ABSTRACT

This article describes the trauma and subsequent struggle of surviving a serious car accident. It deals with the physical efforts to keep me alive as well as the emotional impact and suffering.

I was an “active sixty-three” when my life changed drastically. The car I drove en route to a vacation unexplainedly swerved, landed in a ditch and rolled over. I became QUADRIPLEGIC in one instant–paralyzed from the neck down, permanently confined to a

I spent several unforgettable months in a Florida hospital, hooked up to life supports, hovering between life and death. I was then flown to New York for rehabilitation. A devoted medical team and supportive family taught me to become somewhat independent with the help of high-tech equipment, preparing me to face the world as a “QUAD.”

Six years have passed and I still mourn my “body beautiful,” but I have accepted my limitations and found new challenges in life.