very much for saving my life. That man is my hero and always will be. Once I got home and began to check and clean myself up, I realized how badly I was hurt. I saw my blood running down the drain, gravel falling from my head and ody, little sticks and limbs dropping out of my hair, and all the road rashes I had. I never really felt the pain until I saw the damage. As I stood looking in the mirror at my beat up body, it hit me that I had just survived an experience that put me very close to death. I then realized everything I had taken advantage of, and how I had not been living life as good as I should be. My experience has taught me a lot. Today, I look at life with a thankful perspective. I view each morning, each breath, each moment as a blessing. I have also learned to live in the present.
I do not care much about the past because I know it is over and I cannot change it. I do not stress on the future because anything can happen and we do not even know if tomorrow will even come. I live in the now and see each and every moment as an important one. I no longer take advantage of things. I am no longer a dare-devil, and I take precautions with everything I do now. Yes, my experience left me with a dent in my skull and a burn on my leg, but it has not stopped me from living my life, it has just allowed me to live it a little better.
