Realization Of Mortality Essay, Research Paper

Realization of Mortality

Life is a gift that all of us have. Some follow a more

conservatively safe lifestyle while others prefer to walk a

little closer to the edge of mortality. This idea became

clearly evident to me while I was standing in a hospital

trauma room around five years ago.

Growing up in a family where I was considered the

daredevil was somewhat of an honor in view of the fact that

I was second to the youngest. I took up driving tractors and

go-carts when I was only six or seven. If someone was to

challenge one of my friends or me to try something, I would

have great interest in going through with the activity not

acknowledging the realistic danger. I could impress my

older siblings with some risk taking activity that they

probably would not attempt. The one activity that I really

wanted to take up was driving motorcycles, a somewhat risky

activity that is fun but can have brutal consequences.

Ironically, my father was an ER doctor that was trained in a

level 1 trauma unit. He would bring home stories of drunk

driving accidents, farm accidents, and most importantly to

me, motorcycle accidents. He constantly tried to make me

aware of the danger to which I might expose myself if I were

to be careless or ignorant. Yet I was still drawn to

motorcycles, rarely considering the fact that I could hurt

myself. This longing for a motorcycle thrill was about to

drastically change.

My dad called home on a 1995 Saturday afternoon wanting

to talk to my sister and me. He told us to come up to the

hospital to show us something important. On the way there I

didn?t know what to think. I remember talking to my sister

in the car about us having no idea what to expect. My

sister thought that he had a fun and exciting suprise. Upon

our arrival we found out different. His words were,

?Justin, I?m concerned about your safety and the fact that

you want to buy a motorcycle. I hope this will help you

realize that motorcycles are fun until you wreck one. Come

over here so I can show you why I don?t have a motorcycle.?

In the next 10 seconds my life had changed before I even

knew it.

?This will scare you so I will only show you for a moment,?

my dad added in a very serious tone. He then raised the

covering sheet on a 55 year old man that died that day in

his first motorcycle accident. He only raised it for about

3 seconds but that was definitely long enough to quickly

change my mind about buying that motorcycle in the fall.

This man?s legs were all but torn off. The complexion of

his skin was lifeless, like a dried up fish out of the

water. The smell of the whole room was overwhelmed by a

nasty death smell. His body looked like it was put in a

blender and someone pushed frappe. I have yet to be that

petrified and scared at the same time in my life.

On the ride home from the hospital I had a chance to reflect

on my thoughts concerning buying a motorcycle. I thought

about the realism of death and how close it can come through

different thrilling experiences whether your young or old.

With that in mind, my drive to aquire a motorcycle was

declining.

Later I found out that this experienced motorcyclist

was cruising down a road in Independence when a six-teen

year old pulled out in front of him. The motorcyclist hit

the driver?s side door at a harsh forty-five mph. With

thirty years of motorcycle riding experience there was

nothing the motorcyclist could do to elude this car. This

information showed me that this man was not being careless

or ignorant, but was still taking a chance. That chance he

had been taking for thirty years had finally caught up to

him. After this historic event in my life, I have found

myself to be more conservative and a definite believer in

automobile driving as opposed to motorcycle dying.

337