The Accident

this is a story created for the CLASH merit badge activity.

Character Profile
By Lisa Noe

Name: Sahara Champaign
DOB : Oct. 19, 1994 8:32 am
Place of Birth: Biloxi Ms.
Siblings: one sister, one brother Linda (older) James (older)
Parents: Howard and Dawn Perkins
Spouse: Ramsey Champain(age) 25
Economics: lower-middle class
Ethnicity: white
Special training: nursing student
Friends: Tammie Wynstead
Kids: none
Religion: strong faith in the Christian faith (Baptist)
Physical appearance:

Hair: Light brown/dark blond mix
Eyes: green
5’4 / 105 lbs.
Very attractive /eye catching
Loves using the computer and is very skilled with them
Loves stuffed animals and kittens
Loves to decorate her home beautifully
Likes to sew as a hobby
Is very close to her mother and father
Sister is married with 2 children and the brother is married with 4 children
God mother to sister’s children (Vince and Mark)

Word count for story 1,525

Story

The Accident
By Lisa Noe

On October thirty-first, the teenage boys of the county like to play dangerous pranks, like cutting down trees on the roadway. They also build fires with old tires right in the middle of the streets. This goes on each year and the law is unable to stop it. One Halloween about 2:00 PM, Sahara Champaign was driving home from visiting her parents, Howard and Dawn Perkins, when one of the neighborhood boys cut down a tree right on her vehicle causing her to wreck. The car flipped onto its side and Sahara was not wearing a seat belt. She was thrown from the driver’s side, hitting the dashboard; luckily the airbags deployed and threw her back between the two front seats. She hit her head on the steering wheel, which gave her a bad concussion. She was badly injured, when she awoke from being knocked out by the wheel. An ambulance would take a long time to arrive and she needed medical attention right then. The wreck occurred only one street away from Sahara’s home in Tanglewood. A neighbor saw what had happened and ran to help; he pulled her from the wreckage, as she was screaming out in pain. He took her and placed her in his truck and transported her quickly using his emergency flashers, he traveled 80 miles per hour. When they arrived at the hospital he obtained a wheel chair and brought her in, she was seen immediately in the emergency room, she was taken before everyone else because of the severity of her wounds. While being examined a nurse saw that her back was covered with broken glass and it was embedded in her skin. She began talking to the nurse,
“What happened, do you recall?”
“I think there was something in the road, but I really don’t recall, I just saw it as he brought me to the hospital.”
“What’s your name honey?”
“Sahara”
“Oh that’s pretty, is it like the desert?”

“Yeah”

“How old are you honey?”

Uh, I don’t know, I can’t seem to remember.”

“You can’t, do you know what day it is?”

“Um, no I can’t remember that either”

“Its Halloween, October 31st”

“Do you know who the President of the United States is?”

“Um Um, I think it’s …oh its no use I can’t remember, what is wrong with me that I can’t remember these things?”

“Do you know what you do for a living?”

“Yeah I think I’m in college to be a nurse.”

“Here comes the doctor, he will be better able to determine what the problem is than I.”
“Hello doctor Smith, this is Sahara Champaign, she’s been in a car accident and she hit her head and has severe pain in her shoulder and both arms as well as her back both upper and lower. Doctor, she’s in severe pain if you could give her something right now it would be a blessing for her.”

“Yes, Nurse give her some morphine and then send her to X-ray, I’ll see her when the films are in.”

Sahara went to X-ray and while she was there her family had been informed about the accident by the neighbor who took her to the hospital. They were waiting for her in the emergency room, when she returned from x-ray. The doctor looked at the films and then came to see Sahara.

“ Ms. Champaign I see you have numerous broken ribs on your left side, a slipped disc in your back, your right shoulder is broken, as well as your left wrist and forearm. You also appear to have a severe concussion in which we are going to have to study you more before I can talk to you about the possibility of brain damage. For now you must have surgery on your arms.”

After surgery, she was admitted to the hospital for further treatment on her concussion. The doctor did multiple tests on her and determined that she had permanent brain damage, she would no longer be able to be a student, and she had the intellect of a child of about age ten. She was very sad by the fact she would never be able to become a nurse as she had worked so hard at it. Her parents and her husband all gathered in the hall to discuss her future and how they would handle the situation.

“I will take good care of her there is nothing I wouldn’t do for my wife.”

“I know you will and we will be right here to help in any way we can you know that, my daughter is my life,” said Howard

“Ramsey, we will keep her on Mondays through Fridays while you are at work, that way she will never be left alone. Howard and I would love to help care for her. Linda and James, her brother and sister would also be able to help; I’ve already discussed it with them a few minutes ago in the lobby, after the doctor told us.

“Hey, everyone what are you doing out here, don’t you think Sahara knows we are talking about her, I as her big sister want to watch out for her.” Said Linda

“Yeah well I’m gonna find out who cut that damn tree down across the road, we’re lucky she’s not dead.
Big brothers are supposed to protect their little sisters but I failed. But I’m gonna find out who’s responsible for this.”

“James, we don’t need any of that, fighting and beating up on someone is not gonna solve anything.”

“Mom, what are we supposed to do just face her as a child everyday and not get any justice for her?”

“We will leave it up to the police, they will find out who did this. God is our savior and he wants us to turn the other cheek and forgive, that is what your sister has always lived by and that is what we are going to do.”

Sahara stayed in the hospital for another few days and was released to her husband, Ramsey.

“Hey Ramsey, will you let me watch TV, I want to see something funny.”

“Baby you don’t have to ask me to do things, if you want to do something just do it, as long as it is not dangerous.”

“Why can’t I be a nurse?”

“Because you hit your head very hard in the wreck, and it left you disabled.”

“Oh, um, What can I do?”

“I don’t know, aren’t you happy just being with me, you don’t have to have a job or go to school.”

“Oh yes, I love being with you, I was just wondering what I will do if something happen to you.”

“You have a large family and they all love you very much, nothing is going to happen to me, but if it does you have your sister, brother and parents and they too love you very much. I have life insurance that will pay for things if something were to happen.”

“I know baby, why don’t you go in the bedroom and get your stuffed bear and watch something funny on TV so you won’t have to think about these types of things.”

A few days passed and Sahara started having a bad cough, but she could not cough very well because of her broken ribs, it hurt her too bad. Every time she would cough she would scream out in pain. Eventually she developed pneumonia and she again would be hospitalized. She became very ill very fast and was transferred to the ICU intensive care unit. She lived in a rural area and the hospitals were not well equipped for patients this sick, The doctor made arrangements for Sahara to be sent to another hospital, in the city of Jasper for intensive care. Sahara’s lungs could not take anymore sickness they were about worn out with all of the pneumonia. All of her family followed her to Jasper by car, as she was transported by helicopter. She stayed in the hospital for seventeen days; she almost died for the second time. The first time was from the wreck and now by pneumonia. She was brought home, very much a different person than she once had been. She now liked to play with dolls, and watch cartoons like a child but in other ways she was very much grown up. She would write stories and poetry; she would watch the news and could discuss some politics. She was very quiet and withdrawn but when she got on her computer she could create spectacular things; its as if she were a natural, all she needs is an editor to go back and correct the misspelled words or improper grammar. Sahara has trouble to do simple things like cook a full meal, although she does try. She can create wonderful things for people to read and experience.
The accident did not rob her of her will, she still loves God, and wants to be a nurse. She may never be able to do so, but her family allows her to dream.