Has anything ever REALLY freaked you out?

I thought about writing about this today when someone asked me the dreaded question, and then I have to tell the story. The question is about driving, and since I don't drive right now I have to tell the infamous story.
It was Friday, July 26, 2002 and I lived in Dayton Ohio. I had left my house that Friday afternoon and left for Cincinnati to meet up with the rest of the volleyball team I was playing on then, and we were headed to Atlanta to play in a tournament. Just a few miles from my house I stopped to fill up my gas tank. After getting my tank filled up, I pulled out of the gas station and got into the left turn lane. I had to go to Kroger's to pick up a prescription and then I was on my way. I felt like I sat there forever, and this intersection was almost like a 3 way stop, as there was seldom ever anyone coming straight from the opposite side of this light. All of a sudden I started to hear a siren and I couldn't tell which was it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from my left, over the overpass of I-75. My neighborhood was across that bridge into that direction. The light turned green, but I didn't go at first because I still could hear this siren coming and I did not want to pull out in front of an ambulance or fire truck. Well, I couldn't see any emergency vehicles, so I went ahead and pulled out into my left turn and then I heard and felt the crash. In my stupidity I had pulled out in front of a car coming straight through the light. So my left headlight hit into their left headlight and it was almost like a head on accident.
I heard my neck snap, and then I came to realize I was slumped over in the passenger seat and I immediately knew that I had no feeling from the neck down. I FREAKED OUT at that moment. You know how people say their lives flashed before their eyes? Well, everything I would never be able to do again flashed through my head at that moment. I wanted to sit up and see what had happened but I could not. I could not move anything from my neck down, and I was left slumped over, staring down at my hand lying in the passenger seat.
I have no memory of the EM T'S placing the C collar on me or them taking me out of my car. As I was placed into the ambulance I felt tingling all over my entire body. It was as if I was being stuck my thousands of needles. I floated in and out while in the ER and wearing a C collar is not comfortable. They did not take it off or me off the backboard until they were sure my neck was not broken. Luckily it was not broken and I had what they called a stinger.
I was in the hospital for 7 days and I started to get more and more feeling back each day. When I went home I still had some paralysis in my upper body. I was on steroids and gained a lot of weight. It was depressing because I had managed to get into the best shape of my life. I had ran a half marathon about a month prior to the accident. My men's volleyball team was going to the Gay Games in Sydney Australia on Oct. 29Th and I was not sure what kind of shape I was going to be in come the time to level. Although I gained a lot of weight, I still got to go to Sydney and it was not in a wheel chair. We managed to win the Silver Medal and it was the trip and experience of a lifetime.
I have not driven a car since that July day. I am not afraid of other drivers, but I am afraid I could cause an accident being too cautious. Reacting in a way to a situation to cause an accident. I never thought something would affect me like that and for such a long period of time, but that car accident did. I think its time to get back on the horse finally and begin to drive. So, this summer is my goal to start driving again. Has anything ever freaked you out like that?

Click on the title of this Post to read and learn more about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.