Just Another Day

One sunny day back in 2007 I was sitting in class staring at the clock as each second

passed by, just waiting for the big hand to land back on the number three while the little hand sat

on the number one. Once that time came, everyone quickly began to rise out of their seats

anticipating the teacher to say those magic words, and finally, we are free! For about 15 minutes.

Recess was always the best time of the day, that’s all we thought about while sitting in

class for hours. However, this time was different, recess was not very enjoyable at all. My

friends gathered as we ran outside and headed straight for the field like usual, to decide what

game to play this time. Then we noticed a crowd over by the fence, so of course, we followed.

The area was surrounded by cops and everyone was starring at this huge helicopter above

the neighborhood right across the street. “It’s a life-flight!” some kid shouts, as everyone

questioned what was going on. All I could think about is how weird it was that the helicopter

was right above my house. I said to my friend “Hey that’s my neighborhood, I hope it’s nobody I

know”. Once recess was over everyone gathered back inside the classroom to resume like

normal, so I thought.

About 10 minutes after we got settled back into class I got called down to the principles

office to check out and go home. Without even thinking about why I could possibly be going

home this early, I grabbed my stuff ran down to the office. I was calmly walking down the hall

when I see my mom pacing back and forth by the front doors, she looked panicked. She rushes

me out to her car without saying a word. I get in a put my seat belt on and ask her what is going

on, she says “Colton, your brother... he has been hit by a car, we are going to the hospital”.
 “What could this mean? What’s going to happen? Will I see him again?” All these

thoughts were racing through my head while we were headed up to the U of U hospital. Once we

arrived we sat there and waited for hours and hours until we received an update. “The surgery

went well, however, he has swelling in his brain and has slipped into a coma.” the doctor stated.

And now, we wait.

A week passes and we finally get some good news, my brother has woken up. I

remember going to the gift shop to pick out something for him and I found a small stuffed

monkey, which was perfect since that was his favorite animal. We went upstairs to see him, he

was sitting up in bed talking with everyone. After a few more days he made a full recovery and

was ready to come home.

Every single day people are injured in a car or by a car, most incidents are harmless but a

lot of them can be fatal. “A crash occurs in Utah every 10 minutes, a person is injured in a crash

every 23 minutes, and a person dies in a crash every 36 hours.” (Utah Government) You might

just be “on your way to work again” or “going to the store” but no matter where you are going or

how routine it is for you, we need to stay focused on the roads.

Resources:

https://health.utah.gov/vipp/topics/motor-vehicle-crashes/