Woman feels blessed no one else hurt in her drunken-driving accident

On Jan. 26, 2008, Carly Vogelsang awoke in the hospital. Her memory gone, she listened as a doctor and a police officer informed her she had survived a drunken-driving accident. She listened as they told her she was the drunken driver.

After a bad shift at work, Vogelsang drank too much at a bar and started to drive home, though she doesn't remember anything after the drinks. She said she is thankful she didn't hurt anyone in the accident and feels blessed to be alive and able to walk.

"As blessed as I feel to be alive with my minimal injuries, I feel even more blessed not to have hurt someone else," she said. "Something I think about a whole, whole lot is how lucky I am to not have hurt someone else. I don't think of myself as a bad person, but I could have murdered someone. I don't think I could live with myself. I would rather to have not survived than to wake up and hear that I'd hurt someone. I can't imagine asking God for forgiveness for that."

The impact of the accident sent her sideways. Her head crashed through the passenger-side window and caused head trauma and a neck injury. In a great deal of pain and faced with a long recovery, she found the neck brace she had to wear for six months made it impossible to perform even the simplest task. She could not bathe or dress herself. Every movement caused severe pain. Helpless, she found herself relying on her mother for everything.

"I'm so grateful and in debt to my mother," she said. "You know your mother loves you, but at 25 she is bathing you again, which is embarrassing and horrible but necessary. I couldn't take care of myself."

Carly Vogelsang speaks about her drunken-driving accident at a victims group. (LAURA SIMON)

She said she is also grateful to her brother, who helped her to physical therapy sessions and doctor appointments. Vogelsang literally leaned on him for support.

"I can remember it was during the ice storm, my brother came to our house and basically held me up," she said. "I'm thankful I can [now] dry my hair, and I'm thankful I can take a shower without hours of planning it out."

When she has a bad day, she remembers how difficult things were and doesn't complain. Her nearly severed ear was sewn back on and most of her hair was shaved around the gashes in her scalp.

"It's dark humor, but when things get bad my mom is like, 'At least you have an ear.'"

It still difficult for her to speak about the accident, but because she does, Vogelsang said she wants to help others understand that this can happen to them. She speaks before a local victims group once a month.

"I talk at a victims impact panel, which is strange because I'm not the victim," she said.

She said she never wanted to be the poster-child for drunken driving, but she wants to help people understand just how easy it is to find themselves in that situation; that even if you are not in the habit of drinking and driving it could still happen.

"It's hard because no matter what your intentions you could hurt someone. It takes just one circumstance, and it could happen."

Planning a way home before having a drink is important, she said. Deciding not to drive before you have that first drink is crucial.

"It's not something you can do after a drink or two," she said. "You have to decide not to do it. I never made the decision to never drink and drive. It's important for people to make that decision without exceptions," she said.