Ryan Brown opened up about the accident in a TikTok video, which has amassed over 700,000 views<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After dropping off their friends following a night out after prom, Ryan Brown and her boyfriend, Malachi Etienne, were driving his white Toyota Corolla back to Brown\u2019s house. It was just before 2 a.m., and the high school seniors were less than five minutes from her home in Hudson, Fla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brown sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through the TikTok videos she had filmed that night, trying to decide which ones to post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everything felt light, happy, and carefree \u2014 until it wasn\u2019t. The last thing Brown, 18, remembers from April 13 is looking down at her phone, and the next moment, feeling a jolt as the car violently shook, as if it were spinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the first few seconds, I knew we were crashing, but my mind was in complete shock,\u201d she tells PEOPLE exclusively. \u201cThe only thing I could do was close my eyes and cradle my arms over my head. I\u2019m not sure if my mind just slowed everything down, but it honestly felt like we were crashing forever. The last thing I remember was letting out one scream before everything went black.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What followed was a blur. Brown drifted in and out of consciousness. Only later did she learn what had allegedly caused the crash: a speeding drunk driver had slammed into them from behind \u2014 sending their car flying several feet into the air, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was later told that once the car finally landed in the woods, Etienne, 19, who had been in the driver\u2019s seat, repeatedly called her name. But Brown was slumped over the glove compartment, unresponsive \u2014 and she hadn\u2019t been wearing a seatbelt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat part really sticks with me,\u201d she says. \u201cI keep thinking about what it must\u2019ve felt like for him in that moment \u2014 to see me not moving, not answering, looking like I might be dead. The fear he must\u2019ve felt. The strength he had to find, not just during the crash but in the moments after.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe ended up carrying me out of the car through the window,\u201d she adds, noting that a man who had been riding a bicycle nearby and witnessed the crash also ran over to help. \u201cIf the roles had been reversed, I don\u2019t know if I would\u2019ve had the strength to do what he did. I probably would\u2019ve just frozen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Brown slowly regained consciousness, she found herself sitting on the ground when emergency services pulled up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two first responders approached, began treating her, and urged her to call her sister, the only person she knew would answer her phone at that hour. After reaching her sister, Brown says, \u201cI know I blew up my parents\u2019 phone after getting off that call.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She remembers the voices of the first responders and Etienne, who was sitting next to her in the truck, starting to sound distant. Her vision blurred, her fingers tingled, and she couldn\u2019t move her neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was emotionally manic, crying, and in a lot of physical pain,\u201d Brown says, adding that by that point, she had regained most of her awareness. \u201cI was honestly just super scared about everything. Is this real? What\u2019s going to happen to me? Is Malachi going to be alright? I was also just confused because the whole thing still wasn\u2019t clicking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat moment was probably the most intense because it\u2019s when everything really started to hit me, and I started to fear I was going to die,\u201d she says. \u201cI remember closing my eyes and praying out loud to God, saying that if He could hear me, to please help and protect me and let me make it out okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that, she isn\u2019t sure if she passed out or fell asleep, but the next time she opened her eyes \u2014 covered in blood, her dress ripped \u2014 she was in the ICU. Doctors told her she had broken her neck, with fractures in her C4 and C5 vertebrae. Etienne had also undergone surgery after suffering a cut to his eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The medical staff explained that if the impact had been even slightly different, if the fracture had shifted just a few millimeters, she likely wouldn\u2019t have survived. Even more shocking, Brown hadn\u2019t been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, yet she wasn\u2019t ejected from the vehicle. The only reason she hadn\u2019t been thrown from the car, they told her, was because the seatbelt had somehow tangled around her and held her in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can\u2019t exactly capture the feeling, but it was very heavy,\u201d Brown says. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have been able to make it out of the car, let alone make it to the emergency room or to the next morning \u2014 and I didn\u2019t even know that. I would have just been gone forever in a moment. It\u2019s a weird feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really think much while I was in the ICU,\u201d she adds. \u201cI didn\u2019t even know being in there was such a big deal until I was out of the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a few long and difficult days, Brown was discharged from the hospital. As of now, she\u2019s wearing a brace around the clock. She\u2019s in the process of scheduling surgery and expects to need physical therapy before she can fully heal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long recovery process,\u201d she says, \u201cbut I know it\u2019s all temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe whole thing alone has been really hard,\u201d she adds. \u201cMy last high school prom got ruined. My neck will be broken on my graduation. My plans to join the military are crushed, and I\u2019m just very limited to everything in my life right now. All in all, it\u2019s been pretty depressing to be honest, but I know I will be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since coming home, Brown has spent most of her time resting and sleeping. She\u2019s incredibly grateful for the friends who have come to visit her, bringing gifts, support and much-needed distractions. But she\u2019s especially appreciative of Etienne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s put so much effort into supporting me and just being here during one of the hardest points in my life, especially while going through something traumatic himself,\u201d she says. \u201cHe\u2019s very strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The day after Brown returned home, she felt compelled to speak out about the crash. So, she filmed a video recounting the accident and posted it to TikTok. Her goal was to raise awareness and highlight the bigger picture: the ripple effects of drunk driving and how it can devastate real lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, the video went viral, reaching nearly 700,000 people and counting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor a few days, it was mostly just people who knew me personally,\u201d she says. \u201cAs time went on, I started getting flooded with comments and messages of support from people around the world \u2014 sharing their own stories and experiences like mine. I didn\u2019t feel so alone. Being so seen and uplifted by so many people who don\u2019t even know a single thing about me made me feel so much more hopeful. It made me want to be strong. It still brings tears to my eyes when I go back and read everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile I obviously wanted to advocate for the topic of drunk driving and its effects, I also want everyone who sees my story to know that no matter what obstacles you\u2019re thrown, no matter how hard it gets, you are going to be okay,\u201d she adds. \u201cBe strong. Life really does go on, time will pass, you will get stronger, and the hard moments will go away. You\u2019re not going to be stuck forever, you\u2019re not going to be hurting forever.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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