Hello. My name is Eric Martinez. I will never forget how my life changed in a matter of seconds on December 2012 of 2012(when 26), which put my future suddenly in grave doubt!
What happened that day, was while I was a truck driver had been sitting in the parking lot of an Arlington Wendy’s when I randomly suffered a seizure. Which was caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm!
For those who do not know about a ruptured brain aneurysm, that is when I had bleeding in the space around my brain — a subarachnoid hemorrhage. The effects are often devastating. Symptoms include a sudden very severe headache, loss of consciousness, seizures and blurred or double vision.
This situation occurs in just 8 to 10 people out of 100,000 annually, but it is particularly deadly. Forty percent of the cases are fatal, and more than half of those who survive suffer permanent brain damage.
After I was located, was rushed to the hospital, I wentinto surgery in the early next morning of Dec. 13, 2012. Later in my journey there, I was told that I died once during the 12-hour operation. Which my doctors stabilized the aneurysm and eliminated the risk of more bleeding!
Even though I did not remember the first month in the hospital, though he was conscious and talking with family. My first memories begin in mid-January, when I felt as if I was finally waking up, looked around the white hospital room and saw my mother, who told me that I had an aneurysm,’ and I was like, What the heck is an aneurysm?!
To be honest, my youth and physical fitness helped in my recovery after left the hospital that February. Despite having some confusion remembering family members and friends and what happened before the aneurysm, my challenges were more physical than cognitive!
I still have some nerve damage in his left leg that can cause movement difficulties, but I am able to walk again after about eight months in a wheelchair. My next step was, I underwent surgery in 2014 to repair double vision.
During this ordeal, my mother and members of her church prayed for me! Later, in answer to my prayers, I feel that God spoke to me directly!
‘I was there with you,’ God told me! “I was there whenever the aneurysm ruptured. I was there inside the ambulance with you. I have been there your whole life.”
After this situation, I became a U.S. citizen in 2014, but I have not been able to return to his job because his commercial driver’s license expired during recovery. But I am still looking for a chance to get back to work and take full advantage of a future that seemed unlikely on Dec. 11, 2012!
I am very blessed and glad to be alive! Thank you for letting me join this helpful family!
