Holiday breaks are a time for students to relax and spend time with family and friends. For one student at Lakeland College, this was not the case.

In the early morning hours of Dec. 19, tragedy struck hard for Natasha Robinson, senior biology major, when she got into a horrific car accident, in which she was ejected from the vehicle, that almost claimed her life.

Robinson was taken by a flight-for-life helicopter to Froedtert Hospital, where she spent 36 hours in the ICU and, while there, she received 4 units of blood to compensate for her internal bleeding.

In total, she had 3 skull fractures, 4 fractures in her vertebrae, a herniated disk in her neck and received 35 sutures to her face.

“After the accident, I didn’t think that I was going to be able to return to school this spring,” said Robinson, who added, “the day I got released from the hospital, I was determined to come back.”

Currently, Robinson isn’t able to drive, work or do much of anything besides just sit. Being at home for her was unbelievably boring and with only 7 credits from graduating, she was determined to walk the stage in May.

Robinson doesn’t want people to feel sorry for her. If someone has questions, she’d prefer they just ask.

She isn’t afraid to tell people that she “was in a car accident and got ejected through the windshield.”

“It changes your outlook on life,” said Robinson of her experience, “you truly don’t appreciate it until it is almost taken from you.”

Additionally, Robinson, who was not driving the car, urges others to “know your surroundings and the people that are driving and to just be careful.”

Although she has had many challenges to deal with in regards to altering her daily routine, problems with forgetting things and trying to focus, she is getting better and stronger every day and is just happy to be alive and back with her Lakeland family.

“I have never noticed how many people really cared about me until this happened,” said Robinson.

She is very thankful for all the love and support she has received over these past few weeks and for everyone that has helped her through these trying times.