“I get knocked down, but i get up again, your never gonna keep me down.” These lyrics were once something like a mantra to me. I was a fearless young man who could take any kind of hits you send my way. Ive obtained my fair share of concussions, i had skateboarding dreams as a child, and pain of the mind is my speciality.
In my teens i knew better than anyone, especially doctors. When i was 18 I became a victim of a very bad car crash. The judicial system and my parents never believed me, but I was attacked by a tree while driving late one night. The tree came right into my lane.
Apparently a man drove by this scene of a car crash where a young man was laying in the middle of the street, with a car smashed into a tree right by.I am that young man, and to this day I have not met the person who found me and called 911, but I hope one day I can thank him.
I woke up in the hospital and was frightened to hear about what had happened to me. I suffered a concussion, fractured my pelvis, and dislocated my hip. Im lucky to be alive, and also very luck that I am able to walk and didnt have a situation that put me in a wheel chair for the rest of my life.
I got my first taste for strong opiates while i was at the hospital and I think me being so doped up kept me from seeing the severity of the situation. I was joking around and didnt take any of the doctors orders seriously besides the pain management stragedy. I left the hospital with a catheter and broke into tears when asking the doctor if I will ever be able to have sex again.
I was told to stay couch ridden for 8 weeks. In two weeks I was out in Reno, Nevada. I was skateboarding and partying with my friends who attended UNR.
I somehow ended up okay and the worst part of the experience was the introduction to pharmaceuticals. Thats a different story for a different time though.
Thru the years when meeting new people some comment on the way i walk. Some says its a mix between the “pimp limp” and Michael J Fox cerebral palsy shakes.
Most days im not in pain but then I have a day like today that reminds I have done major damage to my body and I have to be careful. My friend was throwing the key to get into his building from his window to me and it came up a little short. I had to step from nice solid pavement to a muddy hillside that I was unaware existed.
My right leg slipped back while the rest of my body twisted to other side. I screamed. I couldnt believe what my body had just endured. I twisted like a pretzel.
Tonight im feeling pain i haven’t felt in years and im being hit with flashbacks. My hips are in pain thats reminsint of my car accident over 10 years ago. My right knee is swollen and im filled up with anger. Its little random situations where your least expecting it when a life altering experience can happen.
Im just grateful that when i got knocked down this time, i got up again. Youre never going to keep me down. Its carlessness from my own actions that will keep me down. So today i slipped, but its nothing more than a lesson of the fragilitly of life and to always remember to keep my head on a swivel.
With Peace and Love,
Kevin Viani
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