What It’s Really Like to Spend Weeks in a Coma

Colleen Alexander

(New York Post) – Life has a way of coming at us in both beautiful and unforgiving ways . . . sometimes on the same day.

On Oct. 8, 2011, I was riding home from a work meeting on my bike along the Connecticut shoreline. It was one of those lovely days — the perfect, crisp fall weather, with leaves just starting to take on their new hues. I was soaking it all in when I noticed a truck driver turning in my direction from a side street. He was just feet away from the stop sign, coming fast, and we briefly made eye contact. There wasn’t even time for me to completely process the thought: He’s coming right at me. Stop!

In an instant, my body was torn apart — first I was knocked off the bike and run over with his front wheels, then I was flipped over as he ran over my midsection with his back wheels. CONTINUE