From the “Ouachitonian”: Laura Spradlin

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December 13, 2019 - Ashly Stracener

Previously published in the 2019 Ouachitonian yearbook

A loud bang like a gunshot, groans of scraping metal and a sickening crunch were heard as a Ford F-250 barreled into a car on the highway, sending it hurtling 30 yards from the original site of impact. What should have been a normal day on her way to school for then 17-year-old Laura Spradlin, a junior music therapy major from Memphis, Tenn., became a life forever altered thanks to a simple blind-spot on the freeway. As Spradlin pulled out, unable to see what was coming, neither car was aware of the impact that was about to occur.

Years later, to see her in class or out on the court playing basketball as number 45 for the Lady Tigers, no one could guess the extent of Spradlin’s journey.

“A traumatic brain injury, skull fractures, a broken eye socket, damaged eye muscles, broken face, broken jaw, knocked out five teeth,” said Spradlin. “I have a lot of glass embedded in my face still, a dissected carotid artery, dislocated elbow, lacerated spleen and two severed tendons in my ankle, and the bone was cut deep. I had plastic surgery all over my face, major ankle surgery, carotid artery. At the time I didn’t really process all of the surgeries I was having, so later I kind of got a little freaked out when thinking about it. I almost died from that wreck, and I was in a coma for a week.”

Since the age of 12, Spradlin had been working toward the goal of playing basketball in college, spending countless hours out on the court in practice. However, Spradlin’s dream of collegiate sports and a degree seemed to be derailed after this life-altering accident of which doctors were surprised she even survived.

“That was just really devastating because I had been working towards playing basketball in college and just going to college in general,” said Spradlin. “They said I would never walk or talk again. They told my parents to make plans to move to the Shepherd’s Clinic in Atlanta, which is the main brain injury facility in the country. My mom started a CaringBridge page and would post updates on there, and people from all over the world would write that they were praying for me. And through the power of prayer, I recovered miraculously. I do have some things that I deal with, like pain, my vision is damaged and I do have some brain damage.”

While Spradlin’s recovery was miraculous, many still felt there were too many obstacles for her to return to a typical life and pursue her dream.

“After the wreck I remember when I woke up and I had my mind back for a while, I would think of basketball,” said Spradlin. “All of the doctors would tell me, ‘You don’t know that you’re going to play again, so don’t get your hopes up.’ A lot of people told me I should just quit because I would just end up disappointing myself.

“I just didn’t listen to them, and I kept working toward it even though it felt impossible some days because I could barely move or barely see or think some days,” said Spradlin. “But I just worked as hard as I could, and God worked it all out for me to play basketball here at Ouachita.”

Spradlin and her family were overjoyed when she made Ouachita’s team.

“I committed, and I looked at my dad and said, ‘I did it,’” said Spradlin. “It was a really cool moment because of all of those moments of wondering, ‘Am I going to do it?’ And I did.”