I can still remember the kids staring at me when I came back to John Leichty Middle School. Some kids teased me in the hallways saying, “You’re ugly,” “You look nasty,” and “You look like Frankenstein.” I felt frustrated, but I told them, “I might look awful, I might be ugly, but at least I’m alive.”

It all started at 6:20 in the morning, on October 17, 2007 when I was eleven years old. I was going to school and trying to make it on time to my 0 period P.E. class. Before I crossed, I looked both ways as I always do, and noticed that there were no cars in sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a bus rapidly approaching but I didn’t know that the bus would turn so I continued to cross the street. The bus approached and fear paralyzed my body. I was in shock. I felt the heavy wheel shatter my left arm and left leg.

As it continued forward, it collided against my head leaving my skull cracked and swollen. When I woke up from that hit, I saw the bus driver. She looked young and worried as she called 911. Her voice shivered as she asked for the paramedics to take me to the hospital. I told the bus driver, “Miss, can you take me out of here? My left leg hurts, my left arm, and even my head.”


She replied, “No, you must stay there. The paramedics will take you out of here”

I answered, “Please, Miss, I want to get out of here. My left leg hurts, my arm hurts, and my head hurts too.”

She still told me, “Don’t worry the paramedics are coming, so stay calm.”

I told the lady, “I'll get out by myself then.”

I started crying because my body hurt so much, and by myself I started to use my right leg and arm to get out of the bus because the bottom of the bus had burned my back. I crawled as if I was a zombie and I pretended to be happy, so that would not worry more the lady.

However, the lady still kept telling me, “Don’t move the paramedics are about to come!”
Suddenly, the paramedics arrived and they asked me, “How much pain do you feel from 1-10?”

I said, “I feel like in #10 because it hurts me so much.”

Then, the paramedics asked me, “Don’t worry everything will be alright.”

Finally, we made it to the hospital and they put me in an operation room. Before they operated me, the doctor told me that my left arm was broken, my left leg was broken, and I had burnt my right leg. I felt like my brain was popping out. My toe had peeled out of my left foot, my nose was broken, and I had lost a lot of blood.

All of a sudden, I was in a room in a hospital with some metals popping out of my left leg and left hand, some staples in my head, blood, and scars. I saw double image instead of a single image, so I got freaked out.

When I woke up, the nurse told me, “Your mother will come to see you in the afternoon and your father will come to see you at nights.” My mom and dad were not the only ones who came to see me. My uncles, aunts, grandparents, friends, and my cousins also came. I stayed in the hospital and I resisted all the pain in my left leg and went to therapy for my bones to get better...

After four months at home, I felt better but I still had memories of how the Rapid Bus hit me and I still felt scared. I felt a little depressed and tired of not being able to walk and they would authorize me to go to middle school.

After I knew I could go to middle school I would still need to use crutches. I knew that one day I would be able to go back to school. I knew that it would be the same people happy to see me again and alive. Finally, one day, I prepared myself for school; I put on my uniform and got my things ready to go to school.

In March 2008, I made it to John Liechty Middle School and I went to all my classes and the teachers were amazed to see me again, as were my friends. In my elective class there were some kids that I knew and they were happy to see me. I was so proud in my classes, but suddenly in my P.E. class there were some dirty kids teasing me so much and calling me names like Humpty Dumpty, Scar Head, Frankenstein, Zombie, and Cracked Egg.

They told me, “You look like Humpty Dumpty you pathetic fool.”

I didn’t say anything but, I was ignoring them because I got scared of what they would tell me. Soon, I would show them that I was not a weak guy who always stands there and doesn’t do nothing about it.

Moments later, I started to walk without any crutches. My friend, Angel, told me to ignore all the kids calling me names and to keep on with my grades, my life, and my goals. To be honest, Angel always looked out for me like if he was my big brother. He is one year older than me, but he is as big as an adult. Angel saved my life by teaching me to keep my head up, with all the teasing, he told me, “You don’t look like a Cracked Egg just think in something else don’t listen to them.”

I saw the bullies again in my P.E. class and this time they said, “Where are you, Cracked Egg?”

I didn’t say anything because I still felt scared that they would tease me even more and still called me Humpty Dumpty. However, found me and they still teased me because I still had scars in my head and I lost my true self that; I started to use my hood on my sweater to hide my scar in my head.

When I began to walk normally, a lot of accidents happened to me because the dirty kids were now pushing me and making me fall and also teasing me even more. It hurt my feelings and my leg as well, it was hurting me badly. I survived three years in my middle school with A’s, B's and C’s as my grades. When I graduated, I was nervous because I was bald and I showed my scar in front of all the students but the dirty kids didn’t do anything. I think they stop teasing me because eventually the kids got tired of bullying me. I said in front of them that in the future will change because I will no longer have my scars but... you will always have the experience.

I resisted all the teasing and bulling but I still want to thank my friends for helping me see myself and inside of me. If you have someone teasing you, just ignore them because you should be happy that God gave you life. If you get teased, you need to report that you are being teased to the principal or a teacher. If the bully tells you, “I will kill you if you tell someone about this,” just ignore them and tell someone. It’s important to tell someone about kids teasing you because if not the bullies will continue. Tell a supervisor if you are getting bullied because bullying is a seriously a bad thing for you.