Car rides can be a relaxing experience, and many people enjoy stretching out their legs by resting their feet on the dashboard. While it might seem harmless, a woman named Melissa from Georgia discovered the severe risks associated with this habit, and she’s eager to share her story to help others avoid a similar fate.
“All my life, I would cross my legs and put my foot on the dash,” Melissa recounts. “My husband always warned me, ‘One day, you’re going to get into an accident, and it’s going to break your legs.’” She shrugged off his concerns, feeling comfortable and secure. “I assured him I’d move my foot if I needed to,” she added.
However, everything changed on August 2, 2015. Melissa and her husband were driving to her parents’ house, just a short four-mile trip to pick up their two sons when they were struck by another vehicle. “The airbag deployed, and it threw my foot up, breaking my nose in the process,” she explains. “I ended up staring at the bottom of my foot facing me.”
As a result of the collision, Melissa sustained fractures to her ankle, femur, and arm. Remarkably, everyone else involved walked away with only minor injuries. “My entire right side was shattered, and it was entirely due to my own ignorance,” she admits. “I’m not invincible; I couldn’t react quickly enough to put my foot down.”
Her harrowing experience caught the attention of a local fire department in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which spread her story through a now-viral Facebook post, garnering over 3,000 shares. The post highlighted the dangers of resting feet on the dashboard: “Airbags deploy at speeds between 100 and 220 MPH. If you have your feet up there during an accident, the airbag could send your knees crashing into your eye sockets.”
Following the accident, Melissa struggled to walk for a month, underwent multiple surgeries, and spent weeks in physical therapy. Even now, she continues to experience chronic pain. “I can’t work as an EMS anymore. I can’t lift patients and standing for more than four hours leaves me in tears,” she shared.
Melissa’s reflections on her ordeal are sobering. “There are no second chances,” she says. “I keep telling everyone, you really don’t want this life. The pain and agony every day are unbearable.” Determined to prevent others from facing similar consequences, she has taken her advocacy a step further by sharing her story widely.
“I’m raising funds to promote awareness through billboards, speeches at conventions, schools—anywhere I can get the message out,” she states. “If I can save just one person from experiencing this, it would mean the world to me.”
Melissa’s medical bills were fully covered, so all collected funds will go towards education and awareness. “If I can deter even a single person from making that mistake, it would be a huge victory.”
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Summary
Melissa learned the hard way that resting your feet on the dashboard during car rides can lead to severe injuries in the event of an accident. After experiencing a life-altering crash, she is now dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of this seemingly harmless habit. By sharing her story and advocating for safety, she hopes to prevent others from suffering as she did.
Keyphrase: dashboard safety during car rides
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