Blogs

I have taken two wonderful weeks off from my regular schedule to be with family in Nelson, BC. While I love where I currently am, I am full of joy when I visit my hometown. Many days were spent with my mother and father enjoying the beauty Nelson has to offer (even with the horrific fires), discussing life, love, the future, or just simply sitting in silence together, enjoying one another’s company. During our time together, I asked my mother if she would feel comfortable opening up to you all and share some of her story. We both could write hundreds of pages about various struggles, memories, people, etc., but today she would like to share a short version of what happened that day, what she has dealt with and continues to deal with, both negative and positive. Continue reading “From My Mother’s Eyes” →

As soon as I was capable of walking on both legs, without any visible casts or scars, people would state “I am so glad you’re okay now”, or when questioning me about the crash would ask, “But your okay now, right?” Some others would question my physical state even with the visible injuries. After discharging myself from the rehabilitation centre, I returned to University of Calgary in an electric wheel chair; however, the only injury that was visible when fully clothed was my left ankle due to the cast. On one of my first days returning to school, I was attempting to get back to my dorm room after a traumatic first day of classes (not all rooms were wheelchair accessible). A construction worker saw me, and yelled, “Wow, I wish I could just zoom around in a chair all day after hurting my leg! Lazy b*tch!” Today, fully clothed, rested, and on medication, I look like your average 23 year old woman. Strip the clothes, bring in the insomnia and chronic pain, and take away the medications, I am the woman who was hit by a vehicle. So when my wellbeing after the crash is questioned, I answer with, “I am much better now”, because the truth is, I am not okay now. I believe I will never be the “okay” that some people think, because my rehabilitation process is lifelong. I have previously discussed how I live my life day by day, because every morning when I wake up, I feel mentally and physically different than the day before. Today I would like to share a bit of my rehabilitation process four years ago, now, and what the future may have to hold. Presently, I see progress that I never believed I would reach during those hospital months, and that’s pretty incredible. Continue reading “Lifelong Rehabilitation” →

On the day of the crash, my father received a phone call informing him of the severity of our injuries, and the urgency of his arrival to Calgary. He, my sister and brother, dropped everything that very moment and drove throughout the night to Foothills Hospital. While mine and my mother’s lives were changed the second our vehicle was hit, so were the lives of my family members. Today I would like to share my perspective on their experience, because an impaired driving crash does not only affect those who were in the vehicle. Their journey is important. Continue reading “A Family Journey” →

This weekend I had the pleasure of spending the Calgary Stampede with my closet friend from home, Carmin. She always seems to bring complete and utter joy in my life, even when there seems to be no joy left in the world. This year was extremely different from the Stampede I remember four years ago when Carmin came to visit. I was in the trauma unit at Foothills Hospital, still undergoing surgeries and not fully aware of my own injuries, nor my mom’s. This was a time where happiness seemed nonexistent. Continue reading “Four Years Ago” →

With my disability, each day is entirely new. I cannot predict how my body or mind will feel the next morning, nor do I know how I will feel in the afternoon or evening. This is one aspect of my life I have come to accept, and one of the ways I have learnt to “live in the now”. While I could write every day about what I am experiencing, and each one would be different, I would like to share a specific story today. Continue reading “Day By Day” →

Today I deal with several different physical pains, including arthritic, muscular, and internal, as well as a new discomfort from a knee surgery I had last Tuesday. Each day I feel something new, and something old, and I always recognize where those pains originate from. After I finished my first year of my degrees at the University of Calgary, I returned to my home in Nelson, British Columbia, for the summer. After a month of enjoying the Kootenays, my mother and I ventured back to Calgary in June to visit family, and on June 9, 2013, we made our way back to Nelson. At the same time, a woman was drinking in a bar all day with her friends and decided to get into a vehicle and drive to her two year old son who needed to be picked up. However, she did not make it that far, and I am beyond grateful that her son was not in the vehicle. While driving around a corner in Skookumchuck, BC, her SUV crossed into our lane and hit our vehicle head on. That moment, and the hour that followed, is forever embedded in my mind, and is a memory I would like to share today so that others may feel comfortable opening up to me, their family, friends, MADD, or any other group/individual that is available and ready to listen. This post may seem darker than the ones I hope to write in the future, but it is an important part of my life that has brought me to where I am today, creating this blog.

Continue reading “Today, While Recognizing The Past” →