MY SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE

On the afternoon of august 25, 2008 as I drove out to the Hamptons could have been the very last time I walked, talked or even been alive. That day marks a turning point as the trauma of what happened that day taught me a valuable life lesson. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing week with some friends. We were all walking out to sit on the deck at the house I was staying at and as I was not afraid of heights, I went to sit on the deck railing. As I began to raise myself onto the railing, I misjudged my strength and boosted myself right over. I landed 20 feet down onto the ground on my neck and was air lifted to the hospital.


Upon arrival the doctors found that I had bruised my lung and hip and broken the right side of my neck. For a while I didn’t realize how dramatic my fall was. It wasn’t until I started my physical therapy and was shown x-rays of the bone I had broken that I realized the intensity of the damage that had been done. The doctor told me how lucky I was that the bone I had broken in my neck was “the one bone you can break a hundred times and not have permanent damage". It wasn’t until then did it really hit me how incredibly lucky I was. I began to take inventory of my life-not thinking just about where my career was going, or how much money I was making, but about LIFE. How beautiful yet fragile and short life is. It seems incredible, but it took an accident and a near brush with paralysis to teach me lessons that I thought I already knew.



I realized that some people want to be your friend when you are on the cover of a magazine, or on the red carpet. But where are those people when you need help to get into a shower because you can barely walk? In a time of need your true friends surface and I learned that the people I thought were my true friends were the ones who were abandoning me when I needed them most.



After healing physically I still hadn’t dealt with the emotional aspect of healing. I started to question why me? What was it that I was doing right that I was blessed with a second chance at life? Why is it that I fell 20 feet and came out okay, but people can trip over a rock and die? I came to the conclusion that I can’t dwell on those things and have them make me sad. I started to weed through all the negative people that surrounded me and eliminate the negative energy that others brought. I know what you’re saying to yourself - easier said than done right? I’m not saying that I am happy go lucky every day. Life has its challenges, but I have learned to value the ups and downs.



It has been a year today and I have such a big smile on my face and the most amazing friends and family. I think that my second chance at life has taught me to try harder to share my positive happy energy and I hope that I can put a smile on others faces. Now I fully understand what it means to say "at least you have your health".

Julie
xx