DPHS Teacher Survives Car Accident

On Friday, September 4th, 2015, DPHS English teacher Dana Kato, was in a car accident which led to a one-night hospital stay and a neck injury. She was heading home after school that day, leaving South campus and heading to the Beltway. “Out of the corner of my eye I saw a silver colored vehicle heading straight at me. It hits me near the divider between my door and the back passenger door. I guess at that point I blacked out,” Kato said. She was taken by ambulance to Bayshore Medical Center. There the doctors noticed a broken vertebrae in her neck that could of led to breathing issues and/or paralyzation if not treated right. The doctors decided to life-flight her to Hermann-Memorial Hospital for more exams. She spent one night in the Level 1 Trauma unit where doctors ran more test and exams to see the extent of her injuries. After a long night, Kato was released from the hospital after being fitted with a new collar, which she has to wear all day for the next seven weeks to keep the movement of her neck to a minimum while she heals.

After the events of that day, she thought over what happened to her and what she could have done differently. ” I will be more cautious about intersections from now on. It’s really not enough to just worry about your driving,” She will forever wonder, if she had just been a few minutes earlier, could of it all been avoided. Its going to take some time for her to get back on the road. Usually drivers who have been involved in a serious accidents do suffer from anxiety when getting behind the wheel. Hopefully with time Mrs. Kato will get back to some sense of normalcy.