It was a bright sunny day. The sparkling reflection in the water was tempting indeed. I dived into the pool. The tingling sensation of cold water against my warm skin was such a delight.

A loud crash reverberated in my head. I felt my body flip over as I bit my lips hard – a sudden tenseness coursing through my muscles. Then all was calm again. The bottom of the pool seemed clean. It should be. They had just cleaned it.

For a moment, all felt so serene, so peaceful. Ah! How nice it would be if it was like that always. A pressure was gradually building up in my chest. I wonder what that could be. I was running short of breath! I lifted my head above the water.

I could see the waterline and the white shiny tiles above it, but that was not high enough. My nose was still submerged. On reflex, I beat the water with my hands. Nothing seemed to move. I tried to lift my head several more times. By then, I was really running short of breath.

Death suddenly crossed my mind. I was going to die! I was going to drown! My life flashed before my eyes – bland images of my childhood, of my parents — of my mother, of my father — of everything that I have wanted to do and have yet done.Panic set in. My lungs felt like bursting. For once in my life, fear overwhelmed me. I was going to die. Then someone pulled me up from the water.

At age 18, I broke my neck in that fateful dive. The impact of my head crashing into the bottom of the pool crushed my fifth and sixth cervical vertebra, displacing a small bone fragment that cut into my spinal cord.

That fragment, smaller than my fingernail, did more damage than I could ever imagine. I lost the use of both my hands. I lost the ability to do things for myself. I lost the ability to do things that I used to do. I lost the ability to do things that I loved to do. I almost lost the will to live. At 18, the world was beginning to look bright and I lost it all.

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