Riku's 21st

Today has been one of the saddest days of my life.

One of my roommates, not to mention my good friend, Jen, is in the hospital
with some very serious injuries. She went out last night downtown to
celebrate the 21st birthday of a mutual friend. We were outside the bar in
the back smoking, passing a pitcher around, taking pictures, goofing around,
all the the usual stuff. It was just like any other summer night in this
college town. Jen asked: +ACI-Who wants to climb on the roof?+ACI- No-one wanted to.
We kind of laughed it off and didn't take her too seriously, seeing as how
the roof is very difficult to get onto (especially when we'd been drinking
all night). She crossed the alley, and started climbing up a fire escape on
a nearby building.

The next part all happened so fast.

When she was about fifteen or twenty feet up the fire escape, she leaned
over and fell suddenly. She hit her head on an air conditioning unit and
then landed on the asphalt. While she didn't fall a great distance (I swear
I could probably jump to the ground from the height she fell from), she
landed awkwardly and hit her head very hard. At very first it was almost
funny, but we soon saw her lying there completely still. Upon getting
closer, we saw blood gushing out of her mouth onto the sidewalk. We called
911 immediately and they instructed us to turn her on her side, so that the
blood could drain from her mouth and so that she wouldn't choke.

When the paramedics arrived, they put her into the ambulance and from the
way they were acting and the things they were saying it seemed as if she was
going to be OK. Maybe a bad concussion or something like that.

We went to the hospital last night and then went our separate ways home, to
sleep. As I went to sleep I figured that everything would be OK, maybe some
bruises, a concussion, bump on the head, a night in the hospital. However,
this morning at about 6am I received a phone call from a friend. On the
phone I learned that her injuries were much more severe than I'd ever
imagined. She had broken all of the ribs on her left side, broken her spine
in several places, ruptured a major artery in her neck and sustained serious
head trauma. Her brain is bleeding and swelling.

We rushed back to the hospital this morning and had a chance to see her. I
fear it will be the last time I see her alive. The doctors and her mother
explained to us that they only expect her to live another day or two. It was
so heartbreaking to see her family there with her, especially her mother,
who just sat by the bedside and cried and talked into her ear. Even if she
does survive through the next few days, she will never be the same again.
She will have severe brain damage and possibly be paralyzed from her spinal
injuries.

I just got back home from the hospital, and now I sit looking at all of her
things scattered around the house, wondering if they'll ever be used by her
again. A pair of shoes, a purse, even last night's dishes. It all just seems
so unreal, and so unfair.

It's amazing how life can change in a fraction of a second. One minute
you're drunk with your friends outside the bar, the next you're laying on
the pavement as blood pours from your mouth.

I can only hope now that she's in a place where she's not suffering. I hope
that she isn't freaked out, and that she's just asleep and having a really
great dream or something. It's unclear whether she'll be able to survive
these injuries, and I just hope that whatever happens, she is not scared or
in pain.

Sorry to bring every down with this horrible story, but I felt the need to
write this down and share it with someone. Hopefully it might remind someone
how precious life is and that a simple slip can change everything.