Tanner Was in an Accident Last Night
By Tayler, age 17, California
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
I left first period, and hid in the bathroom to silently dial her mother's number. My hands quaked, and I was so nervous that I could have fallen down. She finally answered, and then I was hit by a train. "I need you to be here. Tanner was in a wreck last night, and it was really bad." I could hear the fear in her voice.
"How bad is it?" I responded, weakened by the sudden news.
"She went under a semi. Tanner might not make it. We need you here. You are her best friend, and you are practically her sister," her mom Pam whispered. I said I'd be there as soon as I could get there. I hung up the phone, and walked into the hallway slowly, looking for a friendly face. The first person I saw was Mackenzie, someone we had both cheered with in junior high, and she automatically knew I was upset. She wrapped me into her arms, and said that whatever it was she wasn't going to let me stay at school. She took me home, and I told her about the news I had received.
The thought of losing Tanner was unfathomable. We did absolutely everything together, other than going to separate schools, but we made up for it by living with each other on weekends. She was my sister, my best friend, and the only person who knows my every secret. Tears fell from my eyes like I was going to create a new ocean in the middle of Bakersfield.
I arrived home and had my mom take me to the hospital. I walked into the room, and her mom wrapped me in a hug. She had been crying, and I assumed the worst. "When they told me she might not make it, the only other person I could think about was you. You know my daughter better than anyone else in the world, and you needed to know what was going on. She is better today, but still pretty beat up."
They let me in to see her. She was sleeping silently, and I didn't want to wake her. The nurse walked in and I asked what was wrong. Her brain was lacerated, both a blood clot and an air bubble on her brain, she had an uncountable number of fractures in her face, her elbow was dislocated, her lungs were badly bruised, and nerves which control the right side of her face did not work right, but how she had made it this far after the accident amazed me.
Her brand new white Toyota Corolla was smashed in a way that still makes me cringe when I see the picture. She is lucky to be alive. The semi truck turned in front of her from the middle lane, going into an area that he was not supposed to be in. He did not signal that he was turning from the middle lane, so she continued going straight in the right lane, and then the truck smashed into her.
For me, these are the takeaways from this situation: Always, always take caution when driving around larger vehicles. One little mistake can seriously damage or end your life. Tanner is seventeen years old, and she cannot go to school the rest of her junior year, and she can't go to Australia this summer like she had planned. Her life is forever changed because of one mistake, and even though it wasn't hers, it isn't always that way. She is lucky to be alive, and I am lucky to still have my best friend. Never take anyone in your life for granted because losing them through something so traumatic and instant is the hardest thing to deal with. If she wouldn't have made it, I would hurt forever because I never got the chance to say goodbye. Tell everyone you love them while you have the chance to say it because you never know what will happen when your life is interrupted by a traumatic accident. Be safe!
