1.26.20
2020 started off on a roll…literally.
Two weeks ago today, I was in a severe car accident. This was no fender bender.
I was just leaving church and got called off of work for the day, so I decided to take the opportunity and drive to Cincinnati to watch my little brother bowl in a collegiate bowling tournament. You probably know me well enough by now to know I had my Dunkin’ coffee and hot green tea all ready for the road trip. Little did I know, the road trip wouldn’t last more than ten minutes.
I did nothing wrong. I did everything right.
It was cold and rainy. Not a downpour, just a light drizzle. It had been raining on and off a few days prior as well, leaving the roads really slick. The kind of slick that created a mist when cars drove on the roads. With not even music so much as a distraction, I was not texting, speeding, or by any means distracted from the road in front of me. I just wanted to see my brother. There was a large crack on the inside of the side line of the road that could not be seen until I came around the bend that stared drivers right in the face. It was filled with water, and cars splashed water up on the wall as they turned the corner and drove over it. My car did not have the same response.
Upon driving over it, my wheel lost contact with the concrete. When my car tried gripping the road again, it failed, and I lost control of the wheel. I never felt a force so strong pull against me. I pulled my hands back by my head to let the wheel spin back into place, but instead, it spun around three times by itself, and I knew that was it.
My car slammed into the wall at just under 70 miles an hour, and flipped 7 times across four lanes of traffic on the freeway. I landed right side up on the opposite end of the freeway in the middle of the exit ramp. Looking around and seeing nothing but blood and shattered glass, my first thought was, “there’s no way in hell that just happened.”
I knew I needed to get out of the car. The door wouldn’t open, so I pushed out the window with my hands. I pulled myself out and turned around to see what was left of my car and its contents scattered all over the road. I wondered how I was not in pieces myself, and by the grace of God, how no one hit me, and how I didn’t hit anyone else. Soon, several cars lined the side of the highway and people got out and ran towards me. In a moment where I never felt more helpless and alone, they checked if I was okay or if there was anyone they could call for me, and retrieved blankets from their vehicles to put around me. Within minutes, I was on a stretcher in a neck brace.
I just wanted to see my brother.
After a few days of testing and scans, the doctors told me I had broken seven vertebrae in my spinal column in addition to a displacement-fractured sternum. Any further of a displacement, the bone would have punctured my heart. Thankfully there was no internal bleeding or organ damage, and the only visible injuries were severely cut up hands from the glass, bruising on the side of my head and more severe bruising on my legs.
My parents were boarding a cruise when the accident happened, so the only people who knew about it were the people who absolutely needed to know. My parents asked me not to post anything on social media because there were relatives they did not want to worry right away. So if you are reading this going, “what the heck, how did I not know?” It’s because I did not want anyone to know, or to make a big fuss of something that was completely out of mine or anyone’s control.
Right now I am home with my family where I can take time to properly heal; modeling/work will continue once I am fully recovered. I am focusing on the most important thing – my health. I did a much needed social media fast for a few months to get off on the right start for the new decade, but will be returning to my usual modeling/blogging/singing/lifting/posting very very soon 🙂
On 1.26.20, I came so close to seeing my grandfather again.
On 1.26.20, I thought I would never see my little brother’s smile again.
On 1.26.20, God gave me a second chance on life.
I will not be wasting a minute of it.
I cannot thank the people enough who have helped me: complete strangers, family and doctors alike. I wish I could find those who stopped to help me that day of the accident, and thank them as well.
I encourage everyone to look around and remember just how lucky they are to be alive, and to be thankful for everything they have. Life is so fleeting and so beautiful. Enjoy every second of it.
God Bless,
Kaycie
