Archive | May, 2023

A Mother’s Instinct

16 May

It was after 4pm on April 25th and my Ladybugs bus still hadn’t arrived. I had an incredibly uneasy feeling and knew something wasn’t ok. We’ve had many issues with the bus ramp not working all year but this felt different. Then my phone rang and it was a No Caller ID. I answered and a man on the other line said this is officer… I don’t remember much else other than your daughters school bus was in an accident, she’s alive and on her way to the hospital.

It was 3 weeks ago yesterday, and I’m still processing everything. We know what happened, the how it happened is still being investigated. Essentially the bus, travelling at a very high rate of speed, came over the crest of a hill, swerved into the oncoming lane to miss the line of traffic waiting to turn, then proceeded to drive through the metal barrier at the t-intersection, down the embankment and then rolled over.

This picture was posted by CTV Kitchener. There is a school bus in the distance on its roof with several first responders around it. The metal guard rail along the road is broken and down on the grass next to the bus.

Thank heavens within seconds of the rollover several people ran down to help rescue my daughter. The accident occurred a few minutes away from our house and Ladybug was the last student left to be dropped off. Her wheelchair undoubtedly saved her life, as it was still tied down and secure even after the bus rolled over. It was also the only portion of the bus that wasn’t crushed in the rollover. I know in my heart she was surrounded by guardian angels that afternoon.

A picture of Ladybug in a colourful dress sitting in her hot pink sparkle wheelchair. Overlooking a beautiful river during sunset. This picture was taken last year.

Ladybug did not sustain any major lacerations, or broken bones. However, she has whiplash, full body muscle soreness, hypersensitivity to any abrupt movement or sound, and a concussion. It certainly isn’t lost on me that her injuries could have been a lot worse, especially given the state of the school bus. For the first couple of weeks she did not like to be touched or held at all. If you know my little bug, you know that she LOVES snuggles. It was very difficult to not be able to hold her tight, but I couldn’t dwell on that because we were blessed with knowing that she would slowly heal and we could one day give her all kinds of cuddles. While the muscle and neck soreness is slowly healing, the effects of the concussion are now front and centre.

Initially it was increased lethargy, now we’ve added in headaches, which was determined by the constant teeth grinding on one side . She’s randomly breaking out into screaming fits – especially at night, hypersensitive to any startling sound whether it’s loud or quiet, and most recently a return of previously under control tonic clonic seizures. The hypersensitivity could be caused from the headaches, so she’ll be starting on stronger pain medication to give her brain and body a chance to rest and heal.

There may be even more symptoms she’s experiencing, but because she’s non-verbal she can’t express them to us. It will be a day by day healing process. A healing process that will continue for months, potentially even longer.

With the lawyers and insurance companies involved, we will now start the process of getting Ladybug into physiotherapy, and every other modality I can find that will help. She will also need a new wheelchair, which will likely take several months to come in.