Latest / Martin Animations / Why did my dad choose his new wife over calling 911 for me

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Why did my dad choose his new wife over calling 911 for me · Martin Animations

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Why did my dad choose his new wife over calling
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: 911 for me? I was helping dad's new wife Margo
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: set up for her book club meeting when the ladder
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: I was standing on suddenly shifted under my feet. One
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: second I was hanging fairy lights across the living room ceiling,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and the next I was falling backwards through the air
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: with my arms flailing trying to grab onto something. I
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: hit the hardwood floor so hard that the sound echoed
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: through the whole house, and for a moment I couldn't
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: breathe or move or do anything except lie there staring
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: up at the ceiling fan spinning above me. Pain exploded
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: up my spine and radiated through my whole body in
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: waves that made my vision blur and darken at the edges.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Margot rushed over and knelt beside me asking if I
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: was okay, but when I tried to answer, nothing came
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: out except a weird gasping sound. I attempted to sit
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: up and immediately felt something wrong in my back, a
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: grinding sensation that made me cry out and collapse back
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: onto the floor. My legs felt strange and tingly like
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: they'd fallen asleep, and when I tried to move my
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: right leg, it wouldn't respond the way it should. Margot
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: told me to stay still and pulled out her phone,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: and I thought she was calling 911, but instead she
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: was texting someone. Dad came running in from the garage
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: where he'd been working on his car, and his face
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: went white when he saw me lying on the floor.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I tried to tell him I couldn't feel my legs properly,
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: but the words came out slurred and wrong. He knelt
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: down next to me and asked what happened, and Margo
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: explained about the ladder slipping. Dad started to reach for
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: his phone, and Margo grabbed his wrist, saying we should
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: wait a minute to see if I was really hurt
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: or just shaken up. I stared at her in disbelief
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: because I was lying on the floor unable to move
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: my legs, and she wanted to wait and see if
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: I was really hurt. Dad hesitated with his phone in
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: his hand and looked between me and Margo with this
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: conflicted expression I'd never seen before. Margo kept talking in
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: this calm, soothing voice about how ambulances were expensive and
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: my stepmom had always been dramatic about injuries. and maybe
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: I just needed a few minutes to catch my breath.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: She said her nephew had fallen off a ladder last
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: year and seemed really hurt at first, but was fine
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: after lying down for a while. The tingling in my
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: legs was getting worse and spreading up into my hips,
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: and I could feel panic rising in my chest, making
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: it even harder to breathe. I managed to gasp out
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: that something was really wrong with my back and I
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: needed help now. Dad finally started dialing 911, but Margo
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: put her hand over his phone and said we should
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: at least try to get me to the couch first
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: to see if I could walk. She said if I
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: could move on my own, then we'd know it wasn't
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: serious enough for an ambulance. Dad actually agreed with her,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: and they both tried to help me sit up, and
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: the pain that shot through my spine made me scream
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: so loud that our neighbor's dog started barking. I collapsed
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: back onto the floor sobbing and begging them to call
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: for help, but Margo was still talking about how we
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: should give it a few more minutes. She kept saying
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: that her book club was starting in less than an hour,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: and having paramedics here would completely ruin the evening she'd
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: been planning for weeks. Dad was looking at his phone,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: and then at Margo, and then at me, and I
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: could see him actually weighing his options like this was
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: a difficult decision instead of an obvious emergency. The fact
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: that he wasn't immediately calling 911 while I lay there
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: unable to move my legs properly made something crack inside
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: my chest that had nothing to do with the fall.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: Margo suggested they could drive me to the urgent care
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: clinic instead of calling an ambulance, saying it would be
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: faster and cheaper and wouldn't disrupt her book club. She
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: was already pulling up the address on her phone while
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: I lay there on the floor trying to explain that
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I couldn't move and something was seriously wrong with my spine.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: Dad said maybe that was a good idea and started
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: talking about how to get me into the car, completely
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: ignoring the fact that moving someone with a potential spinal
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: injury without proper equipment could cause permanent damage. I'd learned
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: that in health class just last semester, but apparently neither
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: of them remembered or cared about that basic safety information.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: My vision was getting fuzzy around the edges, and the
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: tingling sensation had spread all the way up to my
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: chest now, and I was terrified that whatever was wrong
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: was getting worse while they stood there debating logistics. Margo
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: checked her watch and said if they were going to
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: drive me to urgent care, they needed to leave right
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: now so she could be back before her guests arrived.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: The casual way she said it, like my potential paralysis
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: was just an inconvenient scheduling conflict, made me realize that
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: Dad had married someone who genuinely didn't care if I
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: lived or died. I tried one more time to tell
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: them I needed an ambulance and that you're not supposed
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: to move someone with a back injury, but Dad was
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: already agreeing with Margo's plan. He went to pull the
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: car into the garage while Margo stood over me explaining
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: that the urgent care clinic was only 15 minutes away
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: and they had x-ray machines and everything an emergency room
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: would have. I was crying and trying to make them
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: understand that I physically could not move my legs normally
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: and that this was exactly the kind of situation where
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: you call 911 no matter what, but Margo just kept
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: checking her phone and muttering about her book club and
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: and how much work she'd put into planning this evening.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: Dad came back, and they discussed how to lift me,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: and I was screaming at them not to move me,
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: that they were going to make it worse, but they
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: weren't listening. Margo grabbed my arms, and Dad grabbed my legs,
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: and when they lifted me off the floor, the pain
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: was so intense that everything went white, and I think
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: I passed out for a few seconds. When my vision cleared,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: I was being carried through the garage, and the movement
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: was sending jolts of agony up my spine with every
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: step they took. They managed to get me into the
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: backseat of Dad's SUV, and I was lying across the
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: seats crying and begging them to call an ambulance instead.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: Dad started the engine, and Margo got in the passenger
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: seat and gave him directions to the urgent care clinic.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Every bump in the road made me scream as pain
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: radiated through my back, and I could feel the tingling
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: in my legs getting worse with each passing minute. Dad
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: kept telling me to hang on and that we'd be
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: there soon, but he was driving the speed limit and
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: stopping properly at every red light like this was a
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: normal trip to the store. I couldn't understand why he
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: wasn't speeding or running red lights or doing anything that
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: indicated he understood how serious this was. Margo was on
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: her phone texting her book club members that she might
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: be a few minutes late, but the meeting was still happening.
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: She kept reassuring Dad that I would be fine and
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: that they'd have me checked out and back home in
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  Speaker 1: no time. The urgent care clinic was in a strip
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: mall between a dry cleaner and a pizza place, and
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: when we pulled into the parking lot, I could see
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: through the window that there were at least six people
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: in the waiting room. Dad parked, and they opened the
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: back door to get me out. and the process of
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: moving me from the car to standing made me vomit
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: from the pain. Margo looked disgusted and stepped back to
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: avoid getting anything on her shoes while Dad tried to
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: support my weight. My legs wouldn't hold me properly and
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: I kept buckling, and Dad ended up having to half-carry
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: me toward the entrance with Margo walking ahead to open doors.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: The people in the waiting room stared as we came in,
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  Speaker 1: and the receptionist's eyes went wide when she saw me.
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  Speaker 1: Dad explained that I'd fallen off a ladder and hurt
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  Speaker 1: my back and couldn't move my legs right, and the
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: receptionist immediately said that sounded like something that needed an
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: emergency room, not urgent care. She said they weren't equipped
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: to handle potential spinal injuries and we should have called
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: 911 from home. Dad and Margo exchanged looks and Margo
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: started arguing that surely they could at least do an
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: x-ray to see how bad it was. The receptionist was
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: shaking her head and saying that even if they could
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: take x-rays, they couldn't treat a spinal injury here and
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: we'd just end up being transferred to a hospital anyway.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: A nurse came out from the back and took one
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: look at me and asked how long ago I'd fallen.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: When Dad said it had been about 20 minutes, her
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: face changed completely and she asked why they hadn't called
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: an ambulance. Margo launched into her explanation about wanting to
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: avoid the expense and thinking urgent care would be faster.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: and the nurse cut her off saying that 20 minutes
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: was way too long to wait with a potential spinal
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: injury and that moving me without proper support could have
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: caused permanent damage. She told them they needed to call
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: 911 right now and that I should be lying flat
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: and immobilized until paramedics arrived. Dad finally pulled out his
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: phone and dialed while the nurse helped me lie down
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: on the floor of the waiting room. She was asking
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: me questions about what I could feel and where the
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: pain was, and when I told her about the tingling
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: spreading up my torso, her expression got very serious. She
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: told the other people in the waiting room to give
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: us space and grabbed blankets from somewhere to put under
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: my head. Margo was standing off to the side looking
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: annoyed and checking her watch again, and I heard her
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: tell Dad that she was going to have to cancel
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: her book club after all this. The paramedics arrived maybe
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: eight minutes later, and came rushing in with a stretcher
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: and equipment. They immediately began asking questions about the fall
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: and what symptoms I was experiencing, and when I described
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: the tingling and inability to move my legs properly, they
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: exchanged worried looks. One of them asked Dad why he'd
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: waited so long to call and why he'd moved me
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: instead of calling from the scene. Dad started explaining about
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: Margo thinking urgent care would be better, and the paramedic
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: cut him off saying that with the symptoms I was describing,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: the delay and unnecessary movement could have serious consequences. They
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: fitted me with a neck brace and carefully rolled me
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: onto a backboard, securing me with straps so I couldn't
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: move at all. The process was excruciating and I was
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: crying and apologizing for crying. And one of the paramedics
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: kept reassuring me that I was doing great and we'd
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: get to the hospital soon. They loaded me into the
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: ambulance and one of the paramedics stayed in the back
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: with me while the other drove. I could hear the
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: siren starting up as we pulled away from the urgent
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: care clinic. The paramedic in the back with me was
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: doing neurological tests, asking me to try to move different
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: parts of my body and rating my responses. When I
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: tried to wiggle my toes on my right foot, nothing happened.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: And I saw him make a note on his tablet.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: He started an IV and took my vital signs while
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: explaining that we were going to the regional trauma center.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: because they had the best neurosurgery department in the area.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: The word neurosurgery made my stomach drop, and I asked
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: if that meant I needed surgery on my spine. He
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: said they wouldn't know anything for sure until we got
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: to the hospital and they did imaging, but with my symptoms,
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: it was definitely a possibility. The ride seemed to take forever,
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: even with the sirens going. And every turn made me
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: acutely aware of how strapped down I was and how
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: little control I had over what was happening to my body.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: The paramedic kept checking on me and asking questions to
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: keep me conscious, and I told him about falling off
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: the ladder and how long it took before anyone called
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: for help. He didn't say anything judgmental, but I could
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: see his jaw tighten when I mentioned the 20-minute delay.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: We arrived at the hospital and I was rushed through
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: doors into what looked like a trauma bay with bright
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: lights and lots of people in scrubs. Everyone was moving
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: fast and talking to each other using medical terms I
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: didn't understand. Someone cut off my shirt and started placing
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: electrode stickers all over my chest while someone else was
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: examining my back. A doctor introduced herself as Dr. Okonkwo
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: and explained they were going to do a CT scan
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: of my spine to see what was damaged. She asked
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: me the same questions about what I could feel and move,
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: and when she tested the reflexes in my feet with
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: some kind of tool, one foot responded but the other didn't.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Her face remained neutral, but I saw her exchange a
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: look with one of the nurses. They wheeled me down
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: a hallway into a room with a large machine and
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: carefully transferred me onto the scanning table. The technician explained
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: that I needed to stay completely still and that the
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: machine would make loud noises. The scan itself only took
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: maybe 10 minutes, but it felt like an eternity lying
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: there unable to move and wondering what they were seeing
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: on those images of my spine. After the scan, they
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: wheeled me to a room in what the nurse called
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: the neuro-ICU. Dad and Margo arrived about 30 minutes later,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: and I could hear them arguing in the hallway before
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: they even came into my room. Dad was saying something
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: about how Margo's book club wasn't important, and she was
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: saying something about how she'd planned it for weeks and
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: couldn't just cancel. When they finally came in, Margot stayed
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: near the door while Dad came to my bedside looking
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: shaken and guilty. He started apologizing and saying he should
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: have called 911 right away, and I just stared at
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: him unable to process that he was apologizing for something
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: that could have permanently paralyzed me. Dr. Okonkwo came in
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: with the CT results and explained that I had a
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: fractured vertebra in my lower spine and significant swelling of
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: the spinal cord. She said the swelling was compressing the
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: nerves that controlled my legs, which explained the weakness and numbness.
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: She said I needed surgery within the next few hours
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: to stabilize the fracture and relieve the pressure on my
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: spinal cord, and that the delay in getting treatment had
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: made the swelling worse. Dad's face went pale, and he
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: asked if the delay meant permanent damage. Dr. Okonkwo said
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: it was too early to tell, but that every minute
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: of pressure on the spinal cord increased the risk of
• 9:23
  Speaker 1: permanent nerve damage. She needed Dad to sign consent forms
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: for the surgery, and she needed them signed immediately because
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: time was critical. Dad's hands were shaking as he signed
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: the paperwork, and Margo was still standing by the door
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: checking her phone. Dr. Okonkwo looked at Margo and asked
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: if she had any questions about the procedure, and Margo
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: just shook her head and said she was sure everything
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: would be fine. The doctor's expression suggested she had opinions
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: about Margo's level of concern, but she kept them professional
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: and said the surgical team was being prepped right now.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Two orderlies came in and started unlocking my bed wheels,
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: preparing to take me to the operating room. Dad grabbed
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: my hand and said he loved me and that I'd
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: be okay, and I wanted to believe him, but I
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: couldn't stop thinking about how he'd chosen Margo's book club
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: over my safety. They wheeled me down to the surgical
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: floor and into a prep area where... an anesthesiologist introduced
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: himself and explained what would happen during the procedure he
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: said they'd put me under general anesthesia and that i
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: wouldn't feel anything or remember anything from the surgery a
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: nurse started adding medications to my iv and told me
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: i'd start feeling drowsy soon i asked her what would
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: happen if the surgery didn't work and she squeezed my
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: hand and said the doctors here were the best and
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: i was in good hands The last thing I remember
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: before going under was being wheeled into a bright white
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: operating room with lots of equipment and masked faces looking
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: down at me. Someone told me to count backward from 10,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: and I got to maybe 7 before everything went black.
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: When I woke up, I was in a different room
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: with my throat feeling raw and my mouth incredibly dry.
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: There was a tube down my throat, and I started
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: panicking and trying to pull at it, but my hands
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: were restrained and nurses rushed over telling me to stay calm.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: One of them explained I was still intubated because they
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: wanted to keep me on the ventilator for a few
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: more hours to make sure everything was stable. The tube
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: came out later that evening, and my throat hurt so
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: badly I could barely swallow. A different doctor came in
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: and introduced himself as Dr. Yates, the neurosurgeon who'd operated
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: on me. He explained they'd put two metal rods and
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: six screws in my spine to stabilize the fractured vertebra
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: and had removed some bone fragments that were pressing on
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: my spinal cord. He said the surgery went well, but
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: the amount of swelling they found was concerning and indicated
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: significant trauma to the cord. When I asked if I'd
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: be able to walk again, he said it was too
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: early to tell, and we'd know more over the next
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: few days as the swelling went down. He did some
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: neurological tests similar to what the paramedic had done, asking
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: me to try to move my legs and feet. I
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: could move my left leg a little, but my right
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: leg still wasn't responding properly. Dr. Gates made notes and
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: said we'd continue monitoring closely and start physical therapy as
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: soon as possible. Dad came in after the doctor left
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: and tried to hold my hand, but I pulled away.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: He looked hurt and asked what was wrong, and I
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: just stared at him until he sat down and stopped
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: trying to touch me. I spent the next three days
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: in the ICU while they monitored my spine and managed
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: my pain with medications that made everything feel fuzzy and distant.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Dad came to visit every day and tried to talk
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: to me, but I had nothing to say to him.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Margo came once, stayed for maybe 10 minutes, and left
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: saying she had things to take care of at home.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: On the fourth day, they moved me to a regular
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: hospital room, and a physical therapist came to assess my mobility.
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: She helped me try to sit up in bed, and
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: the movement made my back scream with pain despite the medications.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: We worked on small movements like trying to lift my
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: legs and flex my feet, and while my left side
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: was responding better, my right side was still significantly impaired.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: The therapist said this was actually somewhat encouraging because it
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: meant the nerves weren't completely damaged, just severely irritated from
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: the swelling. She said recovery would be a long process
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: and would require intensive physical therapy, possibly for months. The
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: word months hit me like a physical blow because I'd
• 12:11
  Speaker 1: been hoping this would be something I could recover from
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: in a few weeks. Dad brought my little sister Ivy
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: to visit on day five, and she started crying when
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: she saw all the tubes and monitors attached to me.
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: She was only nine and didn't really understand what had happened,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: just that I'd fallen and hurt my back. I tried
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: to smile and tell her I was okay, but my
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: voice came out weak and unconvincing. Ivy asked when I
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: was coming home, and I had to tell her I
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: didn't know yet. Dad pulled her aside, and I could
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: hear him explaining in simplified terms about my spine injury
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: and the surgery. Ivy asked if it was going to
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: be like when Grandma broke her hip and needed a walker,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: and Dad said it might be something like that, but
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: we were hoping I'd recover more fully. After they left,
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: I lay in bed staring at the ceiling and thinking
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: about everything I might not be able to do anymore.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: I was supposed to start varsity soccer in the fall,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: and I'd been training all summer. Now I couldn't even
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: walk across the room without help. A social worker came
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: to talk to me about what resources would be available
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: once I was discharged, and she mentioned home health care
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: and adaptive equipment and outpatient rehab, all these things that
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: made my new reality feel more permanent and terrifying. The
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: police showed up on day six to take a statement
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: about what had happened. A detective named Alvarez sat in
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: my room with a notepad and asked me to walk
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: through the events of that afternoon. I described helping Margo
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: with the ladder and the fall and how long it
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: took before anyone called 911. When I got to the
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: part about them deciding to drive me to urgent care instead,
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Detective Alvarez stopped writing and asked me to repeat that.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: I explained about Margo not wanting to miss her book
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: club and convincing Dad to take me to the clinic
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: instead of calling an ambulance. The detective asked if I'd
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: clearly communicated that I couldn't move my legs properly and
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: that I was in severe pain, and I said yes,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: I'd been crying and begging them to call 911. He
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: wrote everything down and said he'd need to talk to
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: my father and stepmother as well. After he left, a
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: nurse told me that delaying medical care for a child
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: and moving someone with a suspected spinal injury against medical
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: advice could potentially be considered criminal negligence. The thought that
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: my dad might face legal consequences for choosing Margo's social
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: event over my safety filled me with a complicated mix
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: of satisfaction and grief. Dad came back later that evening,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: and I could tell he'd spoken with the police because
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: his eyes were red and his voice was shaky. He
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: sat down next to my bed and tried to apologize again,
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: saying he'd made a terrible mistake and wasn't thinking clearly.
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: I asked him how it was possible to not think
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: clearly when your child is lying on the floor unable
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: to move their legs, and he didn't have an answer.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: He kept saying Margo had convinced him it wasn't as
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: serious as it seemed and that he'd trusted her judgment
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: because she'd worked as a medical receptionist years ago. I
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: pointed out that a medical receptionist should definitely know better
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: than to delay calling 911 for a spinal injury, and
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Dad just put his head in his hands. I asked
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: him if Margot's book club was really more important than
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: my ability to walk, and he started crying and saying,
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: of course not. But his actions on that day had
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: clearly indicated otherwise, and no amount of crying now could
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: change what had happened or reverse the damage to my spine.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: He eventually left when visiting hours ended, and I was
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: alone with my thoughts and the steady beeping of monitors. Dr.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Yates came by the next morning with updated test results.
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: He said the swelling in my spinal cord was going down,
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: which was good news, but there was evidence of what
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: he called a contusion on the cord itself. He explained
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: this was essentially a bruise on my spinal cord from
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: the initial impact and the subsequent pressure from swelling. the
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: contusion could heal over time or it could result in
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: permanent nerve damage and we wouldn't know which for several
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: weeks or possibly months. When I asked for percentages or probabilities,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: he said every spinal cord injury was different and he
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: couldn't give me definitive odds. He did say that the
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: fact I had some movement and sensation in both legs
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: was a positive sign and that aggressive physical therapy would
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: give me the best chance at maximum recovery. The physical
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: therapist came back that afternoon and we worked on sitting
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: at the edge of the bed with my feet touching
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: the floor. Just that simple position made my back ache
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: and my legs tremble with the effort of supporting even
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: that much weight. She said we'd work up gradually to
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: standing with support, and eventually to taking steps with a walker.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: My mom flew in from Arizona on day eight, and
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: the look on her face when she walked into my
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: hospital room made me start crying. She'd divorced dad when
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: I was six and had moved away for work, and
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: we'd maintained a decent relationship through video calls and holiday visits.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: Now she rushed to my bedside and hugged me carefully,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: avoiding all the tubes and wires, and asked what had happened.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I told her everything from the beginning. and watched her
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: expression change from concern to disbelief to fury. When I
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: got to the part about Dad and Margo deciding to
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: drive me to urgent care, Mom stood up and left
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: the room. I could hear her in the hallway having
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: a loud argument with Dad, and while I couldn't make
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: out all the words, I definitely heard her call him
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: criminally negligent and an unfit parent. When she came back in,
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: she was still visibly angry, but trying to control it
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: for my sake. She asked to speak with my doctors
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: and got detailed information about my injury and prognosis, asking
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: questions that Dad apparently hadn't thought to ask. She also
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: contacted a lawyer who specialized in medical malpractice and child
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: welfare cases, saying that what Dad and Margo had done
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: absolutely constituted neglect. The lawyer, a woman named Rebecca Wolfe,
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: came to the hospital two days later and interviewed me
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: about what had happened. She recorded everything with my permission
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: and took detailed notes about the timeline and what was said.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: She explained that delaying emergency medical care for a minor
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: with an obvious serious injury could be prosecuted as child
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: endangerment and that the delay in my case had directly
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: contributed to worse outcomes. She said the urgent care clinic
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: had documentation of what time we arrived and what the
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: receptionist and nurse had said about needing to call 911 immediately,
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: which supported my account of events. Rebecca said she'd be
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: filing a complaint with Child Protective Services and would also
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: be looking into whether there were grounds for a civil
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: lawsuit regarding my injuries. Mom asked if there was any
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: way to prevent Dad from having custody of Ivy given
• 16:45
  Speaker 1: what had happened, and Rebecca said that would depend on
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: what CPS found in their investigation. The thought of Ivy
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: still living in that house with Dad and Margo, where
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: a book club meeting had been prioritized over my spine,
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: made me feel sick with worry. Physical therapy intensified during
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: my second week in the hospital. The therapist, whose name
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: was Nina, was encouraging but didn't sugarcoat how hard recovery
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: would be. We worked on standing with a walker while
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: Nina supported most of my weights, and even that brief
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: effort left me exhausted and in pain. My right leg
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: was still significantly weaker than my left and wouldn't bear
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: weight properly, dragging slightly when I tried to move it.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: Nina said this asymmetry was common with spinal cord injuries,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: and that intensive therapy would hopefully restore more balanced function
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: over time. We practiced the standing exercise twice a day
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: despite how much it hurt, because Nina explained that the
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: sooner we got my nerves firing and my muscles working,
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: the better my long-term outcome would be. Between therapy sessions,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: I mostly lay in bed alternating between staring at my
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: phone and sleeping, unable to focus on TV or books
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: because my mind kept replaying that day. and all the
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: moments where different choices could have changed everything. CPS showed
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: up on day 14 to interview me privately. The caseworker,
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: a man named Gerald Finch, had kind eyes but asked
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: very direct questions about my home life with Dad and Margo.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: He wanted to know if there had been other instances
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: of neglect. or if Margo had ever treated me poorly
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: before the accident. I told him about how Margo often
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: made comments about me being clumsy or dramatic, and how
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: she'd convinced Dad that I was exaggerating various minor injuries
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: over the past year. Gerald wrote everything down and said
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: he'd be interviewing Dad, Margo, and Ivy separately as well.
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: He asked if I felt safe going back to Dad's
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: house once I was discharged, and I said honestly I
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: didn't know. The thought of living under the same roof
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: as someone who'd been willing to let me potentially become
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: paralyzed rather than miss a social engagement was terrifying, but
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: I also didn't want to be separated from Ivy, who'd
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: already been through our parents' divorce, and didn't need more instability.
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: Gerald said he understood the complexity of the situation and
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: that his goal was to ensure all the children in
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: the home were safe and their needs were being prioritized.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: Mom started making arrangements to take extended leave from her
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: job so she could stay in town during my recovery.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: She found a short-term rental apartment near the hospital and
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: said once I was discharged, I'd be staying with her,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: not going back to dad's house. Dad tried to argue
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: about custody agreements, but mom's lawyer shut that down quickly,
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: pointing out that his recent choices regarding my medical care
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: gave her grounds to petition for emergency custody modification. Dr.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Yates cleared me for discharge on day 16 and with
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: instructions for intensive outpatient physical therapy five days a week.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: The hospital arranged for a wheelchair since I still couldn't
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: walk more than a few steps with the walker, and
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: Nina gave Mom detailed instructions about helping me with exercises
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: at home. Walking out of the hospital in a wheelchair
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: after being carried in on a stretcher felt surreal, like
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: I was watching someone else's life instead of living my own.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: Mom wheeled me to her rental car and helped transfer
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: me into the passenger seat, a process that took several
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: minutes and left both of us exhausted. The rental apartment
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: was a small furnished place on the ground floor with
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: no stairs, which Mom had specifically requested. She'd already bought
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: a shower chair and installed grab bars in the bathroom
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: and had set up one of the bedrooms with a
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: hospital bed she'd rented. The level of preparation she'd done
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: in just a few days showed how seriously she was
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: taking my care, which made the contrast with dad's choices
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: even more stark. That first night in the apartment, I
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: tried to shower with mom's help and ended up crying
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: from a combination of pain, frustration, and humiliation at needing
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: assistance with basic hygiene. Mom just held me while I
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: cried and said we'd get through this together, that it
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: was okay to be upset and scared and angry about
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: what had happened. She helped me into bed afterward and
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: and I fell asleep almost immediately, more exhausted than I'd
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: ever been in my life. Physical therapy started the next
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: day at an outpatient facility 20 minutes away, and mom
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: had to help me transfer from the wheelchair to the hospital.
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: Thank you for watching. My right leg was still significantly
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: impaired with reduced reflexes and difficulty with voluntary movement, while
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: my left leg was maybe 60% of normal function. Russell
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: designed a therapy program that would work on rebuilding strength
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: and retraining my nervous system to communicate properly with my muscles.
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: The exercises were exhausting and painful, involving resistance bands and
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: balance work and trying to walk between parallel bars while
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Russell supported my weight. After an hour, I was drenched
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: in sweat and close to tears, and Russell said I'd
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: done great for a first session. I couldn't imagine doing
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: this five days a week for months, but Russell said
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: consistency was absolutely critical for recovery and missing sessions would
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: significantly slow my progress. Mom drove me back to the
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: apartment where I immediately collapsed into bed and slept for
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: three hours. Dad started calling and texting constantly asking to
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: see me, but I ignored most of his attempts at contact.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: Mom was handling communications with him through her lawyer regarding
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: custody and medical expenses. The hospital bills were astronomical, already
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: over $ 200, 000 with more coming from the surgery and ongoing therapy.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: Dad's insurance would cover some of it, but there would
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: be significant out-of-pocket costs and Rebecca Wolfe was building a
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: case that Dad and Margo should be financially responsible for
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: those costs given their negligence. CPS completed their investigation after
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: three weeks and issued findings that Dad had exercised poor
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: judgment that endangered my health and welfare. They mandated parenting
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: classes and regular home visits if he wanted to maintain
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: custody of Ivy, and they put our case on a
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: monitoring list. Gerald Finch called to tell me these results
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: and said that while they couldn't force criminal charges, their
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: findings could be used in custody proceedings and civil lawsuits.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: The validation that an official agency had confirmed Dad's choices
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: were wrong felt important, even though it couldn't undo the
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: damage to my spine. My 16th birthday came and went
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: without celebration while I was in the thick of daily therapy.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Mom made a small cake and we ate it in
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the apartment, and Ivy came over with a card she'd made.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Dad dropped her off and tried to come inside, but
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: Mom blocked the door and said he wasn't welcome. Ivy
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: gave me a long hug and whispered that she missed
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: me and wished I'd come home, and I had to
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: explain that I couldn't come back to Dad's house right now.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: She didn't fully understand and started crying, and Dad had
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: to come collect her while she was still upset, which
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: made me feel guilty even though none of this was
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: my fault. After they left... Mom and I talked about
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: long-term plans, and she said she was looking into transferring
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: permanently to a position in this city so we could
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: stay together during my recovery. The thought of starting over
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: at a new school in a wheelchair filled me with dread.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: But staying in Dad's house was absolutely not an option,
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: so this seems like the lesser of two bad choices.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Physical therapy progress was maddeningly slow. After six weeks, I
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: could walk short distances with a walker, but my right
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: leg still dragged noticeably, and I had constant pain in
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: my lower back. Russell said this was actually significant improvement
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: given the severity of my injury, but it didn't feel
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: significant when I couldn't walk normally or stand for more
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: than a few minutes. The asymmetry in my legs was
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: improving gradually, with my right side slowly regaining more function,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: but Russell warned it might never be completely equal to
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: my left. He also said I'd probably always have some
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: level of back pain and would need to be careful
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: about certain movements and activities. The realization that this injury
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: would affect me for the rest of my life, that
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: I'd never again take simple movement for granted, hit me
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: at random moments and made me want to scream. I
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: started seeing a therapist named Dr. Kim to help process
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: the trauma and anger and grief, and she helped me
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: understand that what I was feeling was completely valid and normal,
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: given what had happened. Rebecca Wolfe filed a civil lawsuit
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: against Dad and Margo three months after my injury, citing
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: negligence and child endangerment. The lawsuit sought compensation for medical expenses,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: future therapy costs, pain and suffering, and potential long-term disability.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Dad's lawyer tried to argue that it was a judgment
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: call made in good faith, but Rebecca had the urgent
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: care clinic's documentation of their staff saying I needed emergency
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: care immediately, the paramedics report noting the dangerous delay— and Dr.
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: Oconco's testimony that the delay had likely worsened my outcome.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: Margo hired her own lawyer separate from Dad's and tried
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: to claim she'd deferred to Dad's judgment as the parent,
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: but Rebecca had my detailed account of Margo being the
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: one who convinced Dad to delay calling 911. The legal
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: process was slow and frustrating, with depositions and document requests
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: and endless back and forth between lawyers. Meanwhile, I was
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: still doing physical therapy five days a week and slowly
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: regaining function, though Russell warned my progress would likely plateau
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: at some point before I reached full recovery. I turned
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: 17 in physical therapy, doing leg lifts with resistance bands
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: while mom sat in the waiting room. Russell brought in
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: a cupcake with a candle and sang happy birthday. And
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: I cried because this wasn't how I'd imagined spending this
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: year of my life. I thought I'd be playing varsity
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: soccer and learning to drive and applying to colleges, not
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: relearning how to walk and dealing with chronic pain and
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: suing my own father. The lawsuit settled out of court
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: after seven months, with dad's insurance company agreeing to pay
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: a significant sum to cover all my medical expenses, plus
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: additional compensation for my injuries. Margo's insurance also contributed, though
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: her lawyer negotiated a smaller amount. The money didn't change
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: anything about my spine or my daily pain or the
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: permanent limitations I now had, but at least I wouldn't
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: be buried in medical debt for the rest of my life.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Rebecca said the settlement was actually quite large and reflected
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: how egregious Dad and Margo's conduct had been, that the
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: insurance companies had decided it was cheaper to settle than
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: risk a jury trial where the facts would make Dad
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: and Margo look even worse. Physical therapy eventually transitioned to
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: three days a week, then two. As Russell said, I'd
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: reached the point where I'd plateaued in my recovery. I
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: could walk without assistive devices but still had a noticeable limp,
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: reduced sensation in my right foot, and chronic lower back
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: pain that required daily medication. Russell said I'd made remarkable
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: progress given the severity of my injury and the delay
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: in treatment, but I'd never regained full normal function. The
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: activities I'd loved before the injury, like soccer and running,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: were now largely impossible without risking re-injury to my spine.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: Russell helped me identify modified activities I could do safely,
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: like swimming and certain types of cycling, but it wasn't
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: the same. Dr. Kim helped me work through the grief
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: of losing my pre-injury life and capabilities, and slowly I
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: started accepting this new version of myself. Mom made her
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: transfer permanent, and we found a real apartment to settle into,
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: and I enrolled at the local high school for my
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: junior year. Dad and I eventually started having supervised conversations
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: at Dr. Kim's office, working towards some kind of relationship repair.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: He'd completed the CPS-mandated parenting classes and seemed genuinely remorseful,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: but I wasn't sure I'd ever fully trust him again.
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: The knowledge that he'd chosen Margo's social event over potentially
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: saving me from permanent injury created a crack in our
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: relationship that I didn't know could be fully repaired. Ivy
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: came to stay with Mom and me on weekends, and
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: slowly we rebuilt our sisterly bond in a new context.
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: She asked questions about my limp and my scars and
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: why I couldn't do some things anymore, and I tried
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: to answer honestly in age-appropriate ways. Dad and Margo divorced
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: eight months after my injury, with Dad saying he realized
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: she'd had a toxic influence on his judgment and parenting.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: Whether that was true or just a convenient narrative, I
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: wasn't sure, but at least Ivy wouldn't be living with
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: Margo anymore. Two years after the fall, I graduated high
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: school with decent grades despite having missed significant time for
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: medical appointments and therapy. My limp was less pronounced but
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: still noticeable, and I had to take breaks to sit
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: down during the graduation ceremony because standing too long made
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: my back hurt. Mom cried when they called my name
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: and I walked across the stage, probably remembering a time
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: when it wasn't clear if I'd walk again at all.
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Dad was there too, sitting several rows back. And when
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: I made eye contact with him, he smiled sadly and
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: gave a small wave. I waved back, a gesture of
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: acknowledgement but not forgiveness. Because some things can't be forgiven
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: even when you understand they came from weakness rather than malice.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: I'd learned to live with my altered body and my
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: chronic pain and the knowledge that one person's selfish choice
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: had permanently changed my life. And I'd learned that sometimes
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: the people who are supposed to protect you will fail
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: in spectacular and devastating ways. and all you can do
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: is survive it and build something new from the wreckage
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: they left behind. Appreciate you watching this far. If you
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: enjoyed it, drop a like, leave a comment, and subscribe
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: so you won't miss the next story.