How life would be different if you were in an impaired driving related crash - Essay Example

Impaired driving car accident I can still recall my accident with a profound vividness. The scars on my face and the brace on my back are constant reminders of that fateful night. The entire episode is etched on my mind, and it is replayed over and over again in my nightmares. It starts with neon flashes obscuring my vision, and then slowly as the scene unfolds, I realize that I am at a party. Then the music gets louder until it is all I can hear and I find myself surrounded by dancing silhouettes.

I am struggling to make out the shapes around me but my vision is only getting blurrier. These shapes begin to move faster and faster until everything around me seems to be spiraling out of control. I feel a wave of fear grip me before everything is brought to an abrupt halt with a sudden jerk, and I wake up, drenched in sweat, gasping for air.These nightmares are only the least of the damages caused by my accident. The accident occurred around six months ago, when I crashed my car into a tree.

I was rushing back home from a party. The reckless driving was owed partly to my speeding and mostly to the influence of alcohol. I remember the car swerving uncontrollably and the next thing I know I was in the ER.The doctors informed me that I had sustained serious injuries in my lower back and the wounds on my face needed several stitches. There was a substantial threat of my spinal tissue being damaged to the extent that it could cause me to become a paraplegic. Thus, I was prescribed bed-rest for six months at least.

Now I live under constant fear of having my lower body paralyzed. Doctors have advised me to give up any physically demanding sports. The athletic body which once hosted the spirit of an enthusiastic snowboarder is now too vulnerable to even the mildest of workouts. I have had to take a prolonged leave of absence from my school and now all of my friends will graduate before I do. My parents have had to cancel our family trip because I will have summer school to attend during the vacations. My criminal record is not as spotless as it used to be, and I know this will impact my college applications.

The promise of the bright future ahead is beginning to fade a little. The weekends I once spent playing at the local bar with my band are now wasted in physiotherapy sessions. My parents have to tolerate the judgmental looks from their peers every time my accident is brought up in a conversation. They blame themselves for putting too much faith in their 16-year old boy. They no longer trust me and I can sense the disappointment in their eyes. Soon after my accident my parents began imposing additional restrictions on my sister in apprehension of any further accidents.

I know that they have my sister’s best interest at heart, but I can see her social life being jeopardized by their over-protective attitude, for which I am primarily responsible. She is being made to pay for my mistakes and even though she has tried to mask it, I know in some deep corner of her heart she resents me for it.All of my life has fallen apart right before my eyes. Everything I had worked to achieve, everything my parents had strived to provide for me is lost over a single night’s enjoyment.

There is no decision in my life that I regret more than this one. Today I could be in school with my friends, or out jamming with my band, may be even go on a tour, see only joy and pride in my parents’ eyes, but instead I sit here in bed, reminiscing my past life knowing that nothing will ever be the same. I had heard about the Modlesky drunk driving case in the news, a teenage girl here in Connecticut who died in a car crash resulting from impaired driving, but never did I imagine that I would be on the other side of the story one day.

If only I could have learned my lesson from her accident and spared my family and myself all this remorse.