{"id":2297,"date":"2017-10-27T20:37:48","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T20:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commarts.pleather.us\/2017\/10\/27\/the-unedited-storycorps-interview-rachael-tsukayama-susan-aberg\/"},"modified":"2017-10-27T20:37:48","modified_gmt":"2017-10-27T20:37:48","slug":"the-unedited-storycorps-interview-rachael-tsukayama-susan-aberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.valdosta.edu\/m2\/2017\/10\/27\/the-unedited-storycorps-interview-rachael-tsukayama-susan-aberg\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unedited StoryCorps Interview: Rachael Tsukayama & Susan Aberg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know that the\u00a0stories\u00a0you hear from us on NPR<\/a>\u00a0and our\u00a0podcast<\/a>\u00a0are excerpts of interviews pulled from the StoryCorps Archive? Participants visit one of our\u00a0recording locations<\/a>\u00a0with a friend or family member to record a 40-minute interview with the help of a trained StoryCorps Facilitator, or record a conversation using the\u00a0StoryCorps App<\/a>. We\u2019re sharing this unedited interview from the StoryCorps Archive with you in its original form.<\/em><\/p>\n

In this interview recorded at the San Francisco StoryBooth, Susan Aberg talks with Rachael Tsukayama about a terrible accident she had on a Hawaiian hiking trail.<\/p>\n

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The trip began as a tranquil retreat, with days spent snorkeling and swimming with sea tortoises. But not long before it drew to a close, a short hike quickly morphed into a violent free-fall down a cliffside precipice. \u201cOne or two seconds is all it took to go thirty-five or forty feet off the trail\u2026 I felt like I was going in slow-motion, and I thought I was dying. There was no doubt that I was not going to survive this, because I was going head-first off the trail,\u201d Aberg recalls.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually Aberg tumbled into a brush of tropical foliage that broke her fall. \u201cIt seemed so wonderful that I thought, \u2018Is this heaven?\u2019\u201d she says. She survived with a broken finger and five fractures in her shoulder, but the fall most impacted her outlook on life. \u201cI feel in a way the accident was a gift,\u201d she says, \u201cI\u2019ve learned empathy and patience. I\u2019ve re-imagined what my life could become.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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