Tonya Mallet:  

Life It is amazing how one split second can change your life. The following story is not for the weak or faint hearted... August 25th 2005, I was driving my friend Steph home from Salsa dancing. We never made it. A woman who had been distracted by a shiny red ferrari, went through a red light, and came to a complete stop in my ribcage. I must have been unconscious for awhile because the next thing I knew I was arguing with the ambulance attendants that there was no way in hell that I would get out of my car. They managed it somehow because I woke up in the emergency room minus all of my brand new dance clothes. I was absolutely terrified that something wasn't quite right. Indeed, I had 8 broken ribs, a collapsed lung, multiple fractures in my pelvis and pubic bone, a fractured sacral wing, a broken right arm and several really bad bruises. They discovered that I have a high tolerance to pain meds because nothing worked. They eventually had to put me on this stuff that is 7 times as strong as morphine. You can imagine the hallucinations! I was still wide awake when they inserted the chest tube to clear out my chest cavity and was convinced that the doctor was way too young to be operating on me. I let him know it, poor man. I insisted that my brother stay with me during the entire procedure. I spent most of the time laughing and telling jokes which only made sense to me. Kit got a kick out of it but he always did have a morbid sense of humour. The police officer that was investigating the accident came to see me in emerg. I guess he was wondering if I was still alive. Steph told me that everyone in the hospital knew it because they could hear me howling. The good man also wanted to pass the message on that the lady had admitted fault. Steph got out the next day but I spent 15 days there. Personally I think that they released me way too soon because I could barely walk. They brought me home in an ambulance and carried me in. I had a wheelchair and a walker and live...Expand for more