Drunk driver destroyed my body at 31 and I don't know how to cope mentally

I could have written parts of this myself two years ago. Different injuries but the same feeling of your life just... pausing while everyone else keeps going. The dependence on family was the hardest part for me emotionally. What I can tell you is that the shame about needing help does fade — not all at once, but it fades. You didn't do anything wrong. Some guy made a terrible choice and your body is paying for it. Be patient with yourself, even when that feels impossible.

Please please please stop being hard on yourself about not doing more. Your body is doing an enormous amount of work right now just keeping up with the healing — bone repair alone burns a crazy amount of energy and resources. The exhaustion you feel by midday isn't weakness, it's completely normal and honestly expected with your injury load. Rest IS the work right now. When your care team clears you for more movement, your body will tell you. Until then, being still is part of getting better.

One thing I'd flag — if the at-fault driver's insurance company reaches out to you wanting a recorded statement or trying to get you to sign anything, don't do it. Especially not this early when you don't even have a full picture of your recovery timeline yet. They move fast and they're not on your side.

Jumping on what the person above said. I used to work in claims and early contact from the other driver's carrier is almost always about getting you on record before you fully understand your injuries. With something like an eight-week no-weight-bearing situation, you genuinely don't know yet how this ends. Soft-tissue stuff can linger, complications happen. You have time. Don't let anyone pressure you into settling or signing while you're still in the thick of it.

Not legal advice, but with a DUI involved there are typically both a civil insurance claim and a criminal case running parallel. Those are separate tracks and one doesn't necessarily depend on the other. It can actually be worth understanding how they interact before you make any decisions about your claim. A lot of PI attorneys do free consultations and won't charge unless you recover something — might be worth at least a conversation just to understand your options. You're not locked into anything by asking questions.

The mental part is so real and I feel like nobody talks about it enough. You went through something traumatic and your brain is processing that at the same time your body is trying to heal. That's just a lot. Is there any way to get someone to talk to — like a counselor or therapist, even virtually? I don't think you should have to white-knuckle the emotional side of this alone.

I know this is brutal right now but — you're alive, you have family who showed up for you, and the person who did this is facing real consequences. None of that makes the ceiling-staring easier, I get it. But sometimes just naming the things that are going right, even small ones, helps a tiny bit. Rooting for you.

Document everything. Every appointment, every prescription, every day you can't work, every thing you need help with. Take photos of anything visible. Keep a simple notes-app journal if you can. You don't have to know exactly what you're going to do with it yet — just collect it. Future you will thank present you for having a paper trail when the time comes to figure out next steps.

Do you have your own insurance with uninsured/underinsured coverage? And do you know yet what the drunk driver's policy limits look like? Asking because those details end up mattering a lot and people often don't find out until later that there's a gap. Worth looking into sooner rather than later.