One second I was listening to the radio, and the next second my body shut down.
It started as a normal Wednesday drive home from school on Dec. 4. Suddenly, I started to see the other cars in front of me on the highway moving in slow-motion. Small noises I normally never even pay attention to like the sound of a boxing glove keychain hitting against my rearview mirror became deafen- ing.
To best describe it, I felt like a video game character whose energy level was completely drained. My world turned completely dark and I passed out. Unfortunately, time felt like it was moving so fast that I had no chance to pull over on the side of the road. When I woke up, I was in an ambulance vehicle with two paramedics sitting next to me.
I asked them, “What happened?” The paramedic proceeded to explain to me that I drove off the Altamont down a steep hill. When I got to the hospital, the doctor told me I had experienced Syncope, the medical term for fainting or passing out. There are many things that can cause this to occur, but he believed the cause of me fainting was dehydration.
Luckily, other than being very sore, I sustained no serious injuries from the accident. However, the accident did leave me wanting to write this piece in order to prevent something like this from happening to you.
With finals week coming, we all can tend to get stressed out.
I know you all will be studying like crazy wanting to pull all-nighters, but I strongly encourage you to get an adequate amount of sleep.
Also, always carry a snack and some water around with you at all times.
I didn’t feel like I was dehydrated, but if I had a bottle of water with me in my car that day, perhaps the accident could have been prevented.