When I was ran over, I was 16. I had surgeries up until I was 17. Getting over the burn on my back was probably the hardest thing to look past out of all the injurys I went through. I never really knew what to think about it? It covers 1/3 of my back. For a while, I felt like it was just hideous and my body was ruined and no guy would ever think I was cute if they saw it and it really got to me and my self esteem most of all. As time went by, people would ask me questions like for example, if I were to bend over and u could see some of my back, someone would ask what was on it or what happened to it?! I used to be emberraced to answer because of course I would say ,"I got ran over". They would ask how, and I hated saying that I was laying in the driveway because it sounds so dumb! And when you tell someone you got ran over, they are like "what?!" "how?!" and I really didn't like telling people because I felt like when I told people my story it sounded like a sob story and I'm not the type of person who likes attention. It's always awkward to hear/see people's reactions when I tell them I was ran over.. Even to this day. People would say things like ,"oh my goodness, are you okay?!" and I would just choke up and say,"ya I'm perfectly fine now." I'm 20yrs old now, and it doesn't get brought up much anymore, even though it really affected my life and my outlook on life. I still get those occasional questions of how I got ran over, now I just sort of make light out of it. I tell them what they want to know and say proudly," yup, it really was a miracle." or ,"ya you would never tell by lookin at me, huh?". I am now married to a great husband. He completely looks over my back burns. A little while after we first started dating I asked him what he thought of my back at first. He told me he didn't know about it really, he said it didn't gross him out or anything, he was just scared of it, like he was afraid he would hurt it some how. He got used to it and it doesn't bother him at all now. We got married and had a child together. She is now 1yrs old. We had the scare of maybe having to get a c-section when she was born due to the screw in my pelvis. How ever, it did not affect her birth at all. It truely makes me feel a little more normal to know nothing can stop me now from living a normal life. I do have to deal with the burns for the rest of my life, but they are just scars.
Since the accident, when I turned 18, I actually got a tattoo above the burn on my back. It's a tree that has routes that somewhat look like they come from my scar. The tree stands for uniqueness. I have my own unique story of how I survived something almost impossible. No one has a story just like mine and that's why I wanted to get it. Every burn victim has their own unique story. It's something to be proud of to be a survivor.
I now look back and believe that god won't put anyone through something they can't do. I think this happened to me because he knew I could get through it and honestly I think it was a wake up call for me. Me and my husband take road trips quite often, I enjoy being able to live life and not take things for granted. I'm almost thankful it happened to me because before, I was living life so ungrateful, I was a rebellious teenage daughter to a big extent and I say I love you to close ones and family so much more now. You never know what could happen. I would never think in a million yrs that would have happened to me. I am also proud to say I work full-time, I don't take a dime from the government for disability, food stamps, insurance, nothing. Every penny I have, I work for. I may be only 20, and most would say that is young. But to me, it's maturity that matters, not the age. Because of my traumatic experience, I believe it helped straighten me and my life out. It took me 3-4 yrs to open up and discuss my accident, but I am now determined to help and encourage others. Watch out America, I'm ready to help make a difference :)
Visit http://www.burnsurvivorsttw.org/home.html for more burn victim survival stories and become a part of the online community!
