One-percent of people who tear their carotid artery survive.

Matthew Schell, senior speech communications major, became part of that 1 percent during his return from the Oklahoma City airport Dec. 23.

“I got about 30 miles from the Missouri-Oklahoma state line and I hit some black ice. There was a semi that broke down on the side of the road,” Schell said.

Schell said his car did a 360 into a wall on the Oklahoma Turnpike before sliding under the semi. Half of the roof was ripped off of his car, and the other half caved in on him.

Rescuers took two hours to cut Schell out from under the semi. Schell was sent to Miami, Okla., before eventually ending up in a Tulsa hospital.

“I remember one specific incident where I was conscious for just a brief moment in Miami and they had my parents on the phone,” Shell said. “They put the phone up to my ear and, I remember my dad; he never shows emotion, he’s one of these men that just doesn’t show emotion. He’s one of these hard manly men, and I remember hearing him cry on the phone.”

Schell underwent several surgeries and had a rod placed in his arm before being sent home.

“I’d definitely say that was the hardest part,” Schell said, “because that’s when I was in the wheelchair. I wasn’t mobile and I couldn’t do everything I wanted to do. I couldn’t even help myself. I couldn’t even put my own shoes on.”

Schell’s friends also noticed his difficulty with the situation.

“I think he was having a hard time stopping,” said Misty Bradley, freshman international business major. “He wasn’t used to having to rest as often or having to sit in a wheelchair.”

When Schell got back home it was time for school to start.

“They told me originally that they wanted me to sit the semester out, and then I begged the doctor enough to where he’d let me come,” Schell said.

Schell had originally enrolled for 18 hours this semester, but dropped to 13 hours. He said Missouri Southern has been accommodating.

“I would say that this semester I have the best professors I’ve ever had in the four years I’ve been in college,” Schell said. “They really seem to care, and they’re working with me to get everything done, to get caught up so I can do well and keep scholarships.”

One weekend while getting ready for bed, Schell experienced what he said would be another scare for his friends and family, as well as himself.

“All of the sudden out of both of my nostrils, I started bleeding streams bigger than my pinkie. Just huge massive amounts of blood,” he said.

Schell was taken to a hospital in Monett and was later wheeled out to his car after the doctors told him that blood in his sinus was draining.

“When I was going back to the wheelchair and started bleeding a second time, I really thought I was dead,” Schell said.

Schell said he had little time to think before passing out.

“As soon as I sat down in that wheelchair, my eyes just kind of went black and then my hearing was just like someone turned the volume down on a stereo; then I just passed out,” Schell said.

At St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, it was discovered that Schell’s carotid artery, the main artery from the heart to the brain, had been torn.

“He was in pretty bad shape. He was trying to stay up-beat about everything,” said Philip Corn, senior business major and Schell’s roommate.

Doctors found a carotid artery specialist in Little Rock and had Schell travel there.

“When I got there, they had to go in through my groin area, up that artery through my heart, and they had to coil off my artery,” Schell said.

After physical therapy, Schell began walking again.

“I didn’t have to rely on anyone else,” he said. “I could get there myself. It was probably the best feeling in the world.”

Doctors told Schell that he could begin activities like living in the residence hall and driving in March.

“I want to drive my new car. My parents bought me a 2003 Honda Accord and I have not been able to drive it yet. I’m ready to drive it because, even though the wreck happened, I’m not afraid to get in a car now,” Schell said.

Looking back, he recalled a visit to a local psychic before winter break.

The psychic told Schell that he would go through a difficult time at the end of December and the beginning of January.

“It’s kind of ironic how that part happened, but I don’t believe her because more bad stuff happened at the end of January, so she’s a fake,” Schell said.

Bradley said Schell’s condition is improving, but the incident didn’t change his personality.

“He’s still as stubborn as he always was,” Bradley said. “He hates being helped.”