Greetings to all the friends who make life in the community below I present my entry to this weekend's activity. I have chosen the theme of life and death situations I have faced, so my story begins.
I remember those days when my friends and I would sneak out of school to go to Los Proceres Park, a recreational park in the city of Caracas, Venezuela. It was a fun activity that we looked forward to every week, we didn't do anything extraordinary other than walk around the large areas, talk and run, all very healthy activities, apart from the fact that our parents didn't know we were there. However, one day, my friend Juan decided to propose something different and extremely risky. He proposed that we cross the four-lane highway, which was the shortest way home, instead of taking the longest way and going up a pedestrian walkway.
At first, the idea seemed too risky, but the peer pressure was strong as Juan accused us of being afraid so when the others agreed I didn't want to be left behind. So I did it, and I must admit that the adrenaline rush I felt crossing the highway at full speed was thrilling. We repeated the feat two more times and everything seemed to be going well until the fourth time came. After making it safely through that dangerous road and dodging speeding cars I felt powerful, happy, relieved and you could say euphoric. Surely those were the effects of adrenaline. The fourth time we tried it all was very different.
That day, the traffic was especially busy and it had rained, which made the crossing even more difficult. Nevertheless, we were all anxious to get through. As we walked toward the highway, I felt a knot in my stomach, but I didn't want to be the only one who refused to do so.
At about 4 p.m., we arrived at the crossing point and waited for the right moment. We were all trembling and doubting whether we should really do it, when a vehicle slowed down when it saw us and slowed down, then waved us through. Without a second thought, I started to run the other way. That's when something horrible happened, something that was exactly what we feared most would happen.
From the other lane, a car came speeding and hit me. According to my friends, I flew through the air and landed head first on the pavement, knocked unconscious. I don't know how much time passed, but when I woke up I found myself in the vehicle that had hit me, on my way to the hospital. My whole body was sore and bloody, and I was only 11 years old at the time.
I remember my parents came rushing to the hospital and, although they were relieved that it hadn't been worse, they were furious with me for being so reckless. I spent a week in the hospital until I was discharged, and although I was not seriously injured, the experience scarred me forever. It has been almost 20 years since the incident and I still remember many things, the smell of blood when I woke up I remember that I had no shoes and my clothes were torn I also remember the hospital food and those who visited me there.
Now, when I think about everything that happened that day, I can't help but feel grateful to be alive. It's not something I'm proud of, but it has taught me a lesson about the importance of thinking before you act and not getting caught up in peer pressure. Sometimes on the weekend we want to have fun but if we don't foresee the consequences accidents can happen and a joyous occasion can turn into a bad time. This experience is classified as life or death because at that speed impacting an 11 year old child could have been fatal.
This concludes my personal account which is part of the "life and death situations" theme of the week 143.
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