Driving Drunk Cost Me My Legs
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A single bad decision changed LaTisha’s life forever – can she forgive herself and accept help?
During her divorce, LaTisha says, “My whole world turned upside-down. My way of coping with it was drinking.” One Sunday, LaTisha went out with friends. “I had numerous shots – I don’t even remember how many,” she admits. Then she got in the car to drive her friend home, Snapchatting on the way as she drove, “And that’s all I remember.”
LaTisha’s mother, Elena, got the middle-of-the-night call every parent dreads. LaTisha was in emergency surgery – she had been in an accident and had broken both of her shoulder blades, her collarbones, her pelvic bone, and both legs. “The surgeons told me they had to amputate both legs.”
Watch: Both Parents Driving Drunk with Kids in the Car?
When LaTisha woke up after surgery, she felt pain in her legs, “So I reached down and my legs are gone.” She says, “I’m a half of a person now. I feel like I’m a burden to everybody.” But her mother says, “I know who Tisha really is. I know if she stops saying ‘I can’t,’ then she will. She can!”
“The part that I really struggle with here is the part where you’re calling yourself half a person,” ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork tells LaTisha. She responds, “I’m not the person I used to be before my accident when I saw myself as a whole person. I can’t be the mom to my kids that I need to be.”
Psychotherapist Dr. Mike Dow says, “I believe you need to find the way to give compassion to yourself.” Dr. Stork adds, “You’re not half a person – you’re YOU.”
Watch: Drunk Driving While Topless Snapchatting!?
Psychotherapist Dr. Karol Darsa, the founder of Reconnect Trauma Treatment Center, is here with an offer to help LaTisha – 30 days of intensive treatment at no cost to her, valued at $20,000. Also on hand is Rianna of Imagine Recovery Residence, which will provide free housing and transportation.
“But you have to accept that invitation,” Dr. Stork tells LaTisha. “They’re offering you something many people would give anything to have. Are you willing to talk?” LaTisha agrees to go backstage and consult Dr. Darsa and Rianna.
