I Almost Died

When I was 19, I got into a fight. Nothing special at first, but it turned out that my opponent was playing dirty tricks. I had my back to the stairs when he pushed me, so I fell down the stairs backwards. I was lucky to catch the rail just in time to slow my fall.

When I hit the floor, I was out for some seconds. My opponent followed me down the stairs and just the moment I came to life again and tried to get up, he started kicking my head several times with his boot.

When he let go, I just lay there for several minutes before getting up. When a friend saw me, he panicked. I didn't know why, but I must have looked weird with a swollen forehead. One of my friends called an ambulance and I was driven to the hospital.

The next time I woke up, I saw my mom sitting at my bedside looking really scared. The doctor told me, I was out for about 24 hours and they feared I wouldn't make it to the next day. I was lucky I did. My forehead was so much swollen that they kept me in bed for ten days before my surgery.

I had a basal skull fracture, a cheekbone fracture and my sinuses were ruptured. The surgery went fine. They had to stich my wound with seventytwo (72) stitches. I looked like Frankenstein with a bald head and a red glowing scar. I have a picture of it that always reminds me how lucky I was not to die.

After the surgery I had to stay for another ten days in hospital. Thank god, there was no permanent damage done. Until today I still have small titanium plate under the skin of my forehead.