Wreck in a Racist County

I was involved in a terrible automobile accident on Tuesday, March 6, 1979. It occurred in Monroe, Georgia in Walton County, a place I later learned was known to be one of the most racist counties in the state.

While traveling from Atlanta to Athens where I attended the University of Georgia, I fell asleep at the wheel, hit a guard rail, and was thrown from my car. Earlier that evening, I dropped a friend off at the airport before heading to my favorite club to have my usual combination cocktail -substances mixed with alcohol and dancing.

The accident occurred somewhere between 1am-2am, so traffic was scarce on the rural county highway. The severe impact when I hit the ground knocked me unconscious. Luckily, I was not alone. My friend Debbie was with me. She was thrown also but not badly injured, and managed to get help from a resident down the road who called for a Walton County Hospital ambulance.

Since I was unconscious most of the time, or briefly awake for periods but in a state of shock, I didn't have a firm grasp on what was transpiring that morning. During moments when I did regain consciousness, I knew I was in trouble. Much of the content in this story is credited to my friend who was in the accident with me, her boyfriend who came to pick us up since my car was completely totaled, my roommates, family, and doctor at Athens General Hospital.

I don't remember riding in the ambulance to the hospital. I do remember regaining consciousness while lying on a table with all sorts of forms that I could not comprehend being thrust at me to be signed. I remember someone dressed in white, probably a doctor, explaining that they had stitched up my lip, and that the x-rays they took showed one fractured rib on the right side of my rib cage. The next things I remember are being helped into a car, and awakening in bed at home with my roommates and friends gathered around me. Some had tears in their eyes.