Sara Gullickson doesn't remember much about April 29.

Her family and friends have kept her informed.

Gullickson says it's for the best that most events from that day are blocked out. She'd rather not remember.

Gullickson, who will be a sophomore at Valley City State, has recovered from a nasty car accident which happened on that date.

She's in town this weekend to play in the McQuade Softball Tournament. Gullickson is a member of Valley City Boomer's Corner Keg, a women's Rec I team.

"I had no scars from the accident," Gullickson said.

Even though Gullickson has no permanent physical marks from the accident, that doesn't mean she didn't go through an ordeal.

On that day, Gullickson was driving from Valley City State in her white 2002 Pontiac Grand Am to her home in Spiritwood. Earlier in the day she had completed a shift at the Spiritwood Sportsmen's, a bar/cafe.

Gullickson is a Barnes County North graduate and is majoring in elementary education at VCSU, where she's a second baseman/shortstop on the women's fastpitch softball team.

Gullickson remembers that it was raining on April 29. She remembers swerving to avoid hitting a goose on Interstate 94.

After that, Gullickson doesn't remember anything until she woke up from a comma nine days later. The only information Gullickson can relay is what she has heard from third parties.

Gullickson, who was wearing her seat belt, lost control of her car while swerving and went backward into Hobbart Lake. Her car was submerged in about 11 feet of water for about 32 minutes. Her car was totaled.

"They called me 'the miracle.' You can really live after being underwater for 32 minutes. Six minutes is the tops. It was just so cold that it shut down my whole body. That's why I survived this."

Gullickson remembers nothing about trying to get out of her vehicle.

"I grabbed my phone and I called my mom saying I couldn't get out,"Gullickson said. "I was in the backseat when they found me because there was an air bubble back there. The front of the car was going down."

A gentleman from Bismarck saw the incident and unsuccessfully tried to pull Gullickson out of her car. The water was too cold, and he couldn't get out to her. The man then called for help. Gullickson doesn't know the name of the man who helped her.

"There were other people behind me who tried (helping)," Gullickson said.

Gullickson was brought to a hospital in Valley City and was later transferred to Fargo, where she spent time in ICU.

Gullickson had water in her lungs. Her white blood cell count was so high that it was toxic, and she developed pneumonia. Gullickson also suffered from anoxia, a lack of oxygen to the brain.

While she was in her comma, Gullickson said a probe was put in her head to relieve the pressure.

Gullickson said she hasn't suffered any long-term memory loss.

"When I woke up I remember my dad sitting there,"Gullickson said. "I have a niece, and one of her toy horses was in my hands. I was confused. They didn't tell me what happened for awhile. They just said I was in an accident. They didn't want me to freak out. "

After Gullickson came out of her comma, she started physical, occupational and speech therapy. She was released from the hospital the end of May about 20 pounds lighter and continued with her therapy in Valley City.

"I could barely walk,"Gullickson said. "I had to concentrate hard to not fall over. My brain couldn't process it all, and laying in bed for that long. My muscles weren't working quite yet."

Gullickson, who has always been serious about her school work, got a break from her VCSU teachers, who didn't make her take final exams. Gullickson was allowed to keep the grade she earned in each class before the accident. She received all A's, except one B.

Gullickson remembers coming back home on a Thursday and had 150 visitors on Friday. Another 100 visited on Saturday.

"It has really made my family a lot closer than it was,"Gullickson said. "It helped that people cared that much about me."

Gullickson now drives her new Pontiac G6 by the accident site almost every day and thinks about it every time.

"I'm more cautious about things when I drive," she said. "I'm constantly occupied on everything. Every time I drive by there, there's a goose in the water."