Hi,my life drastically changed on Jan.,31st,2003. I had a bad car accident early that morning when my daughter and I were driving to school and she hit black ice,hidden under the snow. The car started to spin,I said,don't hit your brakes,you've hit black ice! I was instantly knocked unconscious,the car did a 360 degree turn,then flipped sideways 3 times and landed upright in the ditch on the other side of the ditch,still running. My daughter looked at me,thought I was dead,bleeding,eyes rolled back in head,unconscious,so she freaked out,turned the ignition off the car,got out in the middle of the road,in shock,waiting for a car to come by. One came by fairly quickly,she got in the car,the lady called 911,and they waited for the ambulance. Now,my side of the car was crunched all the way down to my five foot head and the ambulance couldn't get me out of the car,so they called the firestation,and the firetruck came,used the Jaws Of Life to extricate me from the car. My first memory was someone speaking to me,saying,mam,you've been in a bad accident,we're cutting you out of the car and will have you in the ambulance soon,and I was thinking,this is bad,then went unconscious again.Next,I woke up in the ambulance on a backboard,in extreme pain,yelling,screaming,cursing,then apologizing because I normally don't do that,and the ambulance crew said,it's ok,we can see you're in alot of pain. My daughter was also on a backboard as well,just in case she had some injuries in that area. I grabbed her hand,asked if she was ok,she was hysterical,but physically not hurt too badly,I said,honey,you hit black ice,it isn't your fault and God put the short person on the right side of the car,had you been on that side,you wouldn't be here today. I said,I'm the mom,I'm hurt a bit,but I'll be fine. Then,I went unconscious again. It turned out the seatbelt fractured my sternum,my head cracked the windsield,my head broke out the side window,my right hand had glass fragments in it that had to be removed by an orthopedic surgeon that day and 6 months later that year; I had whiplash,a huge l-shaped laceration on the back of my head,an earring ripped out of my ear,I had a superficial laceration behind my ear,in the crease of my ear,a concussion,loss of consciousness,many abrasions and contusions all over my body. I was in severe pain. My daughter had glass fragments in her ear canal,abrasions and bruises on her body as well,but was released to go home from the hospital. She was supposed to pick out a puppy that day,so I told my husband to make sure she got to do that,and she did. That puppy helped her heal so much. She has ptsd,as do I. Little did I know that I had tbi at the time. My migraines worsened,my short-term memory got really bad,and 18 months later,my short-term memory got so bad,that I asked my family doctor about it,he sent me to neuro-psych for testing and they found right-sided tbi which affected cognition,attention,concentration and motor skills,plus short-term memory. I had stopped working at that point,then went on disability Jan,2005,and it went straight thru due to the tbi. I am still in a grieving process due to the newness of the knowing of the tbi,plus I have no local support to help me deal with all of this. I pray every single day that God helps me come to terms with this,and that He helps me help others with this same condition. I just want my daughter to know how much I love her and that I do not blamer her,ever,for any of this-it was a total accident. If my life can be remembered as one that was used by God to help others,that is what I want. I thank Him for sparing me and am focusing on helping others as much as I can. God bless all of you going thru this difficult trauma,those directly affected and those who are family members and caregivers!

Email Debra Henson/Tabbycat