CNN iReport

First, a LOT of background. When I was 14, I was hit by a drunk driver and nearly killed. My friend's  mother was driving us all home from a hockey game and as we were turning onto my road, the drunk driver T-Boned our car ripping the portion of the car where I was sitting completely from the car and sending me flying. The police report noted that, had I been wearing my seatbelt, I would have been killed. 

As a result of this unfortunate accident, my femur was broken about 6 inches below my hip. I was in traction twice for 1.5 months at  a clip. When I was released from the hospital, I was in a spica cast (cast from lower ribs to to left foot up to the toes). I was in this damn thing from june until mid august and mind you, it was extremely uncomfortable. 

The downstairs of my house was basically turned into a pseudo hospital room because I couldn't move anywhere by myself easily. I had a trapeze rig on the bed and a wheel chair to get around in but the house wasn't big enough for me to move around in a wheel chair so If I could manage it, I would hop on my crutches to get around the house. ... and trying to go to the bathroom was NOT fun AT ALL. 

All of my underwear and shorts were cut down the side and velcro sowed into the seem so I could get dressed into "normal" clothes.  I missed the last 1/4 of my eigth grade year and was tutored at home.

When I returned to school as a freshman in highschool, I had a hard time adjusting and didn't do so well the first quarter.  Not only that but people noticed that I was a rather nasty person and come to find out it was becuase of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder which was diagnosed later on in my life along with a learning disability (reading issues and numbers get jumbled up in my head making it hard to do math in my head). 

I was pretty much on my own as TBI's (Traumatic Brain Injuries) weren't widely studied in adolescents; and yes, I suffered a head injury as well. In fact, I was out cold for 32 hours on the day of the accident and I woke up to the sound of the locker door clicking shut in my hospital room, which to me, sounded like a shotgun in my ear and I proceeded to launch my self about 2 inches in the air and my bone moved out of position and had to be reset.  Additionally, in between traction times in the hospita, I had to undergo a closed reduction of the femur, which I might add, would probably out ranks kidney stones on the pain meter. 

Moving on...

It wasn't until college that I decided it was time for me to figure out what to do about.. well.. me...  and so I threw down four years for a psychology degree with a concentration in neuroscience.  With little to no help from the education system, I devised my own ways to cope with my disabilities (which were unknown to me clinically at the time) and as a result, I ended up assisting in the pioneering of the Think First  and the Think First for Kids project out of SUNY  Plattsburgh (NY-USA).

In conclusion, the road I traveled was a difficult one as there was no one to help me figure "me" out; I did it on my own. I am stronger now because of this experience and I'm glad I had the opportunities that I've had... but there are plenty of days that I wonder where I'd be if that accident never happened. I try not to live in the past but when it lives with you every day, it's kind of hard.

After thoughts:

.. I have the metal rods that were in my legs hanging from my rear view mirror to remind me to not be "that guy" that does this to someone else or worse..

.. Teens and college aged kids can't be trusted. Been there, done that, have the T-Shirt. I've seen mr.goodytwoshoes go from hero to zero in one party and flunk out in one semester. I don't trust anyone anymore, especially in today's "me me me, sue happy" society .. I say raise age limit to 24 or 25 where they're out of undergrad college and in the real world where responsibility and  accountability have more of an impact.

Clarifications:

Drunk Driver was 17, driving a borrowed car, revoked license and had 3 priors. 

Regarding the "if you can join the military and serve your country" argument. I feel the need to point out that if you go in at 18, you are broken down, trained and rebuilt and you are almost ALWAYS different than when  you went in; in other words, a MUCH more mature 18 or 19 year old in comparison to a civilian. 

Additionally, you cannot compare our country to others. We have an entirely different mentality towards drinking. Any mention of a comparison in this fashion is immediately moot. 

+After a lot of reading of comments, I have altered my original opinion and I now think that we should neither raise nor lower it. +