One Bad Decision Can Change Your Whole Life

Driving is a big responsibility, unfortunately many are not trained correctly to follow driving rules and drive safely. Uneducated drivers are most likely to get in an accident since they don’t take the precautions of driving safely to not cause any type of accident or simply get a traffic ticket. When we talk about driver education we think of the young generations and blame them for being unresponsible and uneducated. Adults should also be reminded of the importance of driver education because they also make mistakes, and one bad decision can impact someone else’s life. To reduce the number of deaths related to driving people should be required to take driving lessons to get a license. As well as having more restricted rules due to distractions while driving, for example, using the phone, even if it’s on hands free, as well as loud music. If people need glasses to drive, they should be required to have their prescription checked every six months to a year to be sure they are driving safely. I was only eleven years old, I had just moved from Mexicali, B.C. to Imperial, CA. learning a new language and adapting to a new life. I was already going through a difficult journey, when on January 24, 2015, a tragedy changed my life forever. I was in the car with my mom driving home, when I hear my mom scream horribly and desperately, I saw a vehicle coming from across the freeway, it hit us by the side. A lady’s vehicle went over us and flipped over multiple times. Everything happened in seconds, I felt blood on my face, I couldn’t feel my left leg, I had glass inside my right forearm, and it was bleeding badly. My mom started calling my name I could see her by the rereview mirror, she was full of blood, she looked scared, and she couldn’t move, she was trapped. The paramedics came and got my mom and I out of the car. A helicopter was there taking the lady that had hit us, we later found out she had died by the impact, as well as that her license was restricted, and she could no longer drive because she got unexpected seizures. She had gone on a trip to the mall with her mom and sister and decided she could drive because she was feeling good that day. She got a seizure in the middle of driving and went the opposite direction and hit us. Nothing happened to the lady’s mom and sister, just some scratches. My mom and I were taken to the hospital, my mom had serious injuries. I was flown to Rady’s Children Hospital in San Diego, CA. due to my left femur being fractured. I got surgery and had an intramedullary nail inserted on my femur and I had to go to physical therapy. It didn’t end there, eleven months later I had another surgery at Mexicali, B.C. because they had inserted the wrong size of the intramedullary nail for my age and weight. Now I was feeling better, going from Imperial to Mexicali 4 days a week to have my physical therapies. It was hard for me because I was in the middle of learning a new language at a new country and I had to take care of myself along with adapting to the situation. It was all too much for an eleven-year-old. Four months went through, and I hit myself by accident with a cabinet at school, it was a matter of seconds when I realized my leg had gotten very swollen and it hurt extremely bad. Due to that, I had to get a third surgery since it had gotten infected because my immune system was weak due to the other surgeries. I was in the hospital for one month and a half and was close to getting leukemia. I had a blood transfusion which saved me from getting leukemia, the doctors said it was caught just in time. It was very traumatic as a young kid; I couldn’t do a lot of fun stuff with my family because everyone was always so protective after the incident. I managed to learn English and continued my studies. Now I’m a student at Imperial Valley College, doing an associate in science, my future plans are to transfer to a UC to get a masters in Dietetics and Nutritional Science to eventually become a Registered Dietitian. Nothing has stopped me from accomplishing my dreams, my left leg is full of scars which I’ve learned to love. It has been a difficult journey; everything changes with the blink of an eye due to someone else’s mistake. I survived and won’t take my life’s second chance for granted. Due to this situation, I was afraid of learning how to drive. I knew I had to be responsible and not only get a driving education for myself but also for everyone else driving near me. I took driving education classes at Imperial and at Mexicali because they are two different countries with different rules and different ways of driving. I’m constantly going from Imperial to Mexicali at least four days a week. I looked for ways to be an educated driver and take every precaution because I don’t want to be responsible of harming anyone.