Simple things like going to school and even walking were a challenge for a Slippery Rock student after being in a serious car accident last May. Sophomore, Ryan McClaren is a safety management major that has overcome adversity following his crash.
“It took me a while to really understand what happened,” McClaren said. “I knew something was off.”
McClaren said that he was in the hospital for almost four weeks and had a two in ten chance of survival upon the crash. He said that the crash happened when his friend was showing him his new car.
“We were going on a back road and he lost control of the vehicle and hit a guard rail,” McClaren said.
McClaren uses his crash as a way to motivate himself now. He said that he goes to the gym, works hard as a student and is a better person because of it. McClaren said that he is involved in Kappa Delta Rho and just recently signed up to play intramural basketball with his fraternity brothers.
McClaren said that he returned to Slippery Rock in the fall against his doctors’ will.
“I wanted just to put it behind me,” McClaren said.
He said that he did just that when he came back and made the Dean’s list for the fall semester. He said that he still faces some difficulties but believes he is stronger because of that.
“Life is precious and don’t take it for granted,” McClaren said.
