The God I Choose to Believe In I’ve been struggling with something lately, and honestly, I’m tired of pretending it doesn’t affect me. It started after a conversation with a friend I’ve known for years — someone I used to have a very normal, human friendship with. We used to hike together, grab beers, sit on the beach, talk about life, grief, stress, relationships, and everything in between. He was just a regular flawed human being like the rest of us. Then life changed. He retired, got remarried, dove deeply into organized religion, and somewhere along the way, it started feeling like every conversation became a sermon. Not inspiration. Not connection. Preaching. Constant scripture. Constant verses. Constant moral conclusions about everyone else’s life. And honestly, what bothered me most wasn’t even the Bible verses. It was the judgment. The holier-than-thou energy. The way he spoke about people — even his own family — like love suddenly had conditions attached to it. And then ...
Survivor of Ortega Highway Head-On Collision Speaks Out on Life-Altering Injuries, Recovery, and Road Safety Awareness
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Survivor of Ortega Highway Head-On Collision Speaks Out on Life-Altering Injuries, Recovery, and Road Safety Awareness
Lake Elsinore, California — 6-17-2026 — A California woman is speaking publicly about the life-changing impact of a head-on collision on the Ortega Highway, calling for greater awareness around reckless driving, road safety, and the long-term human cost of split-second decisions behind the wheel.
On September 6th, while driving carefully and allowing extra time on a route she had always approached with caution, she was struck head-on by a driver who crossed into her lane. Her vehicle was sent flying before crashing into a tree, which ultimately stopped her car from going further and likely saved her life.
She sustained catastrophic, life-altering injuries, including the loss of one leg, severe damage to the remaining leg requiring extensive metal hardware, multiple spinal injuries, rib fractures, a shattered pelvis, wrist injuries, and significant facial trauma.
“I survived—but survival is not the same as living,” she said.
Her recovery has involved multiple surgeries, ongoing complications, chronic pain, and long-term physical limitations that affect her daily ability to function independently.
“They’re not there when I can’t make it to the bathroom in time,” she shared. “They’re not there when I’m cleaning myself, my bed, my dignity off the floor. They’re not there when I have to end my day around 4 p.m. because the pain becomes unbearable, my nerves start screaming, and phantom pain takes over. That’s not living. That’s surviving.”
She also reflects on the emotional impact of her injuries and identity loss.
“It’s a kind of grief to watch my face be mutilated, knowing I once lived off my looks—and those were taken from me too.”
Beyond her own injuries, she emphasizes the ripple effect on loved ones who supported her through months of hospitalization.
“My family and friends sat beside me in the hospital for four months. When I cried, they cried. When I was in pain, they felt it too. When I suffered, they suffered right alongside me. And that stayed with me—the pain I put them through, unwillingly.”
She also extends condolences to families who have lost loved ones on the Ortega Highway.
“My heart goes out deeply to every family who has lost someone on that road. No matter how it happened, no matter whose fault it was—the loss is devastating. You don’t just lose a person; you lose an entire future. It deserves to be acknowledged.”
She explains that Ortega Highway represents a larger safety issue.
The road is a narrow, winding, two-lane highway with blind curves, limited visibility, and no physical separation between oncoming traffic. She describes it as a place where small moments of impatience or misjudgment can have irreversible consequences.
“This isn’t just my story,” she said. “It’s what happens when a moment of recklessness meets real-life consequences.”
Now 60, she is facing ongoing surgeries, financial instability, and long-term recovery while attempting to rebuild her life independently.
To support her recovery, medical care, and basic living expenses, she has launched a GoFundMe campaign and is seeking community support.
Media Contact:
Jean Marshall
Jeanmarshall36@yahoo.com
Lake Elsinore, California
SurvivorStory, LifeAfterTrauma, TraumaRecovery, AmputeeLife, DisabilityAwareness, ChronicPainAwareness, PhantomPain, InvisibleDisability, LifeAfterAccident, RoadSafetyAwareness, StopRecklessDriving, HealingJourney, ResilienceStory, RealLifeSurvivor, GoFundMe, SupportRecovery, MedicalFund, LifeAfterInjury, RebuildingLife, HumanImpact, StoryBehindSurvival, AccidentSurvivor, CaliforniaStories
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