Car Accident Continues to Affect Cedarville Students

By Madeleine Mosher

On Sunday, January 28, two Cedarville students were injured in a car accident and had to withdraw from school. Now, almost two months later, the students have taken steps to recover physically and mentally.

Freshman Jessica Meade and senior Cora Duran were on their way to church when their car slipped on black ice and crashed into another car that was also slipping. Meade broke her left leg, and Duran broke an arm, both legs, and a rib.

Meade doesn’t have to wear a cast, but she can’t walk without the assistance of a walker. She’ll begin physical therapy 10 weeks after the accident, and her leg should be fully functional again in July. Duran is now living in the Fisher House on Wright Patterson Air Force Base and undergoing physical therapy. As soon as she’s able to fly, she’ll return to her family in Alaska.

Although she had to leave Cedarville for the semester, Meade plans to return for the fall 2018 semester and pick up where she left off. Over the summer, she plans to take a psychology course while living at home with her family in Florida.

Meade said that having to rely on her family to help her do things like walking and cooking has not been easy for her.

“I’m not used to going from forward to backward,” she said, “I like going backwards to forwards.”

However, Meade said that she’s thankful that she and Duran are alive and healing. Both girls have also been able to see some positives to this negative time.

One positive for Meade was her interaction with the nurses at Miami Valley Hospital. She’s considering majoring in nursing, and because of the accident, she was able to experience medical care with paramedics, in the emergency room, in the trauma center, and in the hospital. She got to ask nurses questions and get a better perspective on the job.

A positive for Duran was the way God has worked in her family through the accident.

“I have seen God touch the heart of my father and soften it with a renewed gratitude for the life of his daughter, which surprisingly lead to a more surrendered life to Christ,” she said in an email, “To see a man I’ve known my whole life finally submit to the Lord is a testimony to my own faith that God really does make everything beautiful IN IT’S TIME.”

Like Meade, however, Duran said that she has also struggled with having to depend on people for things she could formerly do alone. Nonetheless, she said that God has used her friends from Cedarville or elsewhere to encourage her when she is feeling down. This reminds her that God knows what is going on in her life.

“It’s just allowed me to see that God’s plan is much bigger and broader than anything I could have ever imagined on my own and that my life is not misplaced in His hands,” Duran said.

Meade also said that she is trusting God throughout this time, and expressed her certainty that He is crafting her life with purpose.

“Even though this recovery is going to take time and I had to take a semester off of school, [God] also has a plan for me,” Meade said.

Both Meade and Duran asked for prayers from the student body. Meade asked for physical recovery and mental and emotional strength for Duran and herself. Duran asked for peace, comfort, safety in traveling, and that she and her family will never forget that they can trust in God and His plan.

Madeleine Mosher is a freshman journalism major and an off-campus news writer for Cedars. When she’s not complaining about homework or making coffee, she enjoys sarcasm, cupcakes and rock ‘n’ roll.