Steemit Engagement Challenge S7W6 : Life Stories

I survived a terrible accident that changed my outlook on life. On that day I was teaching in the classroom and I wanted to show an explanatory video to the students to help them understand the lesson.

Inside the classroom, there is a projector between two ceiling fans, and since the temperature was high at that time, we used the two fans constantly.

That day my mind was distracted and I was in a bad mood, and I was drowning in my black thoughts. I used to get away from thinking about what bothers me at work and while I was with the students, but that day I failed to reach full concentration.

I wanted to set up the projector before playing the video. I brought a chair and instead of putting it under the machine I put it under the fan.

And like a Greek hero galloping to its limit, I climbed onto the chair and stretched my body up toward the blades of the iron propeller at full speed.

Then boooooooooom

At first it felt like a huge balloon bursting in my ear, and I felt like someone was pushing me hard to fall off a chair, with a vague taste of rust in my mouth and metallic bells ringing madly in my head.

I stood for a few seconds trying to understand what had happened. I turned to the fan and saw it swinging left and right.

Suddenly the students shouted, "Professor! Blood! Blood!"

That's when I started to feel warm blood flowing from my head to my neck and shoulders and I realized what had happened. Yes, it is a terrible accident.

I quickly covered the wound in my head with my left hand in an attempt to stop the bleeding, and I kept my balance standing in front of the students to reduce the shock. I told them not to be afraid, I am fine and I was still standing, then I smiled and waved my right hand to prove to them that I was fine, but the truth was not like that.

Then I asked someone to ask for help and I waited a few more minutes in the classroom. The bleeding continued severely, and blood began to cover my shirt and droplets fell on the ground, so I left the classroom, as the sight of blood pouring out certainly would not help calm the terrified children.

Within minutes some colleagues came and realized at first sight that the injury was serious. Two of my colleagues accompanied me to the hospital near the institute with increasing pain, dizziness, and blurred vision.

And at the hospital, I was taken directly to the emergency room. The initial diagnosis was: a clear crack in the skull, a cut wound to the head, loss of a large amount of blood, with suspicion of internal bleeding and concussion of the brain.

After making six stitches and making a scan, the doctor decided to detain me in the hospital for that day to remain under observation and to do another scan later to ascertain the depth and impact of the injury.

Long, tedious hours spent waiting. I was exhausted, but like a wild horse, I paced the room back and forth, wanting to get out and regain my freedom. Then I got tired and threw myself on the bed to lose consciousness for a few minutes before I got up and walked inside the room again.

Finally, after seven hours of waiting, I did the second x-ray, and the result was reassuring, as there were no side effects on brain function.

Then my colleagues and the school administration came to visit me inside the hospital. Their encouraging words and sincere wishes made me feel better.

They told me that my students love me very much and that they cried all day and lost all their lessons and kept asking about my condition now, and some of them wrote letters to me in the utmost magnificence wishing a speedy recovery and a speedy return, then they sent these letters with the principal to receive them for me.

What is the reflection or the lesson that you have obtained?

That was very touching...

Since I joined this school, I dealt with my students as if they were my sons and daughters, and I used to study with passion and love. And the good seeds have quickly borne fruit from my students, their parents and the school administration.

And about the amount of calls and messages that I received from my family, friends, current and former colleagues, and from inside and outside Tunisia.. All of this made me feel very humble and grateful.

I am not alone as I thought. I am not as bad as some would have me believe. I'm not worth it.

I am a real person, influential, productive, full of energy and life, and I have people who deserve my attention and presence instead of isolating alone for years without success.

The possibility that I would have lost my life in the blink of an eye after this accident or at least lose my sight if the angle of the propeller was a little lower.

It feels like this ceiling fan slapped me roughly and violently to wake me up and I screamed "I could have killed you today but no. I've been given another chance at life. Please stop your fantasies and focus on what you have and can do!"

I survived. People's attitudes and reactions made all the difference. True people's love is priceless. And pain, all pain usually starts out big, then takes its time before it finally goes away.

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Thank you very much for reading, it's time to invite my friends @ngoenyi, @patjewell, @ridwant to participate in this contest.

Best Regards,
@kouba01