Car Accident Spine Injury - Victoria Zidane’s Mom

Hi, my name is Victoria. Many of you may know me but if you don’t this is my story. I am a young single mother of a little 4 year old boy named Zidane who is the love of my life. My life was changed forever the day he was born on 2/21/2019 when in an emergency C-section he was born early. The doctors and nurses saved his life in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Since that day, I’ve always been the one to care for my son. Little did I know that one day I would be the one that would need to be saved and taken care of.

On 10/12/23 it was a Thursday and I was on my way to pick up my son from school. It felt like a typical day for me when I was driving down the road then suddenly out of nowhere a car came rushing and I was hit on the driver’s side. I felt the impact instantly and the crash hit me so hard I could feel the pain all over my body. My car was pushed further into the street by the other car and I felt everything get quiet. I was thinking to myself in that moment that this could not be the end of my life and I was not ready for this moment. Luckily, a man came over and pulled me out of the car wreckage and firefighters quickly came to my rescue. The ambulance rushed me to the hospital. My older brother Richard and my mom were able to make sure I was okay and coordinate to pick up my son from school. Thankfully, because my son was at school he was completely safe. With the quick actions of my family, the doctors, the nurses, I was quickly put into a neck brace and received an MRI scan.

But what came next was the last thing I expected. The MRI showed there was serious damage done to my neck and spine caused by the accident. The surgeons came to me and said “We strongly advise this surgery. If you don’t get this surgery you will become paralyzed and disabled”. In that moment there was so much fear that came over me. I thought to myself that I was too young to become paralyzed. I was so scared at first but eventually told myself that I needed to get this surgery done if not for myself, then for my son. I knew that if there was a chance to save me that I should take the chance and have the surgeons fix my spine, so that I could at least have a fighting chance to keep on walking. I knew that my little son was counting on me. The thought of never being able to carry my son or to walk him to school ever again broke my heart. I knew that I could not live my life in that kind of fear and pain. I called my family and the very next day the doctors performed the surgery on me. I am happy to say that the surgery was completed successfully and because of that I am now on the path to recovery. I know it will be a long physical recovery as I still have a neck brace on and a walker since I am still not able to walk on my own. Despite all that, I feel so lucky in this moment to be alive. One day I hope to be able to carry my son again, I hope to be able to grow my family and have more children because I still have my whole future ahead of me. I dream about the day I can one day walk down the aisle and get married. Because of my family and the doctors and nurses, my life has been saved. I thank god everyday for the quick thinking and actions of my amazing brother and mom, my whole entire family. You saved me. You saved my son because he needs his mom. I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart.

But my story doesn’t end there. For me, this is only the beginning of my journey to get better, figuring out my next steps, and what I can do to help others in the future. When I was in the ER, I was surprised to see all around me so much pain and so much suffering that I had never ever seen before in my life right in front of my very eyes. Day in and day out, every hour, and every minute of the day there was somebody new being wheeled in on a stretcher into the trauma center. In just my few days in the ER, I heard men screaming in agony in such immense physical pain, I saw pregnant women strapped into stretchers their body covered in blood, and I saw people dying from having fallen off buildings. It’s not something I like to share but I want people to know because the truth is that I feel so lucky to be able to say that I am alive today. But I cannot erase from my mind the memory of all the patients I saw in the hospital and their enormous pain and suffering. I wonder about their lives, their families, did they have a young child too waiting for them back at home? I think often about the pregnant woman and her baby. Would they be okay?

My story doesn’t end here because my road to recovery is only the beginning.

I am asking friends and family for help not just for me but for my baby son. As a single mother, my son Zidane counts on me. I know that it takes a village as I can’t do all this on my own. And so I ask for your help during this difficult time in my life and my son’s life. I am in need of help to cover costs for any medical care and additional expenses caused by the car accident as well as to ensure my son can continue to go to school and receive childcare during my time of physical therapy and recovery. Initial recovery before physical therapy can even begin may take up to 6 weeks or more. And according to surgeons, healing of the spine after surgery can take up to 1 year to heal completely. At this time, I am not able to work. I am not able to lift more than 5 pounds and I am not able to drive. I am not able to walk independently without assistance at this current time. My biggest hope upon completing my full recovery, is that I am able to achieve my dream to become a Nurse in the ER and NICU. My plan is to enroll as a Nursing student and to use my experience of being a trauma patient to help others in need. I want to save families the same way that my amazing family and the firefighters doctors and nurses saved me that very day of the car crash.

Most of all, I want to say thank you to my Big Brother Richard for always looking after me and to my beautiful Mom for caring for me, together you both truly saved my life and you cared for my son. You are my Hero. In my weakest moments, I gained back my strength in knowing I am not only a Mother but I am a Little Sister and a Daughter too. I am so lucky to be loved by my family. Thank you so much to my Father for knowing that something was wrong with my spine and that I needed urgent help. You saved my life. Thank you to my Aunt Ling, uncle Stanley, cousin Jason, cousin Eric. You truly went above and beyond. Thank you Cousin Phuong and Alan, Dai Yi Ma Auntie your family for all your help. Teresa my sis in law, thank you for always rooting me on. Thank you all my family who helped, friends and neighbors who were there for me. Mary, Xavier, Matthew, and Zach thank you for your kindness. Thank you eternally to the firefighters, doctors, and nurses. Special thank you to Firefighters Wilbert and Raul, Dr. Bhandari, Dr. Humphrey, Dr. Mehta, Dr. Ramish, Dr. Park, Dr. Klineberg, Dr. Hayden, Dr. B and the whole surgery team. Nurse Swati and Nurse Jennifer. I can never repay you all for rescuing me. And thank you to my son Zidane for always keeping my heart beating. You are my superhero son.

If this story inspired you please donate to this fund to help my son and I during this difficult time. And pass on my story to someone you love. There is so much suffering and pain in this world and it only takes one person to save a life. It only takes one person to love another.