I, like many teenagers, enjoy going to concerts. Unfortunately due to the fact that I am a teenager concerts are a rarity for me, because I have so many expenses that exceed my means. Once I heard about the Halsey concert coming to Cleveland I immediately planned it out with my friends. It was right before I was moving away for college, so it gave us something to look forward to rather than having our focus constantly be on saying goodbye. Honestly, the whole day was amazing. We explored Tremont together, and it made me realize that no matter how long you live in an area there will always be new things to discover.

The concert itself was incredible. Halsey is so talented. Her recorded music pales in comparison to her live music. She has an infectious energy and confidence that she shares with her audience. I felt truly empowered afterwards. My friends and I went back to my car for the drive home excited, without any trace of the after-concert-blues. I had this feeling that whenever I felt alone at college, or really missed my friends I could remember the fun Tuesday night we spent up in Cleveland and I would feel better.

We were in the middle of driving towards the expressway, singing along to my iPod, when all of a sudden my car was slammed into. My first reaction was “Oh my God this is the apocalypse!” I had no idea what happened, because I was just driving around steadily with everyone else. A couple seconds later I looked behind me and realized I had been rear-ended. I pulled over and yelled at one of my friends to call 911, she didn’t. Then the girl who hit me came up to my window. I was completely freaking out, so when she asked if we were ‘all chill’ I had no idea what to say.

The information she shared with me was sparing, so I called my parents for advice. They directed me to call 911, who gave me the address of the nearest police department to file a report. That was an extremely nerve-wracking drive. My car was okay. It was drivable, but I had hit my head and I was physically shaking from shock. The officer called the other driver and talked to her for a bit. At one point I heard him laugh and say, “no you won’t get a ticket.” The report took about an hour, and afterwards I started the hour-long drive back to my house. My friends and I had agreed that, yes we were in pain, but we would only go to the hospital if it persisted to the next day.

Unfortunately about ten minutes into the drive my pain got much worse. I had a migraine going from the base of my skull to my forehead and my cervical spine was very sore. I decided that I didn’t want to risk anything and I would stop by an emergency room just to get checked out and make sure there weren’t any serious problems I had taken too lightly. I had to wear a hospital gown and a neck brace. I was wheeled to x-ray where I stood in uncomfortable positions and was jerked around by the tech. I was asked invasive questions. I felt like my dignity was completely stripped away. I was extremely happy to be released so I overlooked the fact that they ignored my head injury.

A few days later I was still having cognitive difficulties. It was extremely difficult for me to hold a conversation, or stay awake for more than a couple hours a day. My mom took me to a different emergency room specifically out of concern for these issues. They determined I had a serious concussion pretty quickly, but they also did a cat scan of my neck and made numerous conclusions about that. I was first told that two of my vertebrae were fractured. Then a trauma surgeon came and informed me that the ER Dr was incorrect and one of my vertebrae had managed to slip under the other. They were talking quite seriously about spinal surgery. I was admitted and had an MRI among other tests.

I kept thinking about the girl who had carelessly hit us. She had to have no clue how much of an impact her poor driving would have on my life. How could she walk away completely fine, while I’m spending the night in a hospital trying to determine if I’ll be recovered enough to go to college in a week or if I’ll have to take a semester off. She was able to continue life as normal, while I spent my last week at home in and out of the hospital. Physically I’m okay now. I still hurt sometimes and I’m not my normal self, but I didn’t need surgery and I was able to go to school as scheduled. I realize life isn’t fair, but I’ve never experienced this much disparity before.

I feel robbed of that perfect night with my friends. Now whenever I think back to that Halsey concert I remember the pain that came afterwards, and that’s something that I’ll never be able to get back. I would urge everyone to always pay attention to the road while driving. It’s never “chill” to text or drink and drive. Consider the impact your actions could potentially have on others, and never intentionally put people in danger.