Blog

I haven’t written for this blog for awhile–at first it was due to writing my book and also due to the event on March 12. Then two weeks ago our oldest was in a car accident. Her car is totaled and she has a concussion. Everyone at the scene was amazed she walked away from the car. All she could think of was that the car was on fire(it wasn’t but the airbag going off smells like smoke) and that she had to get out. Before the airbag deflated she was out of the car and walking to the curb and calling me. It wasn’t her fault. She did everything she could to avoid the accident. The front end of her car is badly damaged…totaled.

She called and I asked if she was out of the line of traffic,  if the police were there and if she was okay. I asked that last because she was talking to me and making sense. I was in traffic about 20 minutes away and called Christopher who went straight away and her godfather  who was there in five minutes as he works down the street.

When I got to the scene I walked straight up to the firemen and said, “Where is my daughter?” They pointed to her and said –“she was ambulatory when we arrived.” I got to her side in a heart beat.

I have learned my daughter is resilient–I always knew that though–I have learned that schools have concussion protocols in place and as of Jan 1 2015 all doctors are supposed to have a “return to school/play” plan to give the schools or sign for the schools. As my daughter’s volleyball days are behind her and she is a theatre kid now we didn’t know all the info about how to handle going back to school after a concussion. We went to two ER’s and her pediatrician and told her teachers but no one mentioned the protocol to us. We now know and went to have her checked by a specialist who will help her get caught up in school by outlining what she can and can’t do school-wise.

All the while this was going on I was trying to finalize our honorees and finalize the invites for The Get In Touch Foundation Pretty In Pink Luncheon and Women of Strength Awards Los Angeles 2015.

And to be available to our younger daughter who is applying to her sister’s school for the fall after a year of home school and to my husband who is my husband and amazing and understanding. Suffice it to say my back went out on Feb 14. Finally safe and all in place –it let go.

Advice and lessons learned.

If your child has a car accident or fall and has a concussion or you even suspect a concussion call the school academic dean and find out what plan is in place. Even if your child is not on a school team the protocol will work for them. I was lucky enough to have a friend who is very involved with the Sports Legacy Institute and their work with concussion. She suggested a doctor at Children’s Hospital LA.

Get your child the most safe car you can. We leased instead of bought and got a terrific deal on a car with great airbags. Without those airbags she would have hit her head on the windshield or gone through and she was not going fast. The other driver was going faster. Her car did what was supposed to do …crumple and absorb impact and release air bags.

Don’t push your child to go back to school too quickly. Sleep is most important to healing. As is a lack of stress. Ask for help and don’t be surprised if there is a level of PTSD–she wakes when she hears a car on the street. Her knees are bruised and scraped from the airbag we think. They are healing. The school plan is to get her back in class before demanding much in the way of work form her. Of course she has a play to do on March 3. And of course the show must go on and it will with her in it.

God was watching over both drivers. They both walked away. Later that same week there were two nearby accidents that were fatalities. I will always be grateful to God and my daughter for being smart in her first accident and to the car that saved her life.