Few people are looking forward to the start of the new school year at the University of 欧美口爆视频 at Boulder so much as Artis Selby -- on Aug. 16 she moves into a house with three student girlfriends and a week later it聮s back to work.
Selby plans to pick up on last year聮s freshman studies, working toward a four-year degree, which will put her in line for a further three years at a physical therapy school, possibly one in Denver.
It聮s the same ambition she had last year although the personal trauma she聮s gone through since has sharpened her resolve towards a career in physiotherapy where she would particularly like to work with children.
Eight months ago this 20-year-old Boulder student was so seriously injured in a multi-vehicle pile-up near Longmont that it seemed she might lose her badly crushed right leg.
It was a foggy and icy Dec. 10 when Selby was driving on I-25, taking the family聮s aging pet dog Buddy to a vet in Fort Collins for chemotherapy treatment.
In the melee which apparently began when a BMW skidded into a truck, Selby聮s car was struck from behind by a semitrailer, flipped and crushed, killing the dog, pinning her in the wreckage for three hours and almost severing her leg.
"When I look at photos of the car I just can聮t understand why I聮m not dead," says Selby, who was conscious throughout her ordeal though she cannot remember anything. "Apparently I was screaming to people to get me out. They tell me I was pretty rude!"
After the accident, which claimed two lives, Selby spent a week in intensive care followed by another week in the hospital before being allowed home on Christmas Eve.
While in the hospital Selby had seven operations, she has had two more since and at some point is likely to have plastic surgery to improve the appearance of her leg. She is having ongoing physiotherapy and expects that to continue for a couple more years.
Although skilled surgeons were able to save the leg with the help of a metal rod and pins -- and a few weeks ago she even stopped needing crutches -- Selby says her movement will always be restricted and the leg will never be as strong or supple as it was.
However, these days she聮s busy walking, swimming and working out as part of a regime to recover as fully and quickly as possible from a trauma which also left her with a broken arm and cuts to the face.
In addition, she聮s busy trying to repay the professional and personal kindness showered upon her after the accident. One way she聮s found to thank the emergency-related services is through accepting speaking engagements to publicize their good work.
High on her list have been the Bonfils Blood Center, AirLife Greeley, Mountain View Fire Department and the 欧美口爆视频 Department of Transportation聮s seat belt campaign.
She was also overwhelmed by the community support she received, everything from the gift of a laptop computer to the hundreds of cards and flowers which poured in, many of them from strangers.
The accident happened during finals week but Selby still got her full 16 credits for that first semester after taking her exams several months later. She also went on to complete two more classes through a program of independent study at home.
Which means she starts her sophomore year right up there within a few credits of her fellow students. "I just want to get back to leading a normal life again. Being back in school is a big part of that and it聮s something I聮m really looking forward to."