My name is Philip Schleede.

I am 23 years old.

I am Imperfectly Perfect.

My life altering experience happened December 6th 2008, and something that changed my life forever. That night I was driving about 50 mph, being carless by talking on the phone. The story is that my car hit ice, went sideways off the road and into a tree. I didn't have my seat belt on so I was ejected from my car and flew approximately 150 ft. Thankfully, there were no one else in the car with me or other cars involved. I don’t remember much about the accident itself, all my memories come from the struggles which I have been faced due to my experience.

Coincidentally, only a few minutes after my accident, I was found by an ambulance on the side of the road. I wasn’t breathing, I was bleeding everywhere and I was in very bad shape. Before they even identified me, I was rushed to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital, which was luckily less than a mile away. When I got to the hospital, I had undergone back surgery, along with realigning my ribs and sewing up my punctured lungs. All these procedures happened within the first 48 hours of me being there because they were fighting for my life. There was a lot of struggle to keep me alive, so I was kept there in a medically induced coma for about two weeks. When I finally became stable , I was transported to Stony Brook hospital. Here they did all my jaw surgery, and put my face back together. When that was done, I stayed there for about three weeks until I was able to come off a morphine drip. After that, I was the transported to South Side Hospital in Bayshore,NY for rehab. I had to relearn the basics of life, and basically everything at we take for granted. I had to learn how to walk, tie my shoes, take clothes on and off and feed myself. I stayed there for about one month until I was finally released and able to go home. Once I got home, I was on bed rest for another 4 to 5 months. Fortunately, I had my family with me through it all except for when I was first found because they weren’t able to identify me for the first 8 hours since my wallet was lost in the crash.

I was on so much medication that I didn't really know what was going on. I remember thinking that I felt like I was in a big bad dream. When I finally came to realization of what was going on , I was very aggravated. I remember thinking “why this happen to me?” The last thing I remember was that I was chillin, doing what I always do, and now I wake up and I’m in a hospital bed. Not only am I in a hospital bed, but I can’t talk, can’t move, can’t nothing? This was such a bad dream…more like a nightmare. My whole life now didn't matter anymore. Now it was like I was just something to come see. People would come visit me and after they were done asking how I am doing they would talk about all regular everyday life talk. Yes, it was good. It helped me get my mind off of things but I wasn't really in the conversation. For a while I couldn't even speak because my jaw was wired shut and I had feeding tubes up my nose and down my throat. I basically felt like a vegetable. As time went on , I was able to talk and I was getting better. I remember feeling like no matter how many people where there for me or helped me or talk to me to help me keep my head up, I always just felt like I was alone; like nobody really knew what it was like to be in my situation. What really made an impact on me, is when doctors would come in just to say “hi” and to tell me that they had no idea how I was still alive. I think that is what really got me thinking.

Although no one else was physically hurt from this experience, mentally and emotionally there were other people who got hurt from my accident. I put my family through a lot of stress because for the first few days no one knew if I was going to live or die. My mother’s family is all practicing Roman Catholics, very strong believers. They had a number of masses sent up for me. I am told that the church could not even seat everyone because there were hundreds of people. I was lucky to have so many people praying for me.
My accident, regardless how terrible of an experience it was, has made me realize a lot of amazing things about myself and about life. I learned that we cannot take even the smallest things in life for granted. At the same time it also made me realize we can’t sweat the small stuff. A lot of times I watch people get so worked up over the smallest things and I notice myself looking at them like they are crazy for letting something so insignificant bother them, but then when I really sit back and think about it; before my accident, I was probably freaking out about the same insignificant things. This experience has made me value life so much more than before. It was a serious eye opener. Definitely a wakeup call that I needed.

If someone was going through my experience, I would tell them to keep their head up! You’re lucky to be alive and just like me it wasn't your time to go! You are here for a reason.

I wanted to donate my story to IP, and tell the world about my experience because if I can get out of that car and this situation alive, then no one should ever give up. Life is about overcoming your obstacles, and learning from them. My experience proved to me that I am a lot stronger of a person than I originally thought. My car accident changed the way I viewed life. I understand now that every day is a blessing, so we need to make the most of it.

I wish this organization was around when I had my accident because it would have helped me to understand that I am not alone, which is how I felt for so long. That feeling of being alone was one of the hardest hurdles I had to get over. If I was able to speak to someone who is, or was in the same position I was in, I could have believed that I would get out of this situation alive from the beginning, rather than learning my strength day by day.