By Cameron aged 10 and her life changing experience.

When  I was little I thought the whole world revolved around me.  When I started getting older and conquered West Nile virus the whole world started to change.

Being in the hospital, (they told me later I was in a coma), with my parents sitting there waiting for me to awake, I remember flying around and seeing new places.  It was something that I never experienced before.

I saw a man. He had brown hair and blue eyes and a very big smile.  He told me which way to go.  I saw meadows behind him and people shopping in a market.  It looked like a nice place to be.  Everything looked so simple, but I was wrong.  When I woke up I figured out life was not so simple after all.

I remember the tree outside of the window, with the bench just by it. A few days later (after 8 days I woke up) the doctors told me and my parents that I could go outside.

They took me to the very tree that I imagined when I was floating around.  My dreams came true.  I was sitting there on the stone with many birds chirping beside it.  We sat by the tree feeding the birds bread that we had bought.

My mom said these words to me ‘are you ready to get out of this stinky hospital’.  With my Hello Kitty pajamas still on I explained with excitement ‘yes mom I am’.

We walked back to the room, where I found my cousin Riley standing there with her parents.  She had a stuffed animal cat that was black and white with yellow eyes.  I took it by the arm and hugged it.  At that moment in time, I felt a rush, and a bond, between me and ‘w’, that can never be broken.  To this day, I sleep with him every night.  I named him ‘w’ because we had a cat that looked exactly like him with that name.

That day we left the hospital.  I met up with my siblings and my grandparents at our house.  When I arrived, there was a big feast.

My mom instructed everyone to talk softly and turn off the lights because my brain was still healing from the stoke and swelling.

They did as she asked and I sat down on the couch and ate for the rest of the day.  All day my family and friends kept stopping by and giving me cards.

The next two weeks, and so on, were very difficut.  Everything had to be dark.  I could barely walk and even the slightest light or noise made my brain hurt, like there was too much pressure.

Once those weeks passed I started to be more social with my friends.

The moral of the story is even if something in your life goes completely wrong – keep on fighting for life, because my life is still full of obstacles.

Now I have mono and strep, because ever since West Nile it’s easy for me to pick up infections.  I still get painful headaches.  What I’ve learned is that I’m not the center of  all things, that life goes on, but even if you have obstacles keep fighting for your life.

No matter what happens, someone will always be there with you.  My family and friends are my inspiration to write this.  They have all been here to help me.  No matter how hard life can be – never give up – it’s too precious to waste.

They said my chances to live were 50/50.  So now 50/50 is good enough for me!