#actofkindness

Tripoto
12th Sep 2016
Photo of #actofkindness 1/1 by Meerkat tiger

A terrible truck collision that nearly took my life. 

Me, my brother Michael and our parents went on a trip to see our grandmother's local village zoo. On our way back we spotted a trailer, I have no idea what happened next, the car somersaulted and we found ourselves in a ditch, I woke up and saw the most terrifying scene I will always remember. I look around. Horrifying, there's blood everywhere. My brother beside me has his head bleeding and he yells if I'm okay. I yell back, my mom and dads eyes were closed shut. It turns out they were only unconscious. I found out later though, much later. I blacked out again. It was when I woke up I felt what pain truly was. I was in a mud hut mid-urban looking house. My knees were shattered. I was heartbroken. Back then, I didn't care I just remember yelling, Mom, dad, where are they, I looked around. I saw a figure approaching me. I somewhat sat up, hoping it was my mom, but it turned out to be a middle aged woman. Her name was Dea. She lived with an older woman, who I only knew as Grandma till we left and her kind husband, kwame. I was very destroyed when I learnt what happened. My family was okay, except for my mom who had an injury in her arm, since it got cut by the truck and had an infection. I got used to my new life sitting all day in bed sad, then once I fully recognized my surroundings, many faleti villagers started to visit me, give me food, clothes and things they saw as valuable. As we lived with them, they taught me how to walk again. Slowly, but steadily I had healed and returned to my restless self. I saw the villagers, they were a bit poor, and they were struggling to get by, yet they treated us like their own and never once made us feel bad about our disabilities. Some of the villagers came to play with my mom who was still healing from her surgery. A nurse came in every day to check on our progress. They fed us, clothed us, and sheltered us fully four the whole two weeks, when we felt better, we sadly said our goodbyes to Dea, Kwame and Grandma, the villagers and left. That experience changed my life. Ever since that day, I gave away my clothes, shoes and everything I knew could help people with disabilities, since I myself had been part of them and realized the joy of helping people. Years later and I still look back, grateful for the gift of life.