Personal Narrative: 23-Year-Caucasian Girl

Walking into the Southfield Public Library I had never been more nervous. She, Alicia, was waiting on me. I walked in, spotted her sitting by the middle booth in the café; I ascended to the table as she waved at me. I sat down, exchanged salutations and began the interview. Alicia is a 23 year Caucasian woman that was born without any disabilities. For most of her life she was a temporarily able-bodied person, just like me, with the mentality that nothing tragic could happen to her. She went on to explain how and when her mentality changed. She began, “It was a beautiful spring day….May 23, 2007. We were riding to his parents’ house for a family dinner when it happened….The driver did not stop.” I was completely engaged at this point. It was tragic. A truck driver was coming off of the freeway too fast and tried to beat the traffic light at the top of the ramp. He went through the light and smashed right into the side
of Alicia’s car. “All I remember was seeing the grill of the truck racing towards us…..it seemed as though it happened in slow motion, like we couldn’t speed up fast enough…..it all went black…” Alicia began to tear up. I told her that we did not have to continue but she insisted. She began again, “I woke up in a hospital room after 4 days of being in a coma. I opened my eyes and he was sitting by my side asleep. I just sat there looking at him sleep, glad that he was alive. I then looked at my body. All I could see was white.” Alicia lost her right arm in the accident and had severe damage to her spine. The doctors told her that she was very lucky to be alive and that her recovery would be long and painful and that she may never walk again. “I was not going to give up. I was not going to have him wait on me hand and foot and be a burden to him.” Alicia went through several months of physical therapy. In February 2008, Alicia regained feeling in her legs and she was able to begin the process of walking again on her own. She opted against getting a prosthetic arm, “I wanted to be able to be myself. I do not like plastic surgery so I refused to have a plastic arm. I’m very satisfied with myself.” She continued to fight and work hard. It took Alicia several months, after regaining her ability to walk, to get used to having one arm.
“I never considered myself disabled, I still don’t. I can do everything that I used to do just in a different way.” Alicia went on to tell me that she is not immune to the stares that she gets from strangers. “When people stare sometimes I ask, is there something on my shirt or face? Did I drop food?” She laughed as she said that. It is very apparent that she is comfortable with herself and has no ill feelings about what has happened to her. We have been here for almost an hour now and I asked Alicia to leave me with one thing that she would want people to know about her and any other person in her situation. She said, “I would want people to know that we (people with disabilities) are just like everyone else. We can do the same things, just in a different manner. We want to be independent, loved, and treated like equals. We are happy with ourselves. Please treat us as such.” I thanked Alicia with a hug and proceeded to the
door. Coming into this interview I was very nervous, not because I did not know what to ask or how to pose the questions but because I did not know if any question would offend her. I think that she sensed my nervousness and she helped make our meeting into a lunch date rather than an interview. I did not sit there with a list full of questions, going down the list and writing down her answers. It was more so a conversation between long lost friends that were catching up since their last meeting. This assignment has taught me a lot about how to approach people with disabilities, how to treat them, and how to, if I may say, understand some of the thoughts that run through or stay on their minds. Alicia was a perfect example of a person that did not lose her determination and strength because of an accident. She did not allow what happened to her hold her back or determine how she would live the rest of her life. She is successful, happily married, and what is even more exciting is that she is expecting her first child.