In a funny way, I always think of the “Cha-Cha Slide” whenever I think about the way things changed so quickly this year. In November of 2020, I was working in Laurel, MD. If I used the outer loop, I would sit in traffic for over an hour to get to and from work. The tunnel cut down on some time and I had an ez-pass. My normal route was the tunnel, and I never second-guessed it until November 17th, 2020.
I had my normal work day and headed out around 4:30. Arrived near the tunnel just past 5, while the sun was still setting and cast an orange glow in the sky. I entered the tunnel and traffic began to slow down. At the time, I was driving a red 2017 Hyundai Sonata, which is lower to the ground than most cars. I would like to believe that a red car with its lights on, at a complete stop, would be easy to see… but I was wrong.
I looked into my rear-view after traffic quickly accelerated and came back to a complete stop. The last thing I saw in that rear-view before impact was a Jeep Wrangler, with a man looking down. He didn’t realize that traffic had come to a stop because he was on his phone.
The impact was brutal, especially for someone who already had nerve and neck pain. I was stunned. I quickly got out of my car, took a picture of the man’s license plate (as I have had people run before), and told him that he needed to meet me just past the tunnel so that we did not create a traffic jam. I called the police on my way out of the tunnel and they sent an officer. The officer did nothing as he said that the tunnel is out of his jurisdiction. He did not write up a report.
When we pulled over to the side of the road past the tunnel, the man apologized over and over for hitting me, but was extremely concerned that he “dropped his phone when we were in the tunnel”. Meaning that it was on his lap when he got out of his vehicle in the tunnel, and he was not paying attention.
We exchanged information and took pictures of the damage. I was in hysterics – my bumper was completely destroyed, some of the framework damaged and the car was definitely close to totaled. It was drivable, but in pieces. His Jeep had one light bulb damaged.
Before I got home, I received a call from the man’s insurance company to confirm details of the accident. I filed my claim when I got home. My father took me to the hospital that night to be seen, though they said that there were no signs of concussion and I “may have just irritated the nerve”. I was sent home to rest. I missed two days of work.
I went back to daily migraines, auras, and pain. I couldn’t escape from the never-ending pain. I returned to the surgeon who completed my Occipital Neuralgia Nerve Decompression and after some tests and examinations, he determined that this accident re-injured my occipital nerve. In order to get back to the progress that I was making before, I would have to get a second surgery, which could make me lose the feeling in the back of my head forever. He said that before jumping on another nerve surgery after just having 2 other surgeries, we should look at other treatment options and other doctors.
In the following weeks, it was a living hell to deal with the car and the claim. I chose to take the car to the shop instead of seeing my family, and when I got to the shop I was told there was no one who could complete the inspection, though they had told me the day prior that they would be there. When we finally got my car into the shop, I had a rental car for a little over a week or two. They did not total the car, but wrote up over $4,800, which was more than half of the worth of the car.
When I got the car back, it would not go over 20mph without jerking uncontrollably and would flash the check engine and oil lights. I took it back to the shop 2 different times for this issue. They said it was the knock sensor. When I took it to the dealership again, they told me that I needed to start coming in every 1,000 miles in order to have a test done to see if this was losing oil. After 2 trips, I had to leave my car for a day or so on the third test. Turns out I needed an entire engine replacement. This was covered by warranty, but left me without my car for over 2 weeks again.
Months later, the tire rod and axle gave out and sent me into a curb on my way to work. This was in my second to last week on this job. I was able to borrow my father’s car for my final week at the company in Laurel before I transitioned to working full-time in Baltimore. I had a rental car for over a month, which they took at the month mark because they ran out of cars. I borrowed my father’s car for a few more days before I took my “family reunion” trip to South Dakota.
Before the accident, my car ran perfectly fine. I didn’t have any issues. It was still “like-new”. After the accident, I came away with pieces of a car that barely functioned. The amount of time and money wasted on my part, as well as family & friends is unexcusable. All of this happened because someone else wanted to text and drive. Because a message was more important to someone than another human being in front of them.
I am working every day to forgive this man and the hell he put me through. I am working on other methods to improve my mental and physical health now as he put a major damper on both. I struggle a lot, but I know that I deserve to tell my story and maybe one day someone will be able to help me get the justice that I deserve. Until then, I am focusing on channeling my energy into my blog, my brand, and my photography. I want to continue to spread the love and share my creative ideas with like-minded people. The cannabis community is one of the things that keeps me going on a daily basis.
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your time. If you have questions, feel free to ask. Feel free to share, comment, etc.
I am putting this blog under construction, so you will see a lot of changes within the next few weeks. I have lots of exciting things planned and cannot wait to share with you all.
Bluntly Bookish in Baltimore 