My first Concussion was given to me by the fat kid in my class. Matthew Sedgely. He knocked me onto the ground backwards in the summer when the soil was as hard as rock and I landed on the back of my head. Everything went fuzzy and wrong for a few minutes and when I got to class my teacher screamed because I was bleeding and I hadn't noticed and one of my pupils and blow to the size of my iris. He got in so much trouble.

When I was in elementary school we looked forward to snowdays. Not only because we got out of school, but because we could go sledding at McCulla (sp?) Park. When you're small (elementary school size) that hill looks enormous. It's like a mountain (especially if you've lived in flat Muncie you're entire life). The best part of the park is the Soap Box Derby Car hill... The cement runway forms an icy cover that looks like a glass-covered highway. These conditions provide the best sledding experience. Speed + Distance.

I got on my saucer shaped sled and prepared for take-off. I got a good start but lost control half-way down the hill. I ended up hitting my head on the cement border on the side just in time to get my head sandwiched by another sled. I don't remember anything else about that trip. I remember small flashes of moments when I would open my eyes occassionally. I was in a hospital and I remember getting a glimpse of the inside of a catscan machine. I only saw a second at most.

I remember waking up at my house in my parent's room. I was throwing up uncontrollably and begged to go back to the doctor. All I wanted to do was go to sleep but I wasn't allowed to. My pupils were dialated and I looked like a monster. I ended up missing a month or so of school that year. My entire class sent me a "get well card."

I never went sledding on the soap box derby hill again.