I never considered myself unique, but people are constantly telling me, "you are a miracle." To me, I was just an ordinary "guy" with realistic goals and big dreams. I was a 19-year-old student at the University of Texas and well on my way toward fulfilling my "big dream" of one day becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
我从未感到本人不同凡响,但人们常对我说:"你的性命是个奇观."对我而言,我只是一个一般人,有着现实的目标和弘远的幻想.我曾是德克萨斯大学一名十九岁的大学生,在通向理想之路上信步前行,幻想有一天我会成为一名整形外科医生.
On the night of February 17, 1981 I was studying for an Organic Chemistry test at the library with Sharon, my girlfriend of three years. Sharon had asked me to drive her back to her dormitory as it was getting quite late. We got into my car, not realizing that just getting into a car would never quite be the same for me again. I quickly noticed that my gas gauge was registered on empty so I pulled into a nearby convenience store to buy '2.00 worth of gas. "I'll be back in two minutes," I yelled at Sharon as I closed the door. But instead, those two minutes changed my life forever.
1981年2月17日的晚上,我和来往三年的女友沙伦在为有机化学测试做筹备.因为太晚了,沙伦叫我驾车把她送回宿舍.咱们钻进汽车,谁能想到在今后的生命中我不能再如斯矫健地反复这样一个简略的动作.我很快发明油表空了,于是我把车泊在邻近的一家便利店旁,想买两块钱的汽油."我两分钟就回来,"我关上车门朝沙伦喊到.但就是这短短的两分钟转变了我毕生的运气,永远地改变了.
Entering the convenience store was like entering the twilight zone. On the outside I was a healthy, athletic, pre-med student, but on the inside I was just another statistic of a violent crime. I thought I was entering an empty store, but suddenly I realized it was not empty at all. Three robbers were in the process of committing a robbery and my entrance into the store caught them by surprise. One of the criminals immediately shoved a .38 caliber handgun to my head, ordered me to the cooler, pushed me down on the floor, and pumped a bullet into the back of my head -- execution style. He obviously thought I was dead because he did not shoot me again. The trio of thieves finished robbing the store and left calmly.
进入这家便利店就犹如踏上了阴阴间的奈何桥,门外的我仍是个健康的,
寂寞始终陪同在陆恬身边,活蹦乱跳的未婚大学生,而门内的我却成了暴力犯法的又一个就义品.我还以为店里没有人,但我忽然发现我错了mm有三个匪徒正在打劫这家店,而我的进入让他们有些惶恐不安.其中一个匪徒敏捷取出一把口径为38毫米的手枪使劲指着我的头,勒令我走到冷冻机旁,而后把我推倒在地,像履行逝世刑般从后面朝我头部开了一枪.他没再朝我开第二枪,显然他以为我死了.打劫完后三个劫匪抱头鼠窜.
Meanwhile, Sharon wondered why I had not returned. After seeing the three men leave the store she really began to worry as I was the last person she saw entering the store. She quickly went inside to look for me, but saw no one-only an almost empty cash register containing one check and several pennies. Quickly she ran down each aisle shouting, "Mike, Mike!"
与此同时,沙伦对我的不归忧心忡忡.看到这三个强盗分开方便店后她真的很担忧,由于我是她见到的最后一个进入店里的人.她赶紧跑进店来找我,只见简直被一扫而光的收银机上挂着一张帐单,还有几枚硬币散落在上面,四处无人.她在货架间飞快地跑着、喊着:"迈克,迈克!"
Just then the attendant appeared from the back of the store shouting, "Lady, get down on the floor. I've just been robbed and shot at!"
这时一名服务员从店后面走出来叫到:"小姐,过来一下,我方才被打劫了,他们还向我开了枪."
Sharon quickly dropped to the floor screaming, "Have you seen my boyfriend? He has auburn hair." The man did not reply but went back to the cooler where he found me choking on my vomit. The attendant quickly cleaned my mouth and then called for the police and an ambulance.
沙伦趔趔趄趄地过来哭喊到:"你见到我的男友人了吗?长褐色头发的." 那人默默走到冷冻机旁,找到了我,此时呕吐快令到我窒息了.他赶紧帮我擦干了嘴,叫了警察和救护车.
Sharon was in shock. She was beginning to understand that I was hurt, but she could not begin to comprehend or imagine the severity of my injury.
沙伦被吓坏了.匆匆地她才清楚我受伤了,
小林对妻子说,但是她基本设想不到伤势的重大性.
When the police arrived they immediately called the homicide division as they did not think I would survive and the paramedic reported that she had never seen a person so severely wounded survive. At 1:30 a.m. my parents who lived in Houston,
一个农民听后怒不可遏, were awakened by a telephone call from Brackenridge Hospital advising them to come to Austin as soon as possible for they feared I would not make it through the night.
警察来了,他们很快判断是杀人案,因为没人相信我还能活过来,而救护人员说她素来没有见过伤势如此严峻的人可以逃离死劫.下战书一点半,我住在奥斯汀的父母被来自布莱肯瑞吉医院的电话铃惊醒,医院告诉他们尽快赶到奥斯汀,因为他们认为我熬不外当晚了.
But I did make it through the night and early in the morning the neurosurgeon decided to operate. However, he quickly informed my family and Sharon that my chances of surviving the surgery were only 40/60. If this were not bad enough, the neurosurgeon further shocked my family by telling them what life would be like for me if I beat the odds and survived. He said I probably would never walk, talk, or be able to understand even simple commands.
但那晚我挺了过来,第二天凌晨神经外科医生决议给我着手术.但他即时告诉我的家人和沙伦我存活的机遇只有百分之四十.然后他还雪上加霜地告知我的家人,向他们描写如果我万幸活下来将面临怎么的生活mm我可能再也不会走路了,不会说话了,甚至不能懂得一些极其简单的命令.这些对我的家人来说都是莫大的打击.
My family was hoping and praying to hear even the slightest bit of encouragement from that doctor. Instead, his pessimistic words gave my family no reason to believe that I would ever again be a productive member of society. But once again I beat the odds and survived the three and a half hours of surgery. Granted, I still could not talk, my entire right side was paralyzed and many people thought I could not understand, but at least I was stable. After one week in a private room the doctors felt I had improved enough to be transferred by jet ambulance to Del Oro Rehabilitation Hospital in Houston.
原来家里人祈望能从医生的口入耳到一点点激励的话,而他达观的语言让他们没理由信任我还会成为一个对社会有用的人.在经历了三个半小时的手术之后,我再次幸运地活了下来.医生的话得到了应验,我不能说话,全部右边的身材瘫痪了,许多人以为我变傻了,但至少我身体状态是稳固的.在私家看护病房里呆了一个星期后,医生觉得我已经好转了许多,并可以坐救护飞机转到奥斯汀的德欧洛痊愈医院.
My hallucinations, coupled with my physical problems, made my prognosis still very bleak. However, as time passed my mind began to clear and approximately six weeks later my right leg began to move ever so slightly. Within seven weeks my right arm slowly began to move and at eight weeks I uttered my first few words. My speech was extremely difficult and slow in the beginning, but at least it was a beginning. I was starting to look forward to each new day to see how far I would progress. But just as I thought my life was finally looking brighter I was tested by the hospital euro-psychologist. She explained to me that judging from my test results she believed that I should not focus on returning to college but that it would be better to set more "realistic goals."
意识上的幻觉跟生理上的病疾使我的病情预断无比的渺茫.然而时光的飞逝使我的意识开端变得清楚,大概六个礼拜以后我的右腿能够稍微地运动了,七周当前我的右臂开始迟缓地活动了,八周以后我终于启齿说话了.谈话对我十分地艰巨并且开始的时候说得很慢,然而总算是开头了.我开始寄愿望于新的一天的到来,祈望着新的提高.但合法我认为生涯总算初露光亮的时候,病院里有个欧洲来的心理学家对我做了测试.她向我说明到,从检测的成果来看她深信我不能再重返学校,劝我对此不要抱有任何生机,盼望我最好建立些更事实点的目的.
Upon hearing her uation I became furious for I thought,
网通传奇发布, "Who is she to tell me what I can or cannot do. She does not even know me. I am a very determined and stubborn person,
最新中变传奇!" I believe it was at that very moment that I decided I would somehow, someday return to college.
她的这番论断让我大发雷霆,"她是谁,凭什么告诉我能做什么或不能做什么.她根本不懂得我.我是很刚强而执拗的人!"我相信就在那时我决定无论如何,总有一天我会返回学校的.
It took me a long time and a lot of hard work but I finally returned to the University of Texas in the fall of 1983 -- a year and a half after almost dying. The next few years in Austin were very difficult for me, but I truly believe that in order to see beauty in life you have to experience some unpleasantness. Maybe I have experienced too much unpleasantness, but I believe in living each day to the fullest, and doing the very best I can. And each new day was very busy and very full, for besides attending classes at the University I underwent therapy three to five days each week at Brackenridge Hospital. If this were not enough I flew to Houston every other weekend to work with Tom Williams, a trainer and executive who had worked for many colleges and professional teams and also had helped many injured athletes, such as Earl Campbell and Eric Dickerson. Through Tom I learned: "Nothing is impossible and never, never give up or quit."
在经历了一年半负隅顽抗的生活后,在漫长的等候和艰苦的付出后,终于在1983年的秋天,我返回了德克萨斯大学.在奥斯汀接下来的多少年里我生活得异常艰苦,但我确信为了看到生活中的真善美你必需要经历一些苦难.兴许我阅历的苦难太多了,但我有一个信心mm充实地过每一天,努力做到最好.日子过的很忙碌、很空虚,除了读书,每周我还在要在布莱肯瑞吉医院接收三到五次的医治.假如这还不够忙的话,我还要隔周和汤姆.威廉斯飞到奥斯汀工作.汤姆是一个教练兼主管,他曾效率于许多大学校队和职业联队,并辅助过很多受伤的运发动,如:厄尔.坎贝尔和艾破克.迪克森.从汤姆的身上我学到"不什么是不可能的,千万千万不要放弃,永不废弃."
Early, during my therapy, my father kept repeating to me one of his favorite sayings. I have repeated it almost every day since being hurt: "Mile by mile it's a trial; yard by yard it's hard; but inch by inch it's a cinch."
早在我接受治疗的时候,父亲老是重复他最爱的那句话,天天当我觉得苦楚的时候我也对自己重复那句话,那就是"兢兢业业,切勿急功近利."
I thought of those words, and I thought of Tom, my family and Sharon who believed so strongly in me as I climbed the steps to receive my diploma from the Dean of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas on that bright sunny afternoon in June of 1986. Excitement and pride filled my heart as I heard the dean announce that I had graduated with "highest honors", been elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and been chosen as one of 12 Dean's Distinguished Graduates out of 1600 in the College of Liberal Arts. The overwhelming emotions and feelings that I experienced at that very moment, when most of the audience gave me a standing ovation, I felt would never again be matched in my life-not even when I graduated with a masters degree in social work and not even when I became employed full time at the Texas Pain and Stress Center. But I was wrong!
1986年六月那个阳光明媚的午后,当我步履蹒跚地走上德克萨斯大学迪安文学院的台阶接受文凭的时候,我考虑着这些话,想到汤姆、父母还有沙伦,他们都那么动摇地给予了我信赖.当我听到院长宣告我以最高荣誉毕业时,我的心中充斥了自豪和自负.接着他还发布我被选入美国大学优等生声誉学会,并在1600名毕业生中入选为12名迪安文学院的出色毕业生之一.当场有许多观众站起来为我鼓掌,那一刻令我心潮磅礴、悲喜交集.我甚至认为生命中不可能再经历那样的感叹和豪情,这种主意始终连续到我取得社会学的硕士学位,成为德克萨斯止痛减压核心的一名全职工作职员.但荣幸之神再次眷顾了我!
On May 24, 1987, I realized that nothing could ever match the joy I felt as Sharon and I were married. Sharon, my high school sweetheart of nine years, had always stood by me, through good and bad times. To me, Sharon is my miracle, my diamond in a world filled with problems, hurt, and pain. It was Sharon who dropped out of school when I was hurt so that she could constantly be at my side. She never wavered or gave up on me. It was her faith and love that pulled me through so many dark days. While other nineteen year old girls were going to parties and enjoying life, Sharon devoted her life to my recovery. That, to me, is the true definition of love. After our beautiful wedding I continued working part time at the Pain C...