Assignment B: Podcast 1

Ryan Lane shares his story of breaking his back in a motorcycle accident and the impact it had on his mental health. He initially feared paralysis but eventually received good news after medical tests. However, wearing a neck brace made him self-conscious and depressed, affecting his social life and mental well-being. The brace did help him make two new friends, but overall, he felt isolated and unhappy. When he finally got the brace off and started physical therapy, his mental health improved, and he formed strong bonds with his track team. Ryan emphasizes the importance of being oneself and not caring about others' opinions to fully enjoy college. Three years ago, I committed to run Division 1 track and field. One month later, I was involved in a motorcycle accident, leaving me with five broken vertebrae and nearly paralyzed. I'm Ryan Lane, and this is the story of how I broke my back and suffered with my mental health. On June 19th, 2020, I was riding my motorcycle home from work around 11 p.m. when a semi-truck didn't see me, leading me to crash. I went to avoid the truck and swerved into the breakdown lane, but it ended and became a curb, which led for me to flip off my bike. A few minutes later, I was rushed to the hospital. So when I first got to the hospital, there were a few days where we had no idea what was going to happen. We weren't sure if I was going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life or if I was going to be totally fine in a few months. After a few MRIs, CT scans, and a bunch of other tests and screenings, we eventually found out that everything was going to be all right. Eventually, just a ton of tension and panic went away, as you can imagine. But after I learned how to walk again, it was time for me to go home in this horrible looking neck brace. And after some time, I realized I was going to be Aunt Wagner in this ugly neck brace. And my worries at the time were no longer, like, am I going to be good at track? Am I still going to perform well? They were, I look like an idiot in this back brace, and I'm not going to make any friends. So instead of being a happy and excited freshman, I was timid, and I did not want to be in school. I was wearing this atrocious looking neck brace that wrinkled all my shirts. I was convinced people would just instantly think I'm a weirdo, and I kind of got depressed about it. And then it just kept getting worse and worse. And to add insult to injury, I didn't even have a roommate, so I didn't even have, like, that easy opportunity to make a friend. However, it turned out to be a pretty good talking point and helped me make two friends. They thought it was really cool and that the story was sick, and they thought it was crazy that I was still alive, which, to be fair, was a miracle, but I still hated it and just wanted it to come off so I can move on. It was just having that feeling of people staring at you, like, damn, that kid got messed up, just got so old so quick. In general, I was in pretty rough shape when it came to my mental health. I wasn't going to parties, I wasn't going to practice, I was just sitting in my room by myself, watching TV and doing homework. I was scared of trying to make new friends because I didn't want to be embarrassing or make a fool of myself. I just had a very lonely time because I was tired of looking like an idiot. But finally the day came, my surgeon called me and he said I was all good to take it off and that I could start doing more intense workouts and physical therapy, and it was almost instant. The more I got to practice, the closer I got with the team, and pretty soon I made some pretty unbreakable bonds with people that will last a lifetime. I wouldn't say that I was happier just because I was practicing, however, I definitely believe it was me just finally being happy in myself again. And it's crazy to see now, all it took was like one minor change for my mental health to increase tenfold. So just getting rid of that ugly back brace just allowed me to be myself again. So for any people going into college, I would tell them, just be yourself, you know, don't care what anyone thinks of you, because at the end of the day, it's not going to matter. It will only hold you back from being happy and enjoying yourself and enjoying your time in college. They say college is supposed to be one of the best times of your life, don't let one little hiccup prevent that.