It was the last day of sophomore year, ecstatic excitement filled the hallways, and the thought of my exams slipped to the back of my head. These emotions made the school day go by so slow, but I couldn’t wait for the clock to hit 2:20 and have the best summer yet. When I turned in my last exam, the thought finally hit me that I wouldn’t be walking back in these doors for the next three months. I’ve never heard a bell sound as good as the one that rang to release us from school and start our summer break. I rushed straight to the cafeteria to meet up with all of my friends and make our plans for the night. This was my last time to say my goodbyes to the people I knew I wouldn't see until next school year, easy come, easy go.
A little later, the eight of us piled up into two cars because not many of us had our drivers license yet, and headed to our go-to restaurant, the Royal Diner. They are known for having some of the best indulgent food, so I ordered a waffle with fries and a mint chocolate chip milkshake to top it all off. We all decided that we were gonna go back to my house and hang out for awhile and have a blast on the first day of summer.
When we got to my house we relaxed on the hammocks for a little, and enjoyed the warm summer breeze, and the sun on our skin. After talking about our summer plans, we hopped off the hammocks and decided to kick things up a notch and ride my four wheeler. I live on five acres so we normally keep things safe and stay on my property so the thought of wearing helmets slipped over our heads. But after a while we got a little too confident and decided to go out on the road. Looking back now, I realize these decisions we made were very wrong. When I am feeling brave enough to get back on my four-wheeler, I always wear a helmet thanks to the inventor, George Barclay.
Flashing back to this dreaded moment, I was driving and my friends Karina and Deana were on the back, I slowly kept pressing the throttle down a little harder, quickly speeding up. Gazing out in the direction we were going, I noticed there was a tree in the distance, I aggressively turned the wheel so that we wouldn’t crash. However, underneath us was a narrow and deep ditch that caused the 4 wheeler to flip. Karina and I soon became submerged underneath the four wheeler while Deanna freed herself and kicked it off of us. Nothing was noticeably hurt so we decided to quickly head back home. I was timid walking inside to tell my mom what just happened but I knew it would have to come out sooner or later.
All I can remember her saying is “You’re very lucky to be alive.”, scorning me on how I need to be more careful.
My sister with a distraught look on her face quickly noticed there was blood covering every inch of the floor coming from a big gash in my foot, as well as my hair turning red with blood. I must’ve been in such shock to not have even realize the amount of pain I was feeling due to hitting my head on a sharp object during the accident. My mom immediately made me sit down in a chair and cleaned up my cuts. They wouldn't tell me how bad my head looked, they just quickly put me in the back of the car and drove me to urgent care.
When we arrived I walked inside while holding a towel over my head and sat there while my mom filled out papers. The waiting room walls slowly closed in around me and it felt like a nightmare I had never wanted to come true. Once she was done with the papers they took me in the back and examined me. The doctor said that I didn't have a concussion and that my skull wasn’t cracked there was just a long, deep cut like a red river running down my head. They said that I needed at least 4 stitches in my foot and 15 staples in my head. I was relieved that I didn’t have a concussion but at the same time I was scared because I have never gotten stitches or staples before. They cleaned my cuts and applied a gel that would numb the areas where they would put the staples.  When they began to put the staples in my head it wasn't the pain of them putting them in, it was the sound. Once the first one was done I was already done with the whole process and just wanted to go home. I counted out the number of staples every time they put another in. Once they were done with staples they stitched up my foot. This didn't take as long as the staples but it was more painful and I could feel it more because I was watching them do the stitches. When they were finally done with the stitches I couldn't wait to get out of there after sitting there in pain for over an hour.
On the way home my mom stopped at frosty freeze and got me a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream, my favorite. Once we got home my mom walked me up the stairs and tucked me in my bed. My fluffy blankets wrapped me in their arms as I drifted off to sleep. I didn't wake up till the next day around 1:00 pm and I continued to keep falling back asleep. I felt so useless during this time and I didn't want to spend the first week of my summer, that I thought was gonna be the best, laying in bed. Six months later, reaching up to touch my scar, I am reminded of this moment and how much I have matured because of it, however this incident will always leave its mark on me. It is always better to be more cautious and wear a helmet than to think you’re against the odds.