The Lion's Pride Lion's Pride Volume 12 (Spring 2019) | Page 7

group of partying people. I can only attribute my desire to hang out with
this group to that need to belong. It seemed fun at the time, since most
people like to belong to something. However, being with this group of
people was not conducive to my future, and I knew it. I just didn’t do
anything about moving on.
As a result of drinking with the group over time, I slowly became
very addicted to alcohol. This was not just a situation of, “oh I need a
drink to have fun,” but the kind of addiction where you wake up with the
shakes. I knew at that point I wasn’t going to get a job until I pulled
myself together, so I prayed to get off the fast train to destruction. What
happened next, some may call coincidence and others call divine
intervention. Two weeks after I prayed with all my heart and soul, I
tripped on my flip-flops. If you don’t pick up your feet, these types of
sandals are prone to rolling the tip under, thus tripping you forward.
Yup, it’s hard to be human.
Tripping on my sandals was life changing. My head and the concrete
connected. When I came to, I could see blood next to my head.
Apparently, I did try to stop myself from hitting my head because I
partially tore the rotator cuffs in both arms. I vaguely remember the
Emergency Medical Technicians and the emergency room at Evergreen.
They sent me to Harbor View trauma center. My left orbital eye socket
was fractured, and my forehead had been cut open above my left eye. I
spent two weeks in the ICU fighting for my life, including a near death