Katie's Lessons

It was a cold January night, and I had just said goodbye to Katie as she walked out the doors of the gymnasium at Praire Ridge High School. We were cheerleaders together, and the basketball game just ended so we were all going our separate ways. She said "Bye Petro!" in the cheery tone she always had, and I just waved goodbye, expecting to see her on Monday at school again. However, the next time I would see her would be in quite a different scene.

I went to my friend's house that night and put my cell phone in my purse, not expecting to use it until morning. When I woke up the next morning, I checked my phone and had 7 missed calls, 4 voicemails, and a number of text messages. I immediately listened to all of the voicemails and could barely believe what I was hearing. Katie had been in a car accident the night before and was airlifted to a nearby hospital, but was in a coma and it was unsure if she would survive through the day. She was bleeding in her brain, had a broken pelvis, and her face was almost unrecognizable it was so swollen and beat up. She was in the intensive care unit at the hospital, and when my friends and I got there, Katie's mom was sitting in a chair in the waiting room grasping on to a pillow. I had never seen anyone so pale before. She didn't even realize we walked in the room, she just continued to stare at the floor. After talking with her dad, we learned that Katie had already been in surgery, but it was unknown if and when she would ever wake up. My friends and I were not allowed to go see Katie, but we made the 45 minute drive to the hospital that she got transfered to every week until she woke up 8 weeks later.

When Katie finally woke up, she did not understand what had happened to her or where she was. Her short term memory was gone, so she would ask the same question every 2 minutes, and she easily confused people's names. She had to live at a rehabilitation institute for almost 3 months after waking up from her coma, and her memory slowly began to come back to her. Katie had severe brain damage from the accident and had the mentality of a young child for many months, but eventually began to improve. Although she will never be the same Katie that she was before the accident, she is still a wonderful and caring person who only thinks about others. This part of Katie never changed, and she taught me what being a good friend is, through the thick and thin.