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Dying Moment
Have
you ever had an experience where you thought you were dying, and came back
to realize that it enhanced your life?
This dynamic dying moment occurred in my life the time I got hit
with a softball.
I was pitching for the Lady Falcons on a Thursday before spring
break 1998.
My catcher kept calling the same pitch over and over again; I knew
the hitters would catch on.
The ninth batter came up to bat and had hit the first pitch right
back at me.
I had gotten hit in the head.
The ball then went out to the outfield.
I looked around and then fell straight to the ground, screaming and
rolling frantically.
My coach ran over with my dad and assisted me to the ambulance.
I was rushed to the hospital to have extensive x-rays.
This incident not only changed my life but also shaped it in
several ways.
After the ball it me, I blacked out.
When I regained consciousness, I was crying hysterically and I felt
a moist, but warm feeling in my ears.
Was I dead? Were my
eardrums bleeding? I thought
the ball’s impact, created too much pressure in my head, and I was going
to lose my life. After a few
minutes, I opened my eyes and saw the bluest sky you could ever imagine; I
ceased my screaming instantly. I
regained my consciousness and kissed the dirt.
I could not believe I was going to die.
I now know that I have one life, a very short one. If I proceed to take my life for granted, I accomplish
nothing. Every breath I take
I cherish. I am grateful
towards the end of every night because I made it through another day. I am now very scared to die.
Being cut off from life will be a challenge for me, but now that I
have experienced what I thought was death, my eyes are open and I am very
thankful.
When I was lying on the ground I started
thinking about my family. I
thought of all the things we did not do.
My parents and I had a communication gap.
I had never let them know that I love them and vice versa.
I wanted to show how I really felt about them and give them my
love. My family is a very enormous
piece of my life and if I had left before letting them know that, I would
have left some unfinished business. So
everyday since then, I assure them of how much I love them and let them
know how special they are to me. The
injury has opened my eyes and especially my heart.
Our relationship has greatly improved, and it is all because of my
experience with death.
Five days after my incident, I had an opportunity to play in a
game. I was unable to play
due to the fact that my head was literally too big for any of the batting
helmets. The hematoma on my
head had swelled to the size of a softball and I grew two black eyes.
Blood vessels in both of my eyes had popped and my head was
extremely sensitive. I was
humiliated at school because of this.
I later established a fear of softballs.
When I started playing again I was very timid.
Finally by the end of the season, with a lot of hard work, I earned
myself an All-District award at first base and broke Clear Lake High
School’s fielding average. My
accomplishments have earned me a ride in college to perform on a college
level.
You can still touch my head today and I will flinch away with pain.
From this critical moment I have improved my social and athletic
capabilities. The pain I had
on the ground was a feeling as if I was drowning; I felt really helpless.
If you see me playing a softball game, you definitely will not see
me on the mound.
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