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Vickmark promotes seat belt awareness after accident
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By ELISA SAND, Staff Reporter
| 10/09/2009 |
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Everything happens for a reason.
If there's anything Alonna Vickmark is sure of, it's that fact. She came to this conclusion following a rollover accident on June 7 which resulted in her and the driver of the pickup being ejected and her being pinned under the vehicle.
The accident could have happened to anyone, Vickmark. They turned on an unfamiliar gravel road a mile further than intended and suddenly came to an unmarked turn in the road.
"I remember yelling `corner'," she said, "and the force of hitting the side of the pickup."
That is all she remembers until she woke up pinned underneath the pickup. Unable to find her cell phone, Vickmark said, she reached for the driver who was lying nearby. After waking him, he called for help, but he couldn't tell officials specifically where they were because he didn't know. The problem was compounded because they were in a rural part of the county. At first the cell call wouldn't connect, she said, and each time the call did connect, it bounced off another tower.
"One of the best moments of my whole life was seeing those ambulance lights," Vickmark said.
Today, she's grateful for the emergency responders and the time they took away from their personal lives to help them. She specifically remembers Barb Hart.
"She held my hand while they lifted the truck," Vickmark said.
Having officials find them was just the first obstacle she would face. While the driver suffered head trauma, Vickmark left the scene with multiple fractures on the left side of her face. The bone around her eye was shattered, her pallet (roof of her mouth) was broken, and her jaw was fractured in three places.
Vickmark said her arm should have been broken as well, but she sank into the soft ground.
Today, she said, Vickmark's optometrist is amazed she doesn't have vision trauma and her plastic surgeon doesn't understand why the trauma to her face didn't knock some of the teeth out of her mouth, which has happened to so many others who have had similar jaw fractures.
The months that followed the accident weren't easy. The first week, rubber bands held Vickmark's jaw shut and everything she ate was through a straw. She had terrible dreams where she'd relive the accident, only this time the driver wasn't there. She was also emotional.
"I felt very alone," said Vickmark. "I didn't have anyone to talk to. No one knew how I felt."
Shortly after her accident, another accident happened near Chester which caused facial injuries to a teen.
When Vickmark heard, she found the accident victim on Facebook and reached out with a message. She said she knew what he was going through, because she was going through the same thing, and if he needed to talk, she'd be there.
They've talked more since then.
Vickmark said that she's had a support system that stuck with her through the entire ordeal.
"I give props to my mom, dad and boyfriend," she said. "They stuck through it."
Her dad Jayson, who lives out of state, flew in after the accident and stayed during her five days in the hospital. Her mom Nancy took two weeks off work during her recovery.
Those relationships, as well as her faith, were strengthened.
"Everything happens for a reason," said Vickmark. "I'm definitely a stronger person because of it."
Out of everyone, though, her mom was key to Vickmark's recovery.
"If it weren't for my mom, I definitely wouldn't have made it through," she said. "I got really lucky when God gave me my mom. She's my best friend."
For Vickmark, every morning is a reminder of the accident as she applies lotion over her scars and makeup.
Today she has metal plates, wire mesh and several screws in he face to hold the bones in place. There's an almost undetectable scar above her left eye and an even less visible scar on her cheek.
Had circumstances been slightly different, Vickmark said, so would have the outcome.
"I came very close to not coming out of this," she said.
During the accident, the driver instinctually took the corner. The pickup slid sideways, hit a lip of gravel on the side of the road and rolled. The passenger door opened and the two flew out.
For whatever reason, Vickmark said, that door remained open, which probably saved her life.
Had they both been wearing their seat belts, she said, officials say they would have likely had minor injuries. As a result, she wants to use her story to inspire others to take a minute to buckle up.
"We could have made different choices," she said. "The day could have ended up very differently."
There's a little irony to the accident.
Vickmark finished her sophomore year thinking about what groups she wanted to join this year, as a junior. Topping her list was Buckle-Up Bulldogs.
"Before the accident, if I was driving, I'd wear my seat belt," she said. "As a passenger...not so much."
Now Vickmark makes a point to be sure that she, and anyone else in the car with her, wear their seat belts. She asks the same of anyone who asks what they can do for her.
"Do one thing for me," Vickmark said. "Wear your seat belt. That's all I want."
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©Madison Daily Leader 2009
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