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Description
PART 1

"...On the way to the hospital, I convinced the medics to let me call one of my friends, so they could let the others know what happened to me. Given that I was still in excruciating pain, I simply went with the first name I could find in my contacts: Claire. Fighting back tears from the pain, I quickly explained to her what happened, told her what hospital I was being transported to, and asked her to get in touch with Zoey and Lauren to let them known what was going on before hanging up...."

"...A few minutes later, the medics were rolling me into the emergency room, where the doctors and nurses started examining my leg to determine how severe my injury was. I really don't remember everything that happened during that time, as the pain meds were starting to take effect...what I do remember is waking up that night in a hospital room with my friends by my side....it was...it was just like that night, four years ago..."

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"...I...I don't really like talking about what happened back then, but...*sigh*...around four years ago, my mom and I were on the way to meet the others at a nearby restaurant when tragedy struck: a drunk driver ran a red light and hit the driver's side of our car head-on....when I finally awoke in the hospital a few days later, I learned from my friends that while I had gotten lucky to escape with only minor injuries, my mom....she, um...*sob*...she...didn't make it....

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"...Anyways, as I was waking up, I could tell from the looks on my friends' faces that things weren't exactly great...but before I could ask them about it, the doctor came in to check up on me and, seeing that I was now awake, discuss the severity of my injuries: the force of the impact had not only broken both bones in my lower leg in multiple places, but also shattered my ankle, my kneecap AND tore multiple ligaments and arteries in my knee...as a result, the nurses couldn't find a pulse in my lower leg and foot...."

"...Furthermore, the doctor then explained that they had tried doing emergency surgery to repair the damage to the arteries, but...it was pretty clear to them that the damage was too severe to be fixed surgically....the blood still wasn't flowing to my lower leg, which was slowly starting to darken in color...as if it were slowly dying..."

"...What the doctor said next explained WHY my friends looked so...somber...the doctor explained that without any blood flowing to it, my lower leg would start to turn black and become gangrenous...which would prove fatal if not dealt with immediately...unfortunately, since the emergency surgery was unsuccessful, there was only one other way to save my life: the surgeons would have to, um...*sob*...w-would have to, umm....*sniff*...am-amputate...my left leg a few inches above the knee..."

"I, um...I just...sat there....for a minute or two...I mean...I saw how bad my leg looked right after the accident, but...a-amputation? Honestly, I...I never considered that as a possibility....but...given the other option was, you know...death...I quickly realized that....the leg...MY LEG...it...it had to go. So I signed the paperwork the nurses gave me, giving the surgeons consent to amputate my dying leg. As the nurses started prepping me for surgery, my friends did their best to console me...to tell me everything was gonna be okay.....less than half an hour later, I found myself in the operating room, slowly counting down from 100 until, eventually, the anesthesia started working on me and I...I fell asleep..."

"When I woke up the next morning, I looked around the room for my friends...only to discover that Claire was the only one in the room. Apparently they were only allowing one person in the recovery room at a time, and my friends all agreed that Claire should be the first person I talked to after waking up. After all, she's got plenty of experience with the whole 'having one leg' thing. However, it must have been a long night for her, as she was sound asleep in a nearby chair, her prosthetic leg sitting on the floor beside her. Not wanting to wake her too early, I looked down at the foot of the bed. Where I had seen two feet the night before...this morning, I...I only saw one foot instead...I tried keeping my composure, but...seeing what was left of my left leg, bandaged and swollen....I couldn't help but cry..."

PART 3

Description
PART 1

"...On the way to the hospital, I convinced the medics to let me call one of my friends, so they could let the others know what happened to me. Given that I was still in excruciating pain, I simply went with the first name I could find in my contacts: Claire. Fighting back tears from the pain, I quickly explained to her what happened, told her what hospital I was being transported to, and asked her to get in touch with Zoey and Lauren to let them known what was going on before hanging up...."

"...A few minutes later, the medics were rolling me into the emergency room, where the doctors and nurses started examining my leg to determine how severe my injury was. I really don't remember everything that happened during that time, as the pain meds were starting to take effect...what I do remember is waking up that night in a hospital room with my friends by my side....it was...it was just like that night, four years ago..."

----------

"...I...I don't really like talking about what happened back then, but...*sigh*...around four years ago, my mom and I were on the way to meet the others at a nearby restaurant when tragedy struck: a drunk driver ran a red light and hit the driver's side of our car head-on....when I finally awoke in the hospital a few days later, I learned from my friends that while I had gotten lucky to escape with only minor injuries, my mom....she, um...*sob*...she...didn't make it....

----------

"...Anyways, as I was waking up, I could tell from the looks on my friends' faces that things weren't exactly great...but before I could ask them about it, the doctor came in to check up on me and, seeing that I was now awake, discuss the severity of my injuries: the force of the impact had not only broken both bones in my lower leg in multiple places, but also shattered my ankle, my kneecap AND tore multiple ligaments and arteries in my knee...as a result, the nurses couldn't find a pulse in my lower leg and foot...."

"...Furthermore, the doctor then explained that they had tried doing emergency surgery to repair the damage to the arteries, but...it was pretty clear to them that the damage was too severe to be fixed surgically....the blood still wasn't flowing to my lower leg, which was slowly starting to darken in color...as if it were slowly dying..."

"...What the doctor said next explained WHY my friends looked so...somber...the doctor explained that without any blood flowing to it, my lower leg would start to turn black and become gangrenous...which would prove fatal if not dealt with immediately...unfortunately, since the emergency surgery was unsuccessful, there was only one other way to save my life: the surgeons would have to, um...*sob*...w-would have to, umm....*sniff*...am-amputate...my left leg a few inches above the knee..."

"I, um...I just...sat there....for a minute or two...I mean...I saw how bad my leg looked right after the accident, but...a-amputation? Honestly, I...I never considered that as a possibility....but...given the other option was, you know...death...I quickly realized that....the leg...MY LEG...it...it had to go. So I signed the paperwork the nurses gave me, giving the surgeons consent to amputate my dying leg. As the nurses started prepping me for surgery, my friends did their best to console me...to tell me everything was gonna be okay.....less than half an hour later, I found myself in the operating room, slowly counting down from 100 until, eventually, the anesthesia started working on me and I...I fell asleep..."

"When I woke up the next morning, I looked around the room for my friends...only to discover that Claire was the only one in the room. Apparently they were only allowing one person in the recovery room at a time, and my friends all agreed that Claire should be the first person I talked to after waking up. After all, she's got plenty of experience with the whole 'having one leg' thing. However, it must have been a long night for her, as she was sound asleep in a nearby chair, her prosthetic leg sitting on the floor beside her. Not wanting to wake her too early, I looked down at the foot of the bed. Where I had seen two feet the night before...this morning, I...I only saw one foot instead...I tried keeping my composure, but...seeing what was left of my left leg, bandaged and swollen....I couldn't help but cry..."

PART 3