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"  It was 2 A.M. on a cold Saturday and a bunch of us were crammed into my friend&amp;#039;s car. Aaron was driving and we were rapping along to someone&amp;#039;s iPod on the way home from a small party, where my best friend and I had spent the whole night gossiping about guys and dancing to hip-hop. I love to dance \u2014 four months earlier, I&amp;#039;d won a regional dance competition and qualified for Nationals. I&amp;#039;d had a few beers but I wasn&amp;#039;t drunk. As the party wound down, Aaron announced he was heading out, and a bunch of us jumped in the car. I&amp;#039;d seen him drinking during the night, but I trusted him \u2014 I didn&amp;#039;t think he&amp;#039;d be driving if he was really drunk. On the way to my house, Aaron was driving a little fast and veered off the road a couple times. We laughed it off, but I was glad I had my seat belt on. All of the sudden, Aaron took a sharp turn, swerved, then hit a curb. Before I had time to think, he jerked the car in the opposite direction. Things quickly went from fun to terrifying. A jolt of panic shot through my body as we headed straight for a tree! I heard a boom and the car shook as we smashed into it. I didn&amp;#039;t even have time to scream. The next few minutes felt like a dream. I was weirdly calm. I didn&amp;#039;t even cry. My seat belt was still on, but my legs were stuck under the driver&amp;#039;s seat and my body was over the center console. I could hear EMTs talking and a helicopter landing to airlift us to the hospital \u2014 and everything felt foggy. Then I blacked out. A NEW REALITY The first time I woke up, my dad was standing over me looking scared. I didn&amp;#039;t want him to worry, so I said, &amp;quot;Daddy, I&amp;#039;ll be okay. I just can&amp;#039;t feel my legs.&amp;quot; I must have passed out again, because the next time I opened my eyes, I was in an MRI machine. My eye was swollen shut, so I couldn&amp;#039;t see. I hit the top with my fists, thicking I was in a coffin. The next week was a haze of surgeries and drugs. Then, the doctor matter-of-factly told me I&amp;#039;d never walk and, even worse, dance again. I couldn&amp;#039;t process it \u2014 how was I going to live without dancing?!? I was in the hospital for almost two months and had to have three operations \u2014 on my back, my stomach, and my broken pinkie. The seat belt severed the nerves and muscles at my waist.  When I got home, I was still in complete denial. I&amp;#039;d open the door and step out of the car and then remember I&amp;#039;m stuck in this chair. Once, I totally broke down, throwing pillows and hitting my legs. I&amp;#039;d bottled up all this anger and frustration toward my injury, and I couldn&amp;#039;t put on a brave face anymore. I was so fed up with my body. But the idea of going back to school was exciting \u2014 I just wanted to get back some sense of normalcy \u2014 though I was really self-conscious about how people would react to my wheelchair. People kept offering to carry my books or grab stuff I couldn&amp;#039;t reach, but that made me feel worse, like a burden. Prom was especially hard. I&amp;#039;d always pictured myself dancing all night and having a blast with my friends. It couldn&amp;#039;t have been more different. Watching from my chair while my friends were out on the dance floor made me feel less than everyone else. But during the last song, my date picked me up in his arms and we danced together. In that moment, I didn&amp;#039;t feel different. I was just me again. MOVING FORWARD It&amp;#039;s been two years and I&amp;#039;m completely independent now, although I don&amp;#039;t know if I&amp;#039;ll ever accept the fact that I won&amp;#039;t walk again. Aaron, the driver, went to prison for what he did. [He was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for drunk driving.] But I don&amp;#039;t blame him. I take responsibility for getting in the car with him, and I want to make sure this doesn&amp;#039;t happen to anyone else. I&amp;#039;ve been touring schools, speaking to more than 10,000 people about what happened to me. It&amp;#039;s given me a purpose. If I like the rest of my life in this wheelchair as a reminder of one bad decision, it&amp;#039;s a decision I don&amp;#039;t want anyone else to make. Chelsie is being featured in a new series Push Girls premiering on the Sundance Channel on June 5, 2012. Watch her and Seventeen editor Ashley Mateo&amp;#039;s episode August 13th! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/health/a28563/paralyzed-by-a-drunk-driver/>