Portrait: David
I was 19 when I was t-boned in a little 1997 Mazda Miata by a full-size truck. At the hospital, I didn't understand what was going on.
A little bit about David
I was 19 when I acquired my brain injury. I was heading home for my lunch break when I was t-boned in a little 1997 Mazda Miata by a full-size truck. I was ejected from the car because I was not wearing a seatbelt. I spent 8 days in a coma at the hospital and when I woke up, I was confused about being in the hospital as I thought I was supposed to be at work.
Waking up to a new reality
The nurse informed me of the events that happened, from the day of the accident until my waking up 8 days later having missed my dad's birthday. I was devastated at the fact that I was in a hospital.
I didn’t understand what was going on. I had all sorts of wires and tubes hooked up to me.
I was a level 3 on the Glasgow coma scale, I spent 2 weeks in the ICU and I was then transferred to Childrens Hospital to do intense inpatient rehab. I was out of the hospital and on my way home 2 weeks after getting there. It didn’t take me too long to realise that this was barely the beginning. I still had to do all of my outpatient rehabilitation and I used a wheelchair for the first 2 or 3 weeks after leaving the hospital.
Moving forward
Fast forward to today. I have a warehouse job and I feel it has really helped me along the way as another form of rehabilitation. I still struggle a lot with my long-term memory. My short-term memory sometimes gives me trouble but what I find the hardest is that I live with headaches almost every day or every other day. My neurologist prescribed me an injection and it has really been helping reduce my headaches.
I still think about the day I got into my car accident every day. What could I have done to change it. But I can’t go back in time to fix anything that’s happened in the past. All I can do is fix my actions and plan for a better future.