Hi, my name is Skye Dodd. I am a 19-year-old college student from Los Angeles. On Monday, July 26th, I got into a serious car accident that has gravely impacted my life ever since. At,4:15 pm in Culver City, I was at Stoner Ave trying to make a left turn onto Culver Blvd. I had a stop sign and made a complete stop before I inched into traffic to get a better view of ongoing and oncoming traffic. I waited for a few minutes before determining it was clear and proceeded into the street to complete my left turn. As I was completing my turn, I look out my driver-side window and see a Jeep Compass coming towards me at a high speed. I made a split-second decision to accelerate to hopefully get out of the way. However, the Jeep hits the back driver side door of my vehicle and pushes my car into a grassy median. I had closed my eyes at the time of the initial hit and when I opened them I was shocked. Smoke had filled the inside of my vehicle and as I looked around I saw all of my airbags had deployed. I looked at my passenger, a good childhood friend of mine, in shock to ensure he was okay. No words can truly describe the moment I stepped out of my car. I had to quickly pull myself together to check on the other party and exchange information. 911 was called and police along with tow trucks arrive at the scene. The other party as well as my passenger, luckily, suffered no injuries. I cannot say the same for myself; I suffered the brut of the accident. My right hand is cut and bruised beyond belief. My hips, knees, and chest are covered in bruises and cuts. I still to this day am recovering from my injuries. My body aches and I am unable to function 100% with my injuries. My injuries, still very visible, are a constant reminder of that day. The day of the accident was the first time I had seen my father in tears.

My car was totaled. The back driver side door of my car was crushed inwards. The back bumper is detached and the whole axel of my car is at a slant. The damage to my vehicle is over $1,000 and even if fixed, it will never be the same. I was driving a 2015 Nissan Versa Note, a car I had purchased with my own money. I had this car for less than a year; I had put months and months of work into acquiring this vehicle for that to be ripped from me within a matter of minutes. I know it is stupid to say, but this car meant the world to me. Everything I had worked for was represented in this car. It was my first step into adulthood.

To make matters worse, this accident occurred a day before I was supposed to move out of my childhood home to pursue my education at UC Santa Barbara. I was trying to spend the day saying goodbye to all my close friends and family, but instead spent it in the ER next to my parents in tears.

All of the excitement of the move had been ripped away from me because of this accident. I was no longer eager to start a new life in a new city; I was shown the true colors of the world and no longer wanted to live in it. Insurance companies and attorneys have shown me no mercy; they are strict in their policies and place me as the target for this accident. I had done everything I was supposed to and still, that was not enough. I am a struggling college student with nothing to my name. All I have left is my support system, my friends, and my family, who are not even by my side because I left my hometown for my education. I am never one to beg others to solve my problems, but I understand I cannot do this alone. I am currently unemployed and lack a stable income because of my move so I am in need of help. I want to take the money I receive from this page and buy myself a simple car and pay off insurance fees. I will be paying out of pocket for this accident and because of my lack of collision insurance, I expect this bill to be, on the lower end, upwards of $10,000.

I will carry this burden, the pain, and worry I had caused my friends and family, with me for the rest of my life. I can confidently say if I had not made a split-second decision to accelerate, I would have suffered a more fatal end.

Whether or not you donate, I want to thank you for taking a few minutes to read my story.

Also if you don't feel comfortable donating through GoFundMe directly, my Venmo is SkyeDodd29