The aftermath

My daughter was 11 years old in the fifth grade when she was hit by a car in March 2001 at the four-way stop intersection while crossing the street to attend school at the junior high.

She was thrown through the air and landed facing the opposite direction from which she was struck. She was taken by ambulance to the emergency room, where they thought she was simply bruised and scraped and would be fine.

From that day on, she has had back pain. I thought she would be fine. After all, they said she would be. I comforted her by saying, "You've been hit by a car. We need to expect you'll be sore for awhile."

Well, we are nearly five years later, and she isn't better. She is much worse and will only continue to worsen. She has been in physical therapy for years, had an MRI, steriod shots and countless visits to the doctors. She has pain killers, which don't help her with the pain. She cries and lays in pain with ice packs.

Her walk, her stance, her every move has been compromised from the accident. My beautiful daughter can be smiling one minute and the next drop to her knees crying out "Mommy" crying in pain that would bring tears to the strongest of men, let alone her mother and family.

My daughter was 11 years old when she was hit, and she is soon to be 16, a little girl who is now becoming a young lady who has lived with incredible pain every day since she was struck by the car of a careless driver who never once called to check on this young child to see how she was.

Soon her medical options will be gone.

Her dream has always been to become a preschool teacher, and through all of this, she has done her best to stay on the honor roll to hopefully get scholarships to help her see her dream career come true.

She will always be underneath medical bills. That we know can cause complete devastation to one's living expenses.

When you have been injured in an accident, be patient, don't jump or get nervous. Rather sit back and take matters into your own hands. Talk with your doctor, get all the information you need. You have the time — there is no reason to take a small settlement that will do you no good at all. Meanwhile, the party who injured you carries on thinking nothing more of your injuries.

So when you have been in an accident, look far into the future. Do not settle for some piddly amount, thinking the injury will heal. Had I been forewarned, I may have at least been able to give my daughter a finanical security for her future. After all, she's paid the ulitmate price for it.

She lives the pain and destruction of her body daily, from the carelessness of a woman who sits pain-free without a second thought of a little girl she left crippled for life.

My daughter is Megan Lamb. When you see her smile, remember what her daily life is like and what strength she carries within herself to carry forward.

Denise Weldele

Whitefish