Life Interrupted

By Teresa and Whitney Corby

A Division 1 lacrosse player just starting her college career knowing that her future would be in health care helping other people through different times.

Driven in every sense of the word, she decided to head to the gym on one cold winter night in Upstate New York while at home on Christmas break. No one could begin to imagine the events that would unfold, changing her life and everyone around her forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639034055

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Life Interrupted

Teresa and Whitney Corby

Copyright © 2021 by Teresa and Whitney Corby

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

The Call

The Wait

She Awakes

Rehabilitation

The Road to Recovery

It Takes a Village

The New Normal

Not Everything Is What It Seems

No Stopping

The Next Chapter

Chapter 1

The Call

It was a very cold and snowy December night. The day after Christmas 2013, we had just arrived home from the movies. Our overachieving daughter, a division 1 lacrosse player at The University at Albany, was home for Christmas break and wanted to go to the gym for a workout. Most winter nights in Upstate New York are very cold. That night was no different. Once you get inside, there really was no going back out, unless there was an emergency. She proceeded to beg both her dad and I to go to the gym with her because she didn’t want to go alone. Our son had basketball practice in the morning, so my husband suggested they go while he was at practice. Her mind was already made up, and there was no changing it. Well, as the story unfolds, this sometimes annoying trait is what would end up saving her life and bringing her back to us.

At that moment she threw my boots on and out the door she went. I put my pajamas on to settle in with a Lifetime movie, and my husband curled up on the couch to probably watch some sort of sporting event. Our son was having movie night at a friend’s house across town. The plan was Whitney would pick him up on her way home. About five minutes after she left, my cell phone starting ringing. It was a friend of my son’s. I honestly don’t remember how their number got in my cell phone, but there it was…ringing. Looking at my husband, we were both questioning why they’d be calling. I remember thinking, I’m not going to answer this.

The next few minutes set in motion something I hope no parent will ever experience with the call you never want to get. There is no explanation why, but the phone continued to ring and never went to voice mail. I obviously had to answer as I was getting a weird feeling in my gut.

Hello, Mrs. Corby. Does Whitney still drive a gray Suzuki with a Green Bay sticker on the back?

I responded, Yes, why?

I remember hearing, There’s been an accident.

I managed to ask, Is she okay? The response was yes.

At this point, I was having an out-of-body experience. I remember the look on my husband’s face as I told him what happened. With adrenaline pumping, I think we jumped down the stairs on the deck, hopped in the truck, and zoomed down the road to the accident scene. She told us it was on Dibble Road, which we knew was always under icy conditions. A drive which felt like an hour but was only about three minutes tops, I remember saying, She’s not okay because if she was, she would have been the one calling.

As we came around the bend, it was our worst nightmare. Lights were flashing and sirens alarming while a lot of activity around was already occurring. We pulled up, unsure of what to expect. We jumped out of the truck, and I ran to her car that was wrapped around a tree with a flag and mailbox attached. Everything was happening so fast that I barely had time to blink.

I remember hearing a neighbor shouting, Get a knife! We have to cut the seat belt!

The paramedics were on the scene. There were people by the car, trying to help in whatever way they could. I just stood back, frozen by the bone-chilling cold and the sheer terror of the moment from watching it all. Despite all the movement surrounding my daughter, I was still able to catch a glimpse of her. There was blood flowing out of her ears and her breathing was labored. All I could do was cry and pray. As my husband began talking to her, her breathing became less heavy. She heard his voice so he kept talking to her.

It’s amazing how people that didn’t even know her stepped right in to help! We were told that