Life, With Its Cracks and Bruises

Written and Dramatized by: Ella Kemp

A True Story

I don’t remember too much. I don’t think about the near-death experiences anymore.  They’ve become part of my life. Well at least for me.

I choked almost to death when I was three. I almost drowned when I was eight. It’s always been “almost,” never without that word. I almost died from a car crash, and that is the story I will be telling today. I was eleven.

I have always seemed to be on God’s good side. He has thrown me a bone when I’ve needed it the most. He gave me strength to walk out of the fire, to yell one more time; even though inside my heart I thought I would die.

            It’s odd how sometimes something so calm can spiral into pure chaos in the blink of an eye. My mom was driving home from taking my older sister to softball with me in the backseat, when suddenly I heard two solid forms slam into each other with such force that it shattered the windshield of my mom’s car.

            I looked down groggily at my lower body to assess the damage. Blood was starting to collect on my shirt, and my knees looked like raw meat from the grocery store. My head was pounding something awful, and I felt short of breath, like I had just gotten the wind knocked out of me. Everything was a blur, but the blood collecting on my chest seemed to stand out. I was trapped in the car, I didn’t feel like moving, and black dots were starting to appear on the edges of my vision.  It was probably because of the smell of the blood arising from my knees and chest.

            Suddenly I felt… different. My vision was perfectly fine and I had enough strength to get out of the car (losing my shoe in the process), and I stumbled right into the arms of my mother, who looked very pale. As I collapsed onto the dewy grass, I started to pass out.

             As my vision faded into darkness I heard my mom gasp and with a weak voice manage to croak out, “OH MY GOD! Are you alright? Someone get him onto a stretcher! Are you alright, baby?”

            That followed with the anxious voice of a nurse saying, “Calm down, ma’am. You need to CALM DOWN. You don’t look so hot either.” Finally I faded into unconsciousness, which with all of the crazy stuff going on, was a relief.

            Turns out my mom had a few broken rib bones, and I had a thick wound on my chest, which needed stitches. My dad and my older sister came to the hospital to pick us up.  They brought with them a bundle of sunflowers (my favorite flower). After this, my mom and I slowly recovered, which was the highlight of it all -- knowing that we would be okay. I still am self-conscious in the locker room though… with my big scar.