My Mother Got into an Accident

On a bright August Sunday, I got up to make a coffee ready to spend a few hours with myself trying to reach the inner harmony. Suddenly, a phone call broke the silence. The trembling voice of my father told that my mom had had an accident. I burst into tears trying to find out how it could happen. At that moment, I did not care about my work or some other things. All I wanted to see was the bright smile on mother`s face. No one can be prepared for receiving bad news that can turn the world upside-down.

Dad replied that after mom has left the church, she passed the street, and a reckless motorcyclist appeared from the opposite direction and ran her over. The clash was inevitable. My father immediately called the police, and the motorcyclist was taken to prison. After that, the ambulance arrived and took mom to the hospital. Crying and confused, I was stunned by the news. I started searching for an online ticket to travel to Colombia. Fortunately, I got one and traveled the same day. On the next day, I went to the hospital to visit my mother. It was very depressing to see her in that terrible condition. Her face was swollen; the bruises were all over her body; her right foot was bandaged because she had a fracture in her right leg. The tibia and the fibula were broken. Leg surgery could not be performed immediately because her leg was swollen. We had to wait several days for swollen reducing. She was lying down for a long time and it caused a pulmonary embolism. My mother was taken to the Intensive Care Unit for three weeks. This clot in the lung almost caused her death. At that time, I did not want to see the doctor because I thought he was going to tell me bad news. Mom started taking anticoagulants to undo the thrombus of the lung. The nurses made a computerized axial tomography almost every day in the lungs to know my mom`s condition and avoid a respiratory arrest.

I was anguished every day thinking about the worst. Fortunately, I had the support of my father, my husband, my cousin, and my aunt. We took daily shifts to stay in the hospital. They helped me a lot and I am wholeheartedly grateful for their care and understanding. Without the support of these people, I could not face this challenge with dignity. Fortunately, after three weeks, my mom became stable and had surgery on her right leg. The surgery was successful and my mom was discharged from the hospital. I cannot explain my feelings when I realized that the terrible nightmare was over. Of course, we had to pass the long way to recovery, but we were ready for it. I began to take care of mom; I gave her the food, I helped her to take a bath, I dressed her, and gave her the medicines, I took her to the medical controls with the internist, orthopedist, and physiotherapist. Her recovery lasted for about seven months in Colombia and I had to resign my job to provide my mom with care and support. I never regretted this decision since taking care of my close people has always been my priority. My husband was alone for seven months in the USA. On January 27, 2018, we were able to travel to the United States. My mother is with me now. Although she is no longer in a wheelchair, she no longer uses a walker or cane, she continues taking physical therapy. The recovery of the leg has been very slow because when the person gets old, the bones do not heal so easily. Although she faced such a challenge, my mother is a strong, optimistic, happy, and very positive woman. The most important thing is that she is alive.

In life, unexpected things happen from time to time and it is vitally important to have people, who can provide care and support. After all, it is easier to go through all the obstacles on the way having love and support of the close people. I believe that all things happening in human life have specific purposes. My aunts, uncles, and my cousins, often call me to find out how my mom is doing. My mom's younger sister calls almost every day and asks for her health conditions. After the accident, I stay in a close contact with my family. Indeed, it is quite difficult to keep in touch with my relative when they live in another country but we always try to talk and share our experiences, fears, and successes. This terrible event has kept us together and became a valuable lesson teaching us that love and compassion of the close people cannot be bought.