Life Changing Experience

Up till now I have had no dramatic life changing experience. Just recently I dislocated and fractured my patella. The cause of this was dancing. Who would have ever thought that dancing is dangerous? Unfortunately for me, I had to find out the hard way.

It was May 23 ,2011 approximately at 10:00am. We were working hard on a dance routine for the Dance Department Final. We were discussing about what we needed and where we required the most improvement. I could hear Joanna tell me "you need to point your toes more and extend your arms." As always I try to give 100% on every routine we do.

I remember being very enthusiastic and energetic. I was leaning and arching my back as far as I could while moving my legs. Suddenly, within a blink of an eye, I see my leg shooting out and being pulled back in as if flinging a rubber band or throwing a boomerang. I saw everyone staring at me with their jaws falling down to the ground and that's when I heard the crack. It sounded as if someone got shot or something. Within a second, I was crashing down to the floor collapsing onto the platform in the quad. I thought to myself what am I going to do now.

What if I am never able to walk again never mind running?

What if I am paralyzed?

All these negative thoughts rushed to my forehead all at once. The adrenaline of it all overwhelmed me and in full swing I felt a blast of emotions about to burst out. I was infuriated and miserable at the same time when I was laying on the platform. Where was everyone? It seemed as if I was there one second and in the next I was sucked into another dimension. I could see everyone running to me at once but it looked so surreal. I saw them running but it was in slow motion and their hair was flying around everywhere. Then their slow pace came into a full sprint and I had to blink my eye because I thought it was a stampede. My conscious slapped me saying snap out of it. I had to fight through the pain and see what had happened to me. I tried to ask the girls to help me see the damage but I couldn't even help myself get up. I realized I couldn't move. All the girls were very worried and started crying drastically. Finally out of the stress I shouted at them to go and get the teacher. I was mad at them for just standing there and crying over me. These were precious minutes of my life that I would never get back. Everyone started running after the teacher and I had to say STOP! Someone had to stay with me just in case I was unconscious. One of my partners stayed with me while the rest was running around looking for the teacher.

Mrs. Cvrtelik, my dance teacher came running at bursting speed to assist me. I was sort of relieved that there was at least some authority there instead of a bunch of teenage girls who didn't know what to do. One after another she started instructing the girls on what to do. Sam go and get the nurse and see if you can bring a wheel chair. Daniela see if you can get her clothes out of her locker. I heard Daniela saying but I don't know her locker number. The teacher asked me in a calm voice if I remembered my locker number. At the moment I couldn't remember so I started turning my fingers in the motion of opening a lock and started to recall the digits. I felt so awkward as if I had the Alzheimer's disease.

It felt like ages just lying there on the platform waiting for the nurse. Everyone started getting tense on where she was and what was taking so long. Finally someone spotted her and she was on her way. I remember her hobbling down by my side saying Aww poor baby, what happened to you? In my head I was saying to myself can't you see I'm dying here? My friends and teacher answered her on what happened to me and how. Slowly the pain was getting to me. The pain was like the plague infecting me from one area gradually going to another. I started bawling my eyes out because the intensity and the pressure was gaining on my knees. I then realized something terribly wrong happened to my right knee. I tried lifting up my body to see what had happened to it but I couldn't. It felt like something was blocking me from lifting up as if there was a shield preventing me to get up. The reality of it was that the pain and gravity was holding me back to worsen anything else.

Out of nowhere I hear questions about where I live and where my parents were. I told them my mom was at UCLA Hospital because she just underwent a surgery for hernia repair. No one was at home and my dad was at the hospital with her. The people I was in need of the most was not there by my side. Fate was playing games with my life. The nurse then decided to call the paramedics to take me to the ER because there was nothing she could do with me. She could not move me onto the wheelchair because of the unbearable pain. I really wanted