Linda C

Hello everyone, My name is Linda Collins..The day my life turned around was May 26, 2002. My husband of a month was driving the motorcycle , I don't remember anything of that morning except a few little things. We were riding with other people & a friend behind us told me "Joe" was riding carelessly, was going down a back road about 50 mph & did not realize a Stop sign was ahead, he tried to stop & the bike skidded & then went on it's side & we slid, I'm still not sure when I got thrown off but someone told me I flew up & down head first on the pavement, they say i was having problems breathing , etc.. he was fine. The police report says he was at fault for his wife's injuries & because she is in a coma & life support with brain swelling , no charges will be filed until they see what happens to me, they say they smelled alcohol on his breath, but somehow got to come on Life Star Helicopter with me & I guess then he took off for awhile, the med records say they brought me back twice on helicopter, was flown to Hartford hosp, was put in an induced coma, that night called my kids from my x-husband & told them to come to hospital.. I had I guess 9 hours of brain surgery & surgery to fix the rim of my eye, fractured femur, ankle, shoulder, broken ribs, collapsed lungs,etc... I was in the coma for about a month, as I had pnemonia & my lungs were in distress. I remember some things while I was sleeping , I remember seeing my step-son, a nurse telling me i was in an accident, & never thought to talk for some reason, I dont' know why but when the nurse told me that I remember thinking Wow is this real?, but went back out. When I woke up my children & there Dad were there, they say i was talking all weird, I thought I was at a resterant, I saw 2 of everyone, there Dad just told them , dont' forget mom is on alot of medicine & had hit her head hard, they were so glad I called them by name, I don't remember alot after that, stages when they would feed me jello or whatever, had alot of weird dreams during that time, I think it took me a couple weeks to realize the nurses when I heard them talking in the hall were not in the other part of the hotel .:), once i started waking up though things became alot clearer, when I was stable went to Gaylord Rehab, they were amazed at were I was, as far as understanding things, It was my left frontol lobe, so alot of my problems are with initation, memory, attension span, organization, planning, budgeting - cognitive stuff - when Ileft Gaylord went back to this "husband" & it did not take long before I was being poked again, pinched in the face, poked in the ribs, & being bald & having my head opened up, he would say next it will be your head.. I can't believe I took this before the accident, only had known him for a short time, but had been sober for a long time & went back out to drinking & I'm sure that clouded what decisions I made, plus I had my cat - Toby my little boy, I did not know were to go with him, which was stupid because when I left when he was in court, I was not able to pick Toby up, Just took my walker & left, the acciden t was terrible but going through this stuff with him was hard, he would get mad at me because "he was so bored when I was in the coma', Left went to my mom's for awhile then to residental housing, he had called & left a message because I did not call him back he threw Toby outside, I went up there the next day with my son & called him but could not find him, it just killed me knowing he was outside somewere, now when I volunteer at paws for animals that don't have homes , I do it also for toby hoping someone fed him & took him in. I did a "Do it yourself Divorce" I was determined not to die his wife, & he has not bothered me in awhile, although he is on probation, so needless to say have to work on Forgiveness & I'm finding it really hard. I'm grateful my x-husband, my chldrens Dad & I are still great friends. have t o stop for now

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