PHOENIX — For some, getting run over by a car causing a life-changing brain injury paired with mounting medical bills could change your path in life – that’s not the case for Anthony Webster.
In the over 100-degree Arizona heat back in July of 2017, Webster noticed a woman have a seizure outside the parking lot of a gas station at 83rd Avenue and Camelback road in the west Valley.
“I see she was foaming out the mouth,” said Webster.
He pulled over to call 911 where dispatchers told him to keep the woman’s head up straight while paramedics headed in his direction.
While waiting, Webster said he started directing traffic away from the woman. Once the first fire truck arrived, Webster said all he remembers is turning around and seeing a Dodge Durango.
“I don’t remember anything but waking up in the hospital,” he said.
For the next three weeks, Webster was in a hospital bed healing from multiple injuries he’s mostly recovered from except for one that is still a daily, constant reminder.
“Now I live, for the last four years, with no sense of smell, no sense of taste,” he said.
Four years since the crash that changed his life forever, Webster said he wants to know how that woman who had a seizure is doing.
As for the driver of the Dodge Durango, Webster said in part, “I love you” when asked what he’d say to her today.
He explained the incident lead him to cherish every moment he has and to stay vigilant to his passions and goals.
Despite losing his vital senses, the Valley educator has stayed hungry to mold young minds either in the classroom or through motivational speeches posted online.
He hasn’t missed a beat by writing rap songs for area campuses focused on keeping kids in school and changing the perception that education isn’t worth the time and effort.
Video courtesy: Anthony Webster
The story of how Webster was able to go from a medically induced coma back to the classroom is part of his lesson plans for his students to show adversity can be character-shaping.
That story is still being written as Webster said he’s in pursuit of his doctorate degree with a goal of one day opening his own school.
“I want to finish my education because I’m a teacher and I want to show my students you can do whatever no matter what happens to you,” he said.
Webster posted about the crash and his drive to get his doctorate through a GoFundMe page.