October 31st, 2020: The Day I Almost Died

Halloween, a holiday when everyone wears costumes, binge-eats on candy, and give people a little scare. Well, for me, I was extremely scared. Halloween is the day I almost died.

Let me start from the beginning, 2020 has been nothing but a year of COVID-19 pandemic, health and safety, bulking up on sanitized products, and anxiety. No one was allowed to be near within 6-ft of each other. That means no trick-0r-treating, attending a costume contest, or getting drunk at a bar. Children couldn't go door-to-door to pick out their favorite Hershey chocolate candy bars or rainbow-colored Skittles. Those poor kids couldn't ring doorbells and say "trick-or-treat" this year. But that wasn't all, no celebrating the most frightful night of the year in public. Thank you, COVID-19. You ruined another festive holiday for people to enjoy.

For me, I decided to work. I was a DoorDasher, which meant that I could earn extra money while delivering food and groceries on holidays. These extra payments are called 'peak pays.' I earn more per delivery. I had a black 2013 Chevrolet Equinox that I used to drive around for my deliveries. I needed extra money because I was struggling to find a permanent full-time job during the pandemic. The pandemic has made job security a challenge for me ever since I graduated from college. Luckily, I had DoorDash to thank. I earned hundreds of dollars every week just for delivering food. Customers usually gave me cash tips. Plus, I get a tax refund for mileage. It was very scary delivering food at night as I was always afraid of being robbed or jumped by sketchy hoodlums. These are the perks of DoorDashing, however, there are doubts of it too.

Where were we? Oh, yeah. It was Halloween 2020. I woke up early because I had just found out that there was a $15 peak pay bonus if a DoorDasher can deliver five meals in just three hours. I thought 'Hey, why not? Every little bit helps.' The first two deliveries were breakfast meals and the third was a grocery delivery. Grocery deliveries give me a little extra and I never had a problem with it until now.

I was driving in the rural area of Kaukauna, WI and stopped at a stop sign. After I had finished looking, a huge white truck bolted from out of nowhere and struck me. Well, inches away from striking me completely. My car went spiraling in a circle, glass was smashed everywhere in the back of my trunk and 2nd row seats, cracks were on the windows on the left side of my vehicle, a door was smashed, and a tire was missing. It took me a few seconds to come to, and my vision was blurry for a little bit. I felt something dripping down my face and as I touched what it was, it was blood. I had a small scrap on my forehead; at least, it wasn't a scar. I felt pain everywhere on my body and couldn't move. I was only half-conscious when I was pulled out of the vehicle by a fellow driver. She helped me out to take me over to the passenger's seat, which the door to that wouldn't open. I couldn't help but noticing that my car was totaled and was afraid what my parents would do to me if they find out that I was in a serious car collision.

I called my mom to tell her the terrifying news. When she picked up, she asked, "What is it, Emily?" She was babysitting my older sister, Stephanie's, dogs at the time. I knew she would be upset, so I said, "Mom, please don't be mad. It was an accident. I was in a car accident, and my car is totaled." I thought she would be mad about the car, but she was really more concerned about me. She asked me where I was, and I told her that I don't know, except it was some rural area in Kaukauna. The lady, who helped me out of my car, talked to my mom with my phone. My mom said that I had Aspergers', and the lady assured me everything was going to be okay. I didn't freak out at all in the situation, not even one teardrop fell down across my face. I wanted to react the way people usually do in a car accident but I held myself together because I knew it was the mature behavior to do so. I was concern about my auto insurance because if I got into one more accident, my insurance will go up. However, the lady assured me that none of it matters, my health and safety do.

I was conscious enough to dial 911 and tell them about my accident. I explained what happened, but the operators needed to know where I was. I didn't exactly where I was, so they traced my phone call to my exact location and sent an ambulance. The Kaukauna Sheriff questioned me what had happened, and I told him the truth. In contrast, the truck driver who hit me claimed that the accident was my fault. The Sheriff gave me a ticket for failure to yield at a stop sign, despite the pain and injuries I endured. When the ambulance arrived, I was able to walk inside of it and lay myself down on the gurney. I told the paramedics to take me to the nearest hospital and contact my family so they know where I was.

The Appleton Medical Center was where I was taken to and that's just the less painful part of my Halloween day. I spent three hours in the hospital, where doctors and nurses ran tests to make sure there was no internal bleeding; there wasn't. Unfortunately, I had bruised ribs, ankle and arm mostly on the left side of my body. The nurses took me to an examination room where they did scans on my pelvis and chest areas; I was cleared for that. Moreover, I received several massive bruises all over my body that inflicted upon me from my seatbelt and airbags. The IV drugs they injected me with made me feel very tired, and I still haven't shed a tear. After I was discharged, I walked to my parents' vehicle to reunite with them and my sister, Stephanie.

In the car, my parents were so concerned about my health and safety, I finally broke down crying with Stephanie by my side. I told them that I didn't want to drive for a while, and they told me to never work for DoorDash again. I cried all afternoon and night, thinking that my life would be over as I thought that I would never drive again, insurance would become worse for me and my family, and all my debts have to be paid.

Fortunately, DoorDash paid all of my medical bills, non-owned vehicle auto insurance, and property damages involved from the accident. The other driver didn't care about the pain he caused me, so he threatened to sue us. Then, my auto insurance provider, Progressive, declined giving us some insurance money because I worked for DoorDash and didn't have an auto commercial vehicle insurance provided. Repulsed by Progressive's management and lack of compassion, my parents canceled their auto insurance accounts with them and chose a different insurance.

The moral of my near-death experience is never drive for a company like DoorDash without commercial auto insurance, or you won't be insured by your auto insurance if you get in an accident. Wait at the stop sign completely and in the clear from all vehicles on both sides. There are many alternatives that would've had happened to me that day if I hadn't made the wrong choices. People say everything happens for a reason and they're right. Post-traumatic experiences get to auto accident victims, and in time, we move on.