| Realization Of Mortality Essay, Research Paper
Realization of Mortality
Life is a gift that all of us have. Some follow a more
conservatively safe lifestyle while others prefer to walk a
little closer to the edge of mortality. This idea became
clearly evident to me while I was standing in a hospital
trauma room around five years ago.
Growing up in a family where I was considered the
daredevil was somewhat of an honor in view of the fact that
I was second to the youngest. I took up driving tractors and
go-carts when I was only six or seven. If someone was to
challenge one of my friends or me to try something, I would
have great interest in going through with the activity not
acknowledging the realistic danger. I could impress my
older siblings with some risk taking activity that they
probably would not attempt. The one activity that I really
wanted to take up was driving motorcycles, a somewhat risky
activity that is fun but can have brutal consequences.
Ironically, my father was an ER doctor that was trained in a
level 1 trauma unit. He would bring home stories of drunk
driving accidents, farm accidents, and most importantly to
me, motorcycle accidents. He constantly tried to make me
aware of the danger to which I might expose myself if I were
to be careless or ignorant. Yet I was still drawn to
motorcycles, rarely considering the fact that I could hurt
myself. This longing for a motorcycle thrill was about to
drastically change.
My dad called home on a 1995 Saturday afternoon wanting
to talk to my sister and me. He told us to come up to the
hospital to show us something important. On the way there I
didn?t know what to think. I remember talking to my sister
in the car about us having no idea what to expect. My
sister thought that he had a fun and exciting suprise. Upon
our arrival we found out different. His words were,
?Justin, I?m concerned about your safety and the fact that
you want to buy a motorcycle. I hope this will help you
realize that motorcycles are fun until you wreck one. Come
over here so I can show you why I don?t have a motorcycle.?
In the next 10 seconds my life had changed before I even
knew it.
?This will scare you so I will only show you for a moment,?
my dad added in a very serious tone. He then raised the
covering sheet on a 55 year old man that died that day in
his first motorcycle accident. He only raised it for about
3 seconds but that was definitely long enough to quickly
change my mind about buying that motorcycle in the fall.
This man?s legs were all but torn off. The complexion of
his skin was lifeless, like a dried up fish out of the
water. The smell of the whole room was overwhelmed by a
nasty death smell. His body looked like it was put in a
blender and someone pushed frappe. I have yet to be that
petrified and scared at the same time in my life.
On the ride home from the hospital I had a chance to reflect
on my thoughts concerning buying a motorcycle. I thought
about the realism of death and how close it can come through
different thrilling experiences whether your young or old.
With that in mind, my drive to aquire a motorcycle was
declining.
Later I found out that this experienced motorcyclist
was cruising down a road in Independence when a six-teen
year old pulled out in front of him. The motorcyclist hit
the driver?s side door at a harsh forty-five mph. With
thirty years of motorcycle riding experience there was
nothing the motorcyclist could do to elude this car. This
information showed me that this man was not being careless
or ignorant, but was still taking a chance. That chance he
had been taking for thirty years had finally caught up to
him. After this historic event in my life, I have found
myself to be more conservative and a definite believer in
automobile driving as opposed to motorcycle dying.
337
|