Alive to Tell | Teen Ink

Alive to Tell MAG

April 25, 2009
By nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.&quot;<br /> -- William Shakespeare


There isn't a night I'll remember more vividly than December 26, when my girlfriend and I were struck head-on by a drunk driver – the night when the choice to wear our seatbelts saved our lives.

Emily and I were driving along a rural road, heading for a movie. I was behind a couple of cars, following them out of town. I was rounding a slight bend when brake lights began to flash and the cars in front of me swerved off the road. Before I knew what was happening, a pair of piercing headlights were in my lane, blinding me. I had no chance to react before the impact.

I blacked out, waking minutes later to someone asking if I was okay. Still dazed, I told him I felt banged up but didn't think I was seriously injured. I could hear Emily talking to someone too, and I realized with relief that she was all right. I asked about the driver of the other vehicle and the man said she was fine but that she smelled like alcohol.

I couldn't believe the other driver had been drinking. I felt incredibly frustrated. To think that someone's stupid decision to drink and drive could have ended Emily's life or mine infuriated me.

Emily was able to get out of the car on her own, but I couldn't. The driver's side was so smashed that the door wouldn't open and the dashboard pinned me against my seat. I sat in the cold, wearing only a thin shirt, for an hour before the firemen managed to pry me out with the jaws of life.

Later, a sheriff's deputy visited my parents who were by my side in the trauma center of the hospital. I overheard him say it was the woman's third drunk driving offense. Why she was even allowed on the road?

The soreness and frustration from that night carried into the next few days, especially when my father and I went to the junk yard to see my car. I could hardly believe my eyes. It was so contorted that it didn't look like a vehicle anymore. I couldn't help but wonder how we made it out alive. I felt queasy as the memories flooded back.

I was involved in a head-on collision with a drunk driver the day after Christmas and was lucky to suffer only a bruised wrist and a few stitches. I feel very grateful; I know that Emily or I could have died that night. It was a shocking reminder of how one bad decision can affect many lives.


The author's comments:
After my accident my body was too sore to really do anything but write, so I turned my experience into an 8,000 word short story over the period of about a week. This is just a synopsis of it that I thought I'd take the time to create and share with other people my age.

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This article has 32 comments.


FULLSTOP GOLD said...
on Mar. 16 2012 at 3:56 pm
FULLSTOP GOLD, Skipton, North Yorkshire, Other
13 articles 7 photos 103 comments

Favorite Quote:
forever and ever and ever and ever will never be enough

w. this user has probably stopped using teenink but i think he has gone through a lot and to be able to put that into words is amazing and brave. i am glad that both he and his girlfrind were okay and think that drunk driving is awful. i too, have had traumatic experiences with drink driving. :)

on Nov. 16 2011 at 3:59 pm
Brokenness_is_Beautiful SILVER, Independece, Louisiana
6 articles 3 photos 77 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life is so ironic to understand fully, it takes sadness to know what is happiness. noise to distinguish silent and a broken heart to find true love.

I'm so sorry this happened to you but I am so glad you and your girlfriend are okay. Maybe you can make a difference in someone's life through your experience!

on Apr. 8 2011 at 2:50 am
RadiahMariaBelak BRONZE, Singapore, Other
1 article 3 photos 63 comments
Great one!! very good picture description.

on Feb. 23 2011 at 7:53 pm
Internal-Love PLATINUM, Queens, New York
33 articles 3 photos 310 comments

Favorite Quote:
Nothing&#039;s black or white, its all just a shade of gray---<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> TI &quot;Live your Life&quot; ft Rihanna

its nice hearing about drunk driving from a different point of view (as in the person who got hit by a drunk driver)

Maybe the woman was an acoholic, or reckless but either way I'm so glad you and Emily survived :)


on Nov. 27 2010 at 3:58 pm
SkyDeer PLATINUM, Mebane, North Carolina
20 articles 19 photos 49 comments

Favorite Quote:
Respect the nerds, they will be your boss someday- The Computer Guy.<br /> The best is yet to come and baby won&#039;t it be fine- A band.<br /> Defiant is the best word in the dictionary!

No kidding that lady doesn't need to be on the road!

on Nov. 5 2010 at 5:27 pm
squalur996 GOLD, Henderson, Nevada
10 articles 3 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character....would you slow down? Or speed up?<br /> -- Chuck Palanick

all your thoughts about how you felt afterwards made it all the more real.  I mean that lady really should not be let on the road!!!

on Nov. 5 2010 at 3:36 pm
Savannainthesky GOLD, West Suffield, Connecticut
11 articles 0 photos 107 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;It may have been in pieces.. but I gave you the best of me&quot;-Jim Morrison(the doors)

omg i'm so happy u and your gf are still alive. Great wrting and if u have time, plz look at some of my works

on Oct. 14 2010 at 12:06 pm
xxEllaxStarxx BRONZE, Petersburg, Alaska
3 articles 2 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
The hardest thing to do is watch the one you love, love someone else.

Oh my God. 

People these days amaze me with their stupidity. 

Great, great work! 

 


on Aug. 9 2010 at 10:25 pm
goldmansharone GOLD, Boulder, Colorado
13 articles 0 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
A different world cannot be built by indifferent people<br /> What a miserable thing life is: you&#039;re living in clover, only the clover isn&#039;t good enough. <br /> You&#039;ll never shine if you don&#039;t glow.<br /> Selfishness is a horrible trait.

Wow! Great essay.. It is so scary how your life can be taken away by the selfish act of a drunk person. You can be the most cautious, corteous person on Earth... and still get into problems.

Coop123 BRONZE said...
on Aug. 5 2010 at 11:29 pm
Coop123 BRONZE, Mt. Airy, Maryland
1 article 0 photos 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
Deja vu&#039;! This is the part where I tell you to SHUT UP!!!

I'm so glad your alive. A kid who just gradu8d from highschool just got bullbozed by a trash truck in my neighboor hood. hes dead

on Jun. 4 2010 at 1:40 pm
Brandon3607 GOLD, Lemoore, California
15 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&nbsp;

Wow that is ABSOLUTLY amazing

on Mar. 5 2010 at 2:32 pm
AlexMariexx BRONZE, Florissant, Missouri
1 article 3 photos 9 comments
I'm so glad that you and your girlfriend survived that accident.. I really do not like drunk drivers. I hear stories from the immature kids at my school all the time and I always wonder.. Whats the point? There really isn't a point to it. We really need people like you to inform others the risks of drunk driving and the possibilities of what could have been. So thank you for this.

on Nov. 21 2009 at 6:42 pm
nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.&quot;<br /> -- William Shakespeare

It's exactly why I'm trying to be an example. Granted, I'm only one person in a huge world and I don't know how much impact it'll have . . .

on Nov. 20 2009 at 5:47 am
dragonfan SILVER, Arcidia, Indiana
9 articles 1 photo 213 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Death truly makes an artist&quot;

ya but drinking isn't really the best way to "solve" problems. I wish people would learn that

on Nov. 19 2009 at 10:00 pm
nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.&quot;<br /> -- William Shakespeare

It is pretty sad. It probably explains why she was drinking and driving in the first place though . . .

on Nov. 19 2009 at 3:02 pm
dragonfan SILVER, Arcidia, Indiana
9 articles 1 photo 213 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Death truly makes an artist&quot;

well thats sad but,well at least it was her and not u or ur gf

on Nov. 19 2009 at 8:38 am
nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.&quot;<br /> -- William Shakespeare

It's interesting that you say that, because the woman who hit me back in December just recently died of lung cancer. so yes, it normally ends in death, whether it be instantaneous or eventual. Life works in funny ways.

on Nov. 19 2009 at 8:36 am
nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.&quot;<br /> -- William Shakespeare

I know you posted this comment months ago, but seeing it now made me want to look back on the story. I'm actually thinking about possibly editing it and sending it piece by piece to this site. Thanks.

on Nov. 19 2009 at 8:34 am
nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.&quot;<br /> -- William Shakespeare

What's really interesting is that I know she won't drink and drive any more. The woman who hit me back in December, actually died just recently from lung cancer.

on Nov. 19 2009 at 8:24 am
nextkidd30 SILVER, Oregon, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Now join your hands, and with your hands your hearts.&quot;<br /> -- William Shakespeare

EXACTLY! It seems like nothing is a good enough deterrent to stop all people from drinking and driving. This was why I wanted to write this article. I wanted to get my message across to everyone my age and I'm glad they chose it to be in the magazine. I've gotten another article published in AAA Magazine talking about drunk driving and how terrible it is, but that's targeted more towards adults. I just wanted my message to get across to everyone. It may not do much, but at least I'm a living example. I really appreciate your comment.