Father's Day: 21st June, 2020

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The story you are about to read is one of the traumatic experiences that affect me today.

What makes it more traumatic is the day it happened… It was Father’s day and I did something that affected both me and my dad.

Medical doctors call it PTSD, a mental health condition brought on by a terrifying event, either experienced or witnessed. 

Flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety, as well as uncontrollable thoughts about the event, may be symptoms.

In my case, the symptoms are severe anxiety and uncontrollable thoughts, and they happen every time I take the wheel.

The Origin

I started learning how to drive from a video game — Grand Theft Auto III: Liberty City. GTA III is an open world game. Like all open world games, the player could explore and approach the game objectives freely.

GTA had pretty nice cars and whenever I was on a mission that required a drive, I’d spend more time practicing driving. One would think I was the game character.

My driving skills in the game were top notch. It made me scale through some missions and even escape hot chases by the police (whenever I fault).

I was a perfect driver in the open world game until it was time to do so in the real world.

Free Car Wash Service

At a young age, I started washing my parents’ cars. I would love to own a car wash someday.

While washing cars with my dad, I had the opportunity to learn about cars including maintenance and operations.

I learn so much from observation. I knew how to start and move a car just by watching my father. One day, when it was only me in the compound, I took the car key to practice what I had observed.

This was different from Grand Theft Auto III. This time, I was the one in the car. Not some game character whose life doesn’t matter.

I just moved the car, back and forth, pedaling on the brakes until I parked the car and returned the keys.

“I am now a driver”, I said to myself.

Assumption Failed Me

It was Father's day and our church had three services. We attended the first. By 8:35 am, we were back at the gate but Dad's car was obstructing the rest of the car pack. It had to be moved.

Dad was having his bath. So I went upstairs, took the key, and came back down to drive out the car for mum to enter the compound.

I turned on the ignition, changed the gear to reverse mode, and got ready to drive out. All was going well until I heard a loud noise...

BAMMMMMM!

…accompanied by shouts from my mother and junior brother. I hit the car on the electric pole right outside our gate very hard.

I paused, then proceeded to drive till I returned the car to the compound after mum had driven in.

I came down and saw the great damage to the backside of the car. That was when I felt disappointed with what I had just done.

It was my first car crash.

Happy Father’s Day

I laid on the bed for ten minutes, face down in tears, and having tremors. I was in shock.

“How did it happen?”

“How will I explain myself to him?”

I didn't know how to return the key to my dad who had already come out of the bathroom

I only went to his room, kept the key, told him about it, and rendered an honest apology to which he had no reply.

I walked back to my room reliving the crash event with tears in my eyes until dad called me out to his room and said 13 words that soothed my soul...

"Don't worry, it happens to all drivers. Just learn and don't quit driving."

That was what I did. I enrolled in a driving school to become a better driver. Today, I drive my family.

Even though I still have anxiety anytime I see the electric pole while driving out, I have learnt to master it and not let it conquer me.

There are many lessons from this experience. However, the lesson that stands out most for me lies in the words of my father…

Don’t worry, everyone fails. Just learn and don’t quit.

I believe you picked up other lessons while reading. What did you learn? Leave your answer in the comments!

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