Laura Sangerton

29 days from the moment of the accident and here it is a new life, what is it?

I've been lying in bed all this time, everything hurts a lot, all my muscles are starting to atrophy a little, but the fighting spirit is in my blood and I'm alive! The leg after amputation twitches terribly, phantom pain, a healthy brain does not understand, and I myself still do not understand how they are connected to each other, if there is no leg, how it can hurt. Strange pains in the leg and lumbago, cramps, finger wiggling, tingling of the foot, and the pain itself when the stump is reduced and hits as if piercing really. Well, when it gets really hard, I remember my mother's words "You are strong with me, daughter."

On May 14, 2021, my husband and I decided to go for a little fun, for the first time on vacation in the last 6 years, and even with my husband. On this day, no trouble at all foreshadowed it. We woke up early in the morning, had breakfast, packed up and left. At the entrance to the interchange, a strong wind blew and I hid behind my husband's back, when we drove a little, I saw that repair work was going on, but I didn't see any signs, we were not driving in a line of cars, but nearby and then a car was coming out of the turn towards us. At that moment, I realized that a collision could not be avoided, and then it was like a terrible dream. I remember how I was spinning on the asphalt and my head was spinning in different directions, then I blacked out.

When I came to, I was lying on my back, and my husband was lying next to me, and I realized that something bad had happened. My husband was in a very hysterical state, constantly saying that this is not with us, we are sleeping, we are about to wake up, that he loves me, that I will never forgive him. I was lying and looking at the sky, it was blue. I only thought that an ambulance would arrive soon and they would assemble me in parts and everything would be fine, I no longer felt my legs at that moment. 

I was kept in a sleepy state for three days, I just felt like they were changing the IV. On the fourth day I was in my right mind and then I was able to see everything. The first fear, I began to move my head, shoulders, fingers and sighed: everything will be fine. On the fifth day I was transferred from the intensive care unit to the ward. Two weeks later he was discharged. And my new life began. According to the results of the accident, my right leg was amputated above the knee, the divergence of the pubic symphysis, a fracture of the arm. 

Well, here is the second month of summer. For me, this time was very productive. I do exercises every morning. It certainly looks very funny, but it makes it much easier for me after that. I started trying to move my fingers. A hand with a needle inside, and even in a splint, but every day I had to do a dressing, and at this moment I try to squeeze my fingers. I also started trying to lie down half-sitting. When I got a little stronger, I decided to sit on the edge of the bed, lower my good leg, and oh, horror, I didn't feel it. However, every day I began to sit down and strain my muscles, and over the past month I even learned to stand in a tilt.. 

It's September outside, now everything is exciting, exciting, amazing to rediscover yourself. I can say that walking on crutches is not as easy as I thought, you need to think through every step, slowly, uncertainly, but it can be scary, of course, the armpit is rubbing, the knee is buckling, I want to step off the missing leg, and now I have a new record, I walked 100 meters on crutches. 

I've been on crutches for a month now. After amputation, literally everything needs to be re-learned: stand, keep your balance, go wash your face, everything that every person does just without thinking every day. Now my day begins cheerfully and brightly - breakfast in bed, then wrapping a healthy leg and bandaging the stump, physical exercises for all muscle groups. 

I can't say that I'm a strong person. Previously, I often complained about my life, there were always a lot of problems, nothing was ever easy for me, but I could not even imagine that I would be left without a leg and that lying on the bed for two months was very hard. But I did not lose heart, but went to the intended goal – to get back on my feet and walk. 

For almost four months I have been searching for a prosthetic company. "Prostheses should be rubbed", "You need to fill calluses so that you can walk normally later" - when faced with amputation, you have to hear these phrases from both prosthetists and users of prostheses. I was told that the prosthesis is a foreign body that you need to get used to. I was looking for prosthetics so that it wouldn't hurt, there were no calluses, and I was ready to go to the end of the world, because deep down I was sure that everything they say can't be true. 

I was lucky to find a good clinic, which a friend told me about, with whom I corresponded for a very long time: I asked him questions about where and how he was able to get a microprocessor-controlled prosthesis. I am very grateful to him that he was able to convince me and dispel all my fears. 

And here I am in Poland. I was lucky that I found people like Orto-M, this team will not only put you on your feet, but will also tell you and show you will let you feel different feet and knees, and later allow you to walk on them and choose the optimal configuration for yourself. I was told how the prosthesis should sit, where it should press, and where it should not. 

On October 15, five months after the accident, I got on a prosthesis and became a cyborg. 

We have been waiting for this moment, my first steps, for so long. While these are still uncertain steps, but this day is very national for me, my heart is pounding hard, a storm of excitement and filling emotions. So I want to say thank you to everyone for the strong and strong support, for this incredible feeling when you can walk again. I used to think that I would make a prosthesis, and that's it - I got up and went. But in fact, you need to train a lot, get used to many factors, work out the technique and make it clear to the brain that the prosthesis is also a part of me. You need to learn to trust the iron leg, and at first the brain does not want to understand how the prosthesis should move. The biggest fear is to put emphasis on the leg and hold on. The prosthesis turned out to be quite heavy, about six kilograms, but it will help me to acquire a beautiful confident gait.

Today, looking back, I wonder to myself what a long way I have overcome in a short time. Sometimes it happens: business, worries. We don't notice how much we do. What new skills we acquire and what valuable things are happening in our lives. So, over the past year I have become a cyborg, a motivational blogger, changed my job and city of residence, I constantly visit the gym, for the first time in my life I got up for windsurfing, got behind the wheel of a map and many more things. But I consider the main achievement to be obtaining a diploma of a rehabilitologist, and now I share my knowledge and help people. I like what I do, I inspire people. I have a new environment, there are people with whom we are on the same wavelength, new colleagues and of course friends, I am growing, studying and I like it.