3 replies to this topic

[quad.mom.2005]

I was just wondering if I can get any help with my problems. Please read the paragraph below:

Hello, my name is Allison Patterson. I'm 20 years old & I am a quadriplegic. I live in Courtland Mississippi with my mother & my 3-year-old daughter. My handicap accessible van has been having a lot of problems but the other day something happened to the motor. It will take a little more than $5,000 to get everything fixed that includes putting in a low mileage motor, fix the sliding door so it will close & a few more problems that needs to be fixed. I have tried looking everywhere to get help but I can't believe there is no where to get help. I have a 300 pound power wheelchair so there is absolutely no way for me to get into a regular vehicle. Also if I used my manual chair no one would be able to pick me and put me in a vehicle. Now I can't go anywhere and sometimes I am lucky to get a cab service to take me to my doctor's appointments but I can't go to church, my support group, anywhere with my daughter & my depression has been very good but I know that if I have to stay in the house for a very long time that my depression will worsen. We live on under $1200 a month. We have absolutely no way of getting that much money or even no where near that much to get it fixed. We have no idea how to get started or evening having fundraisers. As far as the fundraisers go there's no way that we can pay for any type of fundraising materials & I know that money is very tight right now so I believe that we wouldn't make very much money.

Here is some personal information about me but if you need something else e-mail or call me:

Allison Patterson
P.O. Box 182
10091 Highway 51 South
Courtland MS 38620

662-609-1989

quad.mom.2005@Hotmail.com

http://www.freewebs.com/quadmom2005/



Here is my testimony & a little more about me:

My name is Allison Patterson. I'm 20 yrs old & I'm a quadriplegic. I live in Courtland Mississippi. I would like to tell you a little about my life & why I'min a wheelchair. I'd like to start telling you about myself when I started high school I had very good grades & I really enjoyed going to school & being with my friends. It wasn't long after I started high school. When I started hanging around with people who were either alot older than I was or didn't care very much about school. I had a job after school as a cashier at a local grocery store & I love my job. Most of all because it kept me away from home. I really hated to go home, mostly because my dad was an alcoholic. Even after going to school all day and working till about 10 o'clock at night. As soon as I would walk through the door. He would find something to argue about, and he also never really cared about what was going on in my life. I never felt like I had a father. Not long after that, I started staying at my friends house on the weekends and the weekends turned into weeks, until I was staying there all the time. After awhile, we figured out that when her mother went to bed at night. We would get someone to come pick us up and we went to the parties, clubs or someone's house. Most everyone were drinking or doing drugs. Sometimes, me and my girlfriend would try different things mostly because we were a lot younger than everyone else and we just really wanted to fit in. We always knew that her mother started getting up around six o'clock to go to work & take us to school. So we would always try to be home by five o'clock the next morning. We just have time to jump in the bath and get dressed. And by the time we got to school. We were so tired and sleepy, I would fall asleep in my classes or if I was awake I was so tired that I could not comprehend anything that the teacher was saying. That's when my grades started dropping dramatically & so did my attendance. Finally, my friend dropped out but I was not old enough to completely drop out. So I asked my mom to enroll me into home school. I thought I could do anything I wanted, and just do the work when I wanted. But that was not the case. It wasn't but a few months later, as soon as I turned 16, I dropped out. At that time, my parents had gotten me a car, and I started dating a guy that I had new for about a year. He didn't have a job & he had a little girl. When I was at work, he used my car. My mom told me he was doing me wrong and nothing good would ever come from our relationship. I thought she was telling me that only because he was African-American. About six months after we started dating. I took a home pregnancy test, and it turned out positive. I just could not believe it so I went to a place for young girls go. If they think that they might be pregnant, and there they gave me another pregnancy test, and it was those dreaded three letters. Yes! A baby, a real baby, I didn't know what to do. I took a easy way out by telling my mom. I was pregnant. I knew that I could not look her in her face and tell her that everything she had told me was coming true. So I wrote a letter telling her I was pregnant and I mailed it to her. It was not long after that. I moved out of my friends house, and in with my boyfriend. About a month after that, my dad died. It was a real shock, because he had not been sick. After that, my mom asked me to come back home, but I just couldn't leave my boyfriend. For some reason, he had some kind of control over me and at that time I could not see it. Even though I was pregnant. I never missed a night of parties and clubs with my friends. Everyone that I was with was usually drinking, and most parties and all of the clubs who went to. You knew that someone was doing some type of drugs. I am glad that I was smart enough to not drink or do drugs. I could not imagine harming my unborn child. In July 2005. I had a beautiful, healthy baby girl. Even though I was so happy about her birth. I was also hurt, because everyone in my family except for my mom did not want anything to do with me or my child, because she was biracial. Exactly 1 month after her birth my boyfriend, 2 of my girlfriends & I went to Memphis to celebrate my child's birth & my best friend Paige's 18th birthday. When we went to pick up my friend that night, her mom said that she would babysit for me. After we left there. My boyfriend went to the liquor store me and my girlfriends was drinking sometime of alcohol that night but not sure what. And I know that my boyfriend was drinking very heavily. We left Memphis, about one o'clock, heading home. On the way home. My girlfriends and I had fallen asleep. Witnesses say that my boyfriend was driving at least 100 miles an hour, if not faster. He tried to pass a car and lost control of the car. We went off the right side of the interstate and flipped the car five times. My friend Paige and I were both passenger side of the vehicle with no seat belts. And we were immediately ejected from the car. Paige died instantly from blunt force trauma to her head. My other friend that was setting right behind the driver's seat was the only one that was wearing a seatbelt. She suffered a very bad cut to her forehead. As for my boyfriend. He had minor injuries and the people that had stopped when they had witnessed the accident. Saw him crawl out of the driver's side window & he was walking around dazed & confused. As for me, I had severed my spine at the C5-6 level. I had many broken bones, which included my ankle, my shoulders, my collar bones, & probably a couple of ribs. I had a bruise kidney & spleen. But the reason that they didn't know if I was going to live or die was because I had a collapsed lung. They had me on a respirator to help me keep breathing. After they done surgery on the back of my neck. They put a very large metal contraption around my head & there were two screws in the back of my head & two screws in the front of my head, which I still have scars from. They called this thing at Halo, but I really think they need a new name for it, because nothing about wearing it felt like it came from heaven or an angel. You might think that this is a lot for someone my age to have been through, or anyone to have to go through in their lifetime. I still had much more to go through. At first they had me a lot of medications so I slept a lot & really did not know what was going on around me for about a month. Every time my mom or a friend would come to see me. I would ask them about my boyfriend & my friend Paige. I did not understand why they were not coming to see me. Every time I would ask anyone about my boyfriend or my friend Paige someone would try change the subject. I knew in the back of my mind something seriously was wrong, because I knew Paige would be right beside my bed the whole time. Finally after about two months, I asked my mom was Paige dead & she did not have to say anything because that look in her eyes told it all. As for my boyfriend, he never tried to see me or our daughter. He never even tried to call. I ended up staying a total of five months in the hospital. I stayed 3 months at the Med in Memphis & 3 months at rehab in Jackson. I know that you're not supposed to question God's work but sometimes you can't help but question. I know that I have a lot of time to question him & why you let this happen to me but before the acident, I was not saved & I had no direction in my life. So if God would have taken my life that night I would have went to hell. When I was laying in bed in the hospital, not knowing if I would live or die I was saved in that very bed. It does not matter where you are in your life you can always ask God to save you because I really thought that I was on my deathbed. I know that this might sound weird, but I truly believe that this wreck saved my life. I had no direction in my life only destruction. I was the only one in the car wreck that realized something dramatic had to change in my life. My girlfriend went out & bought a car, just like the one we had the accident in I never asked her why she did that. But that was not the only thing she did. She also told that we had powder cocaine in a car & when the wreck happened all of it spilled out & some of it somehow got in to the cut on her head. The only reason she tell that was because when they checked her for drugs & alcohol, they found powder cocaine in her system. She did not want to get in trouble with her family. I know that my boyfriend did not learn anything from the wreck either, because at the scene of the accident. He told officers that he was driving, but after he found out Paige had died & when the officers re interviewed him. He said that he was very confused that night & that's when he told the officers that I was driving the car. Also, about 2 months later, he got arrested again for his fourth DUI. He is now in jail for my friend Paige's death. He never apologized to me & never took any responsibility for what has happened. Since no one ever took responsibility, it all fell on me. I could think of a million reasons why it was my fault. Paiges family never blamed me. They always says, it was not my fault. But I still have a very hard time dealing with the guilt & what I should've done different. I really believe the accident brought me & my family back together. My brother & sister in law took my daughter, the morning after the wreck & they still take care of her. They looked past her being biracial & I know that that was hard for them. On August 27, 2005, about 6 o'clock in the afternoon, I thought I would be gone no more than about 8 hours. Little did I know that I would be gone from home for over 5 months. As you can see, one mistake can change your life forever. You can really see that it started out as very small, wrong choices & those small choices almost cost me my life. You never know how good you have it until it is taken away from you. If I can make one person, think about making the right decision. Then maybe I have saved your life. Think about the effects that could happen if someone offers you drugs, alcohol, or anything that could turn out very badly. I hope everyone can see what drugs, alcohol, small choices, & big choices can do to your life. I thank you so much for reading my story & maybe you can share this story with some one that might need help making a choice in their life. I now go to churches and to schools and tell young people of all my experiences and hope that it will change their life in a positive way.

[fatdave]

I really wish I could be more of a help, but what is the make, model, year is the van? I have many friends in the auto salvage business and may be able to find something. If you were closer to Missouri I could also get the labor for free or next to free.

Your situation hits close to home with me, My father was a Meth addict and all around jackass he beat my disabled mother and I. I also used to run with people that were much older than I am, and know about trying to fit in. Please feel free to private message me anytime.

[norma]

What a story you have! You could check out some service groups for help. Shriners, Masons, White Shrine, March of Dimes etc. Keep the faith things will work out.

[Yong]

The 1200 dollars you receive every month...where is that coming from? Are you working?

Because if you are working or perhaps going to school to better your situation, the state of Mississippi vocational rehab may be able to help you out with the vehicle program. There is also a Brain and Spinal Cord Trust fund that can pay for up to 10,000 dollars if you purchase a new van.

Best of luck to you, you are now in my prayers.