Brent Maze: Two years and still kicking – The Selma Times‑Journal

Last Sunday was a big anniversary for me. It marked two years of recovery from a serious accident I had in Decatur, Mississippi.

I was the editor of that paper. I was on my way to a chamber board meeting when the unthinkable happened.

To this day, I don’t remember the impact or what exactly caused the accident. I was able to reconstruct what happened thanks to seeing the photos from the trail and knowing the location of the accident.

We were following a blind hill. When we got to that top, there was a slower moving vehicle there that I couldn’t stop in time. Everything happened so quickly that the details are still very unclear. All I could remember was coming up and the sheriff was standing over me telling me not to move.

They put me in an ambulance to the hospital in Meridian. When I got there, I don’t remember much of what happened. I know they did CT scans.

While they were looking over those scans, I remember a doctor cutting a serious cut above my right eye, where there is still a minor scar there. Then they came to me and said they were worried I might have a brain bleed or something.

Because they didn’t do neurology, they decided to send me to UAB Hospital. Another ambulance loaded me up and took me down I-20/59 to the hospital. And I can tell you this, I remember where every pothole and bump was on the interstate because the fracture in my spine felt it every time. I don’t know exactly how long it took me to get there, but it sure felt like the fastest trip to Birmingham I can ever remember.

UAB then did their own scans on me. I don’t know if they misread the scans in Meridian or if a miracle happened along the way, but luckily I didn’t have a brain bleed or any kind of brain injury.

However, I had a fractured spine, fractured knee, fractured wrist, fractured toe, fractured ribs along with that big gash on my head. That night in the emergency room was a busy one, unfortunately, because it was the same night as the “pot boomers” who shot themselves at a church in Vestavia Hills. At least two of the victims came to the hospital that night, both died, I would later learn.

Because I had been stabilized, it took a while to come back and they sent me to the ninth floor. A day later they performed surgery on my spine to stabilize it and so began the road to recovery.

I am so grateful to the doctors and nurses at UAB Hospital for all they have done for me, along with my doctors and nurses at Brookwood Hospital, where I was able to do inpatient therapy. It’s great to see the relationship UAB has with Selma.

There are times when I still get nervous while driving. I’m worried it will happen again sometimes and I’ll have a moment of awareness.

One tip I will share with you is to wear your seat belt. I think my injuries might not have been as bad if I had been wearing a seat belt. I got a ticket for not wearing it in the accident, but I didn’t need a ticket to reinforce the need to wear a seat belt.

Anyway, I’m so glad to be back as close to full strength as I am a 43 year old man. I know I’m very lucky to be independent. Since then I have seen many accidents where people were not as lucky as I was. Some died. Some are paralyzed.

I am very happy to be where I am and I try my best to cherish each day.

Brent Maze is the editor of The Selma Times-Journal. He can be reached at [email protected].