Max
06-22-2003, 02:03 PM
Neither friend died, but neither will ever live as before
Nationwide, car crashes cost billions, but dollars can't give back one girl's memory or another's ability even to tie a shoelace
By LAURA AYO, ayo@knews.com
June 22, 2003
Sixteen-year-old Ariel Hunt remembers everything about the car crash that robbed her of the ability to do the simplest of everyday tasks.
Kayla Seals, also 16, doesn't even remember going to school that Wednesday in January. But to look at her, you'd never know that four months earlier hydraulic equipment was needed to extricate her and Ariel from the back seat of a 2003 Honda Civic.
Together, the good friends - one who suffered a spinal cord injury and the other a brain injury - have helped each other through hours of therapy at the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.
"I make her go to therapy," Ariel teased Kayla. "She helps me around."
While Kayla ties Ariel's shoes for her, helps her put on a sweater or fixes her hair, Ariel fills in the blanks the crash erased from Kayla's memory.
"I always ask about it," Kayla said. "I didn't know anything that happened."
What did happen was this:
The Jefferson County girls, along with Kayla's 19-year-old cousin and a 16-year-old friend, were headed to Morristown to eat dinner on the afternoon of Jan. 15.
Kayla's cousin was heading off to the military, and the dinner was a send-off get-together.
The 16-year-old girl driving the new Civic, which had a temporary license plate, pulled out in front of a pickup truck driven by a 77-year-old man on state Highway 92 in Dandridge, according to the wreck report. Ariel and Kayla, who were both belted in the backseat, bore the brunt of the impact. The teenage girl driving the Civic was cited for failure to yield.
"We talk about fatalities, but not the life-changing injuries the ones who will never live up to the potential they had," said Becky Brack, Knoxville Police Department traffic education specialist.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated 3 million people nationwide were injured in motor-vehicle crashes in 2001.
Those injuries also often come with financial costs in the form of litigation, medical expenses and lost employment.
An NHTSA report released in mid-2002 states motor-vehicle crashes across the country cost $230.6 billion in 2000. That figure includes lost market productivity, property damage and medical expenses.
"Public revenues paid for roughly 9 percent of all motor vehicle crash costs, costing tax payers $21 billion in 2000, the equivalent of over $200 in added taxes for every household in the U.S.," the report states.
In Tennessee, the estimated economic cost per capita was $814, just slightly lower than the nationwide average of $819, according to the report.
The crash left Ariel a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Her mother, Earlene Hunt, described her daughter's body as being like Jell-O in the beginning.
"She couldn't even hold her head up," Hunt said. "She was totally bent over."
Kayla's problems, in addition to her short-term memory loss, included being unable to move her right leg.
"I just dragged it," she said.
But with moral support from each other and the therapists at Patricia Neal Rehab, the girls, who met in sixth grade, have improved in the four months since the incident.
"Probably the hardest thing is just trying to get the strength to do things," Ariel said. "I can put my shirt on by myself now with some assistance. I'm feeding myself pretty much."
She can type on a computer using her knuckles and talk on a phone using her chin and tongue, her mother said.
"They've taught her to be creative in thinking about how she can do things," Hunt said. "Like she taped a ribbon to the refrigerator so she can open it."
Ariel hopes she'll walk again.
"They say things can come back within a year," she said.
Kayla's physical therapy ended this spring. But for about another month, she'll continue going to the rehabilitation center twice a week for therapy to help her with her short-term memory.
"I forget to do stuff," she said.
To help her, the therapist has her write things in a book she keeps with her.
"She'll read me stories and I have to tell her about it 15 minutes later," she said.
She also has trouble with her speech.
"Sometimes the words won't come out," Kayla said.
She thinks she'll be able to go back to Jefferson County High School this fall, where she'll be a junior. Whether Ariel will be able to join her is still questionable.
Hunt said her daughter still makes A's through her homeschooling. Ariel said she misses the social aspect of being in school. She also misses her independence.
Emotionally, Ariel said she has good days and bad days. At her worst, she thinks she's a burden to her parents, whose lives and careers have also been affected by Ariel's injuries.
"It has changed our life totally," Hunt said. "She has to have constant supervision."
Both girls said they're more apprehensive about riding in cars now.
"I get nervous," Kayla said. "I think I'd feel better if I could drive myself."
If they had to give advice to other teens, they said they'd advise riding with experienced drivers who won't be distracted easily by too many passengers.
Kayla believes teen drivers aren't as aware as more experienced drivers.
"Plus, they try to be sporty drivers," she said. "They think it's fun to go out and race."
Although speed was not a factor in their wreck, Kayla cautioned a few friends against "racing on roads" because of what's happened to her.
While both Ariel and Kayla have made progress, Hunt said neither would ever be the way they were before the wreck.
"It's just a dumb thing that happened," Hunt said. "Neither one of them, their lives will never be the same."
Laura Ayo may be reached at 865-342-6341.
Copyright 2003, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_2058210,00.html
Nationwide, car crashes cost billions, but dollars can't give back one girl's memory or another's ability even to tie a shoelace
By LAURA AYO, ayo@knews.com
June 22, 2003
Sixteen-year-old Ariel Hunt remembers everything about the car crash that robbed her of the ability to do the simplest of everyday tasks.
Kayla Seals, also 16, doesn't even remember going to school that Wednesday in January. But to look at her, you'd never know that four months earlier hydraulic equipment was needed to extricate her and Ariel from the back seat of a 2003 Honda Civic.
Together, the good friends - one who suffered a spinal cord injury and the other a brain injury - have helped each other through hours of therapy at the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center at Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center.
"I make her go to therapy," Ariel teased Kayla. "She helps me around."
While Kayla ties Ariel's shoes for her, helps her put on a sweater or fixes her hair, Ariel fills in the blanks the crash erased from Kayla's memory.
"I always ask about it," Kayla said. "I didn't know anything that happened."
What did happen was this:
The Jefferson County girls, along with Kayla's 19-year-old cousin and a 16-year-old friend, were headed to Morristown to eat dinner on the afternoon of Jan. 15.
Kayla's cousin was heading off to the military, and the dinner was a send-off get-together.
The 16-year-old girl driving the new Civic, which had a temporary license plate, pulled out in front of a pickup truck driven by a 77-year-old man on state Highway 92 in Dandridge, according to the wreck report. Ariel and Kayla, who were both belted in the backseat, bore the brunt of the impact. The teenage girl driving the Civic was cited for failure to yield.
"We talk about fatalities, but not the life-changing injuries the ones who will never live up to the potential they had," said Becky Brack, Knoxville Police Department traffic education specialist.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated 3 million people nationwide were injured in motor-vehicle crashes in 2001.
Those injuries also often come with financial costs in the form of litigation, medical expenses and lost employment.
An NHTSA report released in mid-2002 states motor-vehicle crashes across the country cost $230.6 billion in 2000. That figure includes lost market productivity, property damage and medical expenses.
"Public revenues paid for roughly 9 percent of all motor vehicle crash costs, costing tax payers $21 billion in 2000, the equivalent of over $200 in added taxes for every household in the U.S.," the report states.
In Tennessee, the estimated economic cost per capita was $814, just slightly lower than the nationwide average of $819, according to the report.
The crash left Ariel a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Her mother, Earlene Hunt, described her daughter's body as being like Jell-O in the beginning.
"She couldn't even hold her head up," Hunt said. "She was totally bent over."
Kayla's problems, in addition to her short-term memory loss, included being unable to move her right leg.
"I just dragged it," she said.
But with moral support from each other and the therapists at Patricia Neal Rehab, the girls, who met in sixth grade, have improved in the four months since the incident.
"Probably the hardest thing is just trying to get the strength to do things," Ariel said. "I can put my shirt on by myself now with some assistance. I'm feeding myself pretty much."
She can type on a computer using her knuckles and talk on a phone using her chin and tongue, her mother said.
"They've taught her to be creative in thinking about how she can do things," Hunt said. "Like she taped a ribbon to the refrigerator so she can open it."
Ariel hopes she'll walk again.
"They say things can come back within a year," she said.
Kayla's physical therapy ended this spring. But for about another month, she'll continue going to the rehabilitation center twice a week for therapy to help her with her short-term memory.
"I forget to do stuff," she said.
To help her, the therapist has her write things in a book she keeps with her.
"She'll read me stories and I have to tell her about it 15 minutes later," she said.
She also has trouble with her speech.
"Sometimes the words won't come out," Kayla said.
She thinks she'll be able to go back to Jefferson County High School this fall, where she'll be a junior. Whether Ariel will be able to join her is still questionable.
Hunt said her daughter still makes A's through her homeschooling. Ariel said she misses the social aspect of being in school. She also misses her independence.
Emotionally, Ariel said she has good days and bad days. At her worst, she thinks she's a burden to her parents, whose lives and careers have also been affected by Ariel's injuries.
"It has changed our life totally," Hunt said. "She has to have constant supervision."
Both girls said they're more apprehensive about riding in cars now.
"I get nervous," Kayla said. "I think I'd feel better if I could drive myself."
If they had to give advice to other teens, they said they'd advise riding with experienced drivers who won't be distracted easily by too many passengers.
Kayla believes teen drivers aren't as aware as more experienced drivers.
"Plus, they try to be sporty drivers," she said. "They think it's fun to go out and race."
Although speed was not a factor in their wreck, Kayla cautioned a few friends against "racing on roads" because of what's happened to her.
While both Ariel and Kayla have made progress, Hunt said neither would ever be the way they were before the wreck.
"It's just a dumb thing that happened," Hunt said. "Neither one of them, their lives will never be the same."
Laura Ayo may be reached at 865-342-6341.
Copyright 2003, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_2058210,00.html