Amberly Lago had the impression that she achieved her goals. She was living the California dream with her husband and two children, having a great job as a fitness teacher, when she was involved in a terrible accident that dramatically altered the course of her life.
When the woman, who was 38 years old at the time, was riding her motorbike through Los Angeles in May of 2010, she was involved in a collision with an SUV, which caused her to be thrown off her bike and into the center of the busy road.
According to her recollection, “They came at me so quickly, and I was thrown about thirty feet.” As soon as I was finally able to stop rolling over the asphalt, I glanced down at my leg and saw that it was completely shattered into several parts. If you ask me, there was blood all over the place. I just had a thought that went something like this: “Oh my goodness, this is like one of those horror movies where you see the blood squirt out.” Blood simply seems to be pouring out of my body with each and every beat of my heart.
With a broken leg and a severed femoral artery, Lago was taken to the hospital in a hurry due to the severity of the injury. She reports to PEOPLE that the agony she was experiencing was unbearable when she was in the ambulance.
I am a mother of two children. “This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life,” says Lago, who now resides in Heath, Texas. “I’ve passed kidney stones, and this is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced.” In my memory, I recall putting my hand on the paramedic’s thigh and urging him to establish some kind of eye contact with me so that he could reassure me that everything was going to be well. Nevertheless, he refused to look at me. At that moment, I was thinking, “Oh my god, does he know that I’m going to die?”
She goes on to say, “I truly believed that I was going to pass away.” When I was in such a great deal of agony, I found myself wishing that I could just pass away.
In order to treat Lago’s condition, which was so severe when she arrived at the emergency department of Northridge Hospital, the medical staff put her into a coma that was induced by artificial means for more than a week.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she was informed of the worst possible outcome.
“I am so sorry to have to tell you this, but we are going to have to amputate your leg,” they stated. “You have a one percent chance of rescuing it,” she remembers being told. “Wow, so you’re saying there’s a chance? In other words, I was like, “Wow.” Indeed, let’s try to rescue it.
Despite the advise of medical professionals, Lago chose not to have his limb amputated. Instead, she was sent to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she would work with Dr. Donald Wiss, an orthopedic surgeon who was willing to attempt to preserve her leg. This occurred after “a lot of pulling strings.” It is said by her that “He is like my hero.”
After then, Lago had a total of thirty-four operations performed on her leg. The procedure was laborious, but she believed that there was no other option available to her.
According to them, I will be unable to work forever. Neither walking nor working will ever be something I do again. No, that is not the kind of life I see for myself, I thought to myself. I am going to walk once more,” she emphasizes.
It took Lago a whole year to regain the ability to walk. But she had the impression that she was beginning the process of healing all over again with each new operation. The individual said, “I would be walking, and then I would have another surgery, and I would be back in a wheelchair, and then I would be back on crutches, and then I would walk again, only to have to start over.”
Five days a week, Lago was attending physical therapy sessions. She makes light of the fact that she spent so much time at the rehabilitation facility that the establishment’s proprietor ended up handing her the key to the building.
In addition to the multiple operations that Lago had, he was also diagnosed with complicated regional pain syndrome four months after the tragedy.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is an extremely uncommon neurological illness that manifests itself as persistent or intermittent pain in the extremities. This condition often manifests itself after an intervention such as surgery or an accident. Swelling, a burning feeling, throbbing pain, high sensitivity to touch, diminished capacity to move the afflicted region, muscular spasms, weakness, and other symptoms are some of the potential manifestations of this condition.
A disorder that is sometimes referred to as “suicide disease” may make even ordinary tasks, like as taking a measurement of blood pressure, very painful. Although there is no cure, there are only a few therapies that are successful.
He continues, “Every day I feel like I have a million rubber bands wrapped around my foot and ankle and fire ants stinging me.” Lago is referring to the sensation that she has. “That proved to be the most challenging aspect.”
I responded with a “nope.” A life like this cannot be mine. She goes on to say, “I was in denial about that for a considerable amount of time.” It was difficult for me to accept the fact that I had been diagnosed with something like this, which is a condition that is purportedly incurable.
In an effort to alleviate some of the agony she has been experiencing for many years, Lago has tried a wide variety of treatments, and she even recently traveled to Costa Rica in search of alternative remedies. However, nothing has been of any assistance.
“In addition to receiving painkillers and ketamine infusions, I also had spinal blocks and a spinal stimulator. According to her, “I’ve tried every kind of treatment there is.” “There was a time when I was required to take 38 homeopathic pills in addition to eleven different prescription medications all at the same time in order to make it through the day.”
The disease, in conjunction with the highs and lows that she experienced throughout her recuperation, eventually had a negative impact on her mental health. She was having a hard time coming to terms with her new look, in addition to the fact that she was fighting to manage the severe discomfort she was experiencing.
In the past, I worked as a fitness trainer and a professional dancer… Look at me now, will we? I have a distorted appearance. She explains, “I’m scarred from the hip down from now on.” “When I look at these scars and the faults, I bring a lot of attention to them. I hated myself more than anything else in the world.
This guilt and self-hatred finally led to her abusing alcohol as a means of “numbing” the agony that she was experiencing.
It was almost as if I was about to give up. When I woke up, I found myself in a situation that I truly did not want to be in. Her explanation is that she has recently been isolating herself and drinking more. According to her, “It would be this vicious cycle of just being in pain and promising myself that I’m not going to drink, but the pain would be so severe that I just needed relief.” It was booze that I was utilizing as a medication.
It was not until a single moment in 2016 with her surgeon, Dr. Wiss, that she finally started to see things from a different viewpoint.
The actions he took had a profound impact on my life. My leg was placed in his lap, and he stared at it as if it were a miracle from his perspective. “He had created a masterpiece with it,” she remembers. In addition, I began to think, “Oh my goodness, if he is able to look at my leg in that manner, then perhaps I can learn to look at it in that manner as well and fall in love with it once more.”
That being said, she explains, “But these are the battles I had to overcome.” “When I looked down at my scars, it took a lot of effort to tell myself that these scars aren’t disgusting and ugly.”
Lago, who has been clean and sober ever since that significant turning moment in 2016, reveals that she has just made the decision to have a good mentality throughout the course of the years. It was up to her to decide whether she would gaze at her leg and feel sorry for herself or if she would get back up and go on.
In a boastful tone, she says, “So that’s what I choose to do.” “Pain has been the most important educator for me. I believe that suffering is what drives you until your mission is what pulls you.
“In order to get through the challenging days, I just try to do everything in my power to be as mentally, spiritually, and physically strong as I possibly can, and I really work on my mindset,” she continues.
Lago, who is now 53 years old and has been injured in an accident fifteen years ago, believes that she has very few constraints in life.
She walks on her own, she is active in the gym, and she enjoys embarrassing her kids with how much she dances. All of this is despite the fact that she suffers from chronic pain. Additionally, she is a frequent participant in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and places a high emphasis on the supporting network that she has established since the accident. The connection that I have with other individuals is what helps me get through difficult times, she says.
Despite the fact that Lago is in a better position, her recuperation is constantly continuous. This is a reminder that she is now preparing for another leg operation that will take place on June 2.
She continues by saying, “This is something that I have to deal with on a daily basis.”
Since then, Lago has made it her mission to inspire people to have resilience via her work as an author, a motivational speaker, a coach, and a podcast presenter. She believes that this has been the most important component in her journey throughout her life. Joy Through the Journey, her most recent book, was published earlier this year. It is a handbook that serves the purpose of assisting individuals in reclaiming their joy despite the ups and downs that life brings.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Lago says that she does not often engage in activities that involve looking back and reminiscing, but she is nonetheless aware of how far she has gone.
“I triumphed over this,” she declares. “I just kind of sit back and think about, well, what are the possibilities that lie ahead?”
