Sarah Edwards
Profile Story
JRN100
Kelcie Meehan:
From Tragedy to Triumph
One evening in November 2010, Stonehill College student Kelcie Meehan
was returning from a shopping trip with friends when her life took an
unimaginable turn.
Meehan sat in the backseat of her roommate’s car looking down at her
phone to read a text message. When she looked up, she saw headlights coming
directly at her. She said she“knew it was going to hit.” Upon impact with the
car, Meehan was seriously injured. Almost a year since the accident, Meehan’s
friends say that they see her as a “strong,
independent woman who has overcome great defeat.”
Looking back, Meehan said she remembers
waking up after being unconscious and immediately knowing something was wrong.
“At first, I thought I was paralyzed. The first thing I remember is
just…pain,” Meehan said. As she sat in her seat unable to move, her friend
Katie Hitch reached back from the passenger seat to check on her.
“Once I finally heard a peep from Kelcie in the
backseat, I put my hand on her knee, without looking at her, to tell her I was
glad she was OK. Little did I know, she wasn't. I hadn't even thought to check
if she was…When she told me not to touch her because it hurt, I was shocked and
I felt something drop to the pit of my stomach,” Hitch said.
Meehan’s roommate, Elizabeth Lally, was the
driver of the car. Lally said she was in hysterics when she realized that her
roommate was severely injured.
“Once I got
over my initial shock and was able to move, I jumped out of the car and saw
that Katie’s head was bleeding, so at first, I thought she was the one who was
very hurt. With Kelcie, it wasn’t visible, so I opened the back door and tried
to get her out but she screamed not to touch her and that’s when I realized it
was bad,” Lally said.
Meehan broke her hip, pelvis, and ankle in
the accident and was bedridden in the hospital for a week after. She said she
had shards of glass removed from her neck and surgery on her ankle. Once her
condition improved, Meehan went home to Long Island, NY for recovery. She was
not in good enough condition to return to Stonehill and finish her classes that
semester.
Lally
recalls the moment she found out Meehan would not be returning due to her
injuries and said that she “lost it.”
“I already felt guilty, but
then I felt like I was ruining her life and her family’s because I had been
driving, and she was already home after such a short time of being at college,
and she was so hurt,” Lally said.
Though she was facing some
major obstacles, Meehan did everything she could to overcome her difficulties.
She spent the next two months taking a lot of pain medication and attending
weekly therapy sessions to deal with the emotional trauma.
“I couldn’t really move
because my hip and pelvis were broken…I couldn’t sit up. I was in bed and I got
bedsores, and it was just really uncomfortable. The only way to deal with the
pain was to take Oxy, and I took it every three hours,” Meehan said.
On top of taking care of her
body, Meehan also had to complete her schoolwork online so she wouldn’t fall
behind. Lally said she commends Meehan for how driven she was to recover and
return to school.
“Kelcie did an awesome job
with keeping up with her classes while at home, especially considering the medication
she was on. And when she got back, it was hard for her to walk but she still
made her way to all her classes, even though that semester was particularly
snowy and icy,” Lally said.
By January 2011, Meehan was
back at Stonehill and walking again. A close friend, Lauren Montano, said that
Meehan has been doing exceptionally well in the past year following the
accident, especially with her academics.
“Making up the
classes she was unable to take last year and getting over the emotional consequences
of the accident must have been difficult, but she plans to graduate early
regardless of that setback,” Montano said.
Another friend, Katie Hitch,
said that Meehan exhibited an upbeat attitude after returning from the
accident.
“It's definitely not an easy
thing to just forget about… However, she has healed immensely inside and
out…She has an upbeat attitude about things. She isn't slumping around campus
or complaining about her previous injuries. She is looking into the future,”
Hitch said.
And Meehan’s future is looking
bright. Now she is wrapping up her sophomore year, preparing for an internship
at the American Diabetes Association, and planning a study abroad trip to
London. Meehan said that getting into the car accident has had a major impact
on the way she looks at life.
“I thought more like…I could
die any second. That’s how I started to look at life, just so many more
opportunities… and I took so many more opportunities that I wouldn’t have
necessarily before,” Meehan said.
Her friends continue to
praise her for her ability to stay strong and for remaining loyal to them
despite everything she has gone through.
“She was one of my first
friends, and I can still call her a loyal friend to this day. She has shown me that
even though bad things happen, you can overcome them, nothing is forever. She
also taught me to just smile and enjoy life. I remember when she was home with
her injuries and we were skyping and she would laugh and crack jokes, even
though she was still in pain,” Hitch said.
“I thought
she would never want to talk to me again after the accident, but she’s still my
roommate and best friend. I can tell her everything… She’s funny and weird and
compassionate and I can’t imagine my life without her!” Lally said.
Kelcie
Meehan’s life may have taken a turn for the worse, but despite the pain,
suffering, and academic setbacks, she continues to work hard and come out on
top.
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