It was 3 days before New Year’s. We were going to go on a ski trip to Vail, Colorado, from Monterrey. We could see that the weather was going to be kind of crazy. We were going to have some good days and some bad days. The first two days were going to be kind of snowy and then the weather would be perfect. It was going to be our 5th time going to Vail. This time we were going to fly to Dallas, then Denver and take a two hour drive to get to Vail. I was also going to go with my mother’s friends and their children, it was tradition. We go on a ski trip every year, but because we didn’t go the year before, I was very excited to go. During my lifespan I have gone on several trips and I have to say skiing is the best. This time It was going to be even better because I was only going to have two days of ski school. Every time we went to ski I had to take 3 to 4 days of ski school, I never agreed to that. This time I was going to be able to ski with my parents.
It was a very cloudy and snowy morning. It was the last day of the year and our second day skiing. I could barely see the cars parked in the parking lot, I knew that it was going to be a rough day for skiing. We put our skiing garb on in the morning and geared up to go to ski. The worst part about skiing is the morning, because you have to wear around 5 or 6 layers of clothes. Every morning the only thing my family asked themselves was “Where are my clothes?!” because it was just too many things to wear everyday. On these kind of trips it’s very common that one sock or a piece of clothing gets lost, because we are used to carrying lots of clothes. After 30 minutes of struggling to put on my clothes on we finally left the room. We stomped down the stairs with our huge ski boots to get our skis. The walk to the gondola was so conversy, because we had to carry our skis. I didn’t eat breakfast. The gondola in Vail is kind off slow and we took about 10 mins to reach the top of the mountain. Then when we reached the top of the mountain and started to ski downhill. I saw something it really got my attention.“Dad Look!, a race track,” I shouted. We looked to the right and saw skiers flying around those posts. They were skiing as fast and smooth as a drag race car. In that moment, I deeply knew that I had to try it. The man from the race track told us that it costed three dollars to go on the track. My dad and I were ready to have fun, but he didn’t notice that he had paid three dollars for a near lethal accident.
The race started with the shot of the gun, my dad and I started skiing downhill the race track. However, it was not that steep. I had to go around the blue posts and my dad around the red posts. The race was very entertaining because I raced my dad to the end. After I victoriously crossed the finish line, I kept my high speed to ski over to the normal track, but just as I was about to join it, I collided with a rope… and then there was black. My eyes opened and I found myself laying in red snow. It took me a short amount of time to realize that it was my own blood that made it red. My tongue searched for the teeth that were not there. I got mad and I got frustrated. I just saw my parents panicking looking for my teeth on the snow. “Its going to be alright,” my parents cried; but I deeply knew I was not alright. 5 minutes passed and I still found myself laying on the snow. Finally the paramedics arrived, and they took me in a sled down the mountain extremely fast. My mom was skiing right beside me. It was actually the first time I ever saw my mom ski that fast. They pulled me out of the sled and carried me into an ambulance. My dad was left behind, and I was left on the back of the ambulance with a strange man by myself, and my blood spilling everywhere.
I felt weak and afraid. I just thought about how close I was to dying. The rope struck my mouth not my neck, I was lucky to be alive. The guy from the ambulance was holding a tube for liquid and had to insert it in my mouth. Blood gushed out as if it was a drain pipe in a rain storm. We arrived at Denver that was as cold as a frozen lake. Doctors took me to an emergency room and started to work. It took them about 4 hours to put my teeth back in “place” and stitch the severe cuts in my mouth. Later that  night , we went back to Vail. I had to spend New Years Eve without teeth and stitches all around my mouth, it was awful. The day after the accident I woke up and the bed was full of blood. I hobbled with pain towards the mirror and took a look at myself. My face was f****ed up! It was as swollen and fat as a pig. My mom woke up and took me to the market, we bought fruits and soups because I couldn't eat hard food. The skiing trip was horrible. I couldn’t ski, and  I couldn’t even go out of the hotel room. My family flew 5 days after the accident back to Monterrey. The first thing I did when I arrived to Monterrey was paying the doctor a visit. He told me that my teeth were all in the wrong places and that I could lose muscle control because stitches were not well positioned. I had to go through 5 surgeries 4 root canals and an extra year of braces. Probably the worst day of my life was December 31, 2012.
I have lived for 14 years more than 5000 days and probably their is no day worse than December 31, 2014. The day I almost lost my life. Life is the greatest gift a human can have. Sometimes I get scared due to that it can be taken away from you so quickly. This accident represents why we need to take care of ourselves and live life like if it was our last day. Now I'm sitting in my couch writing this and realize that I have everything a beautiful family, friends, sports, school anything a person could ask for. Sometimes I take my time and reflect on that day and realize that I was lucky to be alive. Life from this day on will be different for me. I will need to take care of my biggest present, my life.