Hi, my name is Cheri Shank and on September 11th, 1998 my truck was totaled and so was my body when I was hit by a drunk driver. My psychologist, who I see weekly, says my mind is blocking out most of the crash and that I might not ever remember and for that I thank God. But the things I do remember brings a lump to my throat and a quiver in my voice.
The first time I woke up I could feel the truck flipping and rolling then landing on blacktop and stone, dragging along my body.
The next time I awoke I was hanging upside down by my safely belt inhaling the gas from my ruptured tank, inches from teh ground. I watched thru cut eyes, my blood dripping down from my hand, arm and face makign a puddle on the ground. My legs were pinned under the dashboard and I couldn't move them.
It took 2 hours for them to remove me from my truck with the "Jaws of Life". Two long hours of watching the gas mix with my blood forming a circle around me and thinking if I would die in an explosion.
In the hospital I was in ICU with a closed head injury, 2 swollen legs and ankles, my left hand, fingers and arm grossly damaged, a bruised heart, the steering wheel imprint on my chest, numerous cuts and bruises on my body and breasts and a broken collerbone.
I developed a phobia of cars of which I had to be heavily sedated to go to doctors appointments and a phobia of the dark as well. I can't face the night and I will walk the halls of my home with all the lights on.
My hair had to be cut off due the damage of all the glass. Right now, 10 medications help me exist. I dont have good days, I have good or bad hours. It took only seconds for the drunk driver to destroy my life and that of my family. 13 months later I'm still fighting to find me. The drunk driver died in that crash. He was lucky. Since then I've been living hell on earth and fighting a ghost I cannot see. But every day in physical therapy I'm taking my life back..step by step, I know I'm getting stronger as a person.
In the future I hope to get more involved in MADD. The words drink and drive don't belong in the same breath. And for that change to happen I will help, plead, do anything to spread the word that our society has to make tougher laws to protect the innocent victims, like me.
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