Laura Carstensen

Lots and lots of injuries.

Yes.

For the first couple of weeks, they couldn't do surgery because I had been injured so badly they couldn't give me anesthesia.

So those were the toughest two weeks.

And then they began a surgery, but mostly they just kept my leg open.

hanging in the air.

It's that cartoonish image, you know, you have of someone laying in a hospital bed and the leg is being held upwards and that would keep it somewhat straight.

Yes.

Certainly there was the expectation that I may not make it.

I remember at a point during that time, I wished I wouldn't make it.

In hindsight, I remember thinking there are things worse than dying.

But I kept sort of becoming unconscious, but then coming out of it again in those early days and, you know, eventually started to heal.

I, like many people who have these near-death experiences...

Completely changed how I thought about life.

And suddenly life was something I didn't take for granted anymore.

And life wasn't to be lived for fun and entertainment and exploration.

I, for the first time, really saw how valuable time was.

And for that, I felt incredible gratitude to be surrounded by people who really cared about me.

And my parents came to visit, my siblings came to visit, my dad came every day.

And I don't know what I would have done without that connection to the outside world and without