After nearly losing her life in a drunk driving accident, Ashley decides it’s time to live an open, honest life. Ashley explains:

Having that self destructive life, led to almost killing myself, unintentionally, but, you know, driving on an interstate at 70 miles per hour, no seat belt and flying across four lanes and not hitting anyone else, and surviving – if that’s not a wake up call, I don’t know what is.

Continue Reading to watch Ashley’s story.

I’m Ashley Jackson. I grew up in Brandon, Mississippi. I live in Jackson, Mississippi now.

I was seeing a woman when I was 21. She was a good bit older than me. But I was telling myself I’m not really gay, I just like her as a person. And I was seeing a guy at the same time. They both knew about each other, but I was kind of going through the motions with him obviously. I really cared for her but it was a very unhealthy relationship.

On my birthday, which is Christmas Eve, I had been out with friends, and they were buying me shots and it was great. The girl I was seeing came to one of the bars I was at and she said, “Oh I’m going to take you to see a friend, it’s going to be great.” And I was like, “Uhh, I’m really close to home, I’ve been drinking a lot, I should just go home.” And she was like “No” and convinced me, so I went with her and we ended up having a huge argument because she was upset that I was seeing the guy and I ended up attempting to drive myself home, which I should not have done.

You know, I was like, “yeah people get in accidents, they have DUI’s, but that’s not going to happen to me, that happens to those other people that are complete idiots, and you know – that won’t happen.” I passed out, driving on the interstate. I was not wearing a seat belt and I fell in to the passenger seat as I was driving and I remember telling myself, “Okay, Ashley, you’re driving, you need to get up.”

And when I did that, I used my left hand on the wheel as leverage to pull myself up and did that and I jerked the car to the left and went over four lanes on the interstate and smashed into a concrete guard rail. I don’t know how long I was there. I don’t know who found me. But I ended up in the hospital for over a week. I had shattered my left ankle. I had fifty plus stitches in my face and had to move back in with my mom.

It was easy to drink all the time and that was one thing I could control in my life – I couldn’t, you know, control the feelings I had for women, I couldn’t control what other people would think about me being in a relationship with a woman, but I could drink and that made me fun, and that made it easier to date guys, or to be in reckless relationships, and unprotected sex and being promiscuous, and all of these things.

Having that self destructive life, led to almost killing myself, unintentionally, but, you know, driving on an interstate at 70 miles per hour, no seat belt and flying across four lanes and not hitting anyone else, and surviving – if that’s not a wake up call, I don’t know what is. I realized I was hiding from who I was born to be and I couldn’t do that anymore. I couldn’t live my life for other people anymore. And I told myself, “Okay, you’re gay.”