The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net 

Paquell Butterfield has two birthdays – one that marks the date of her birth and the other which signifies an awakening that changed her life.

Paquell is a student, author, motivational speaker and former beauty pageant contestant. But since surviving a near fatal car crash in 2010, she is also a traumatic brain injury survivor.

At the time of the accident, Paquell was a 24-year-old woman who struggled with her identity and with who she really wanted be. All of that the changed when she woke from a five-week coma after the crash.

Following her brush with death, Paquell became intent on rediscovering her true self and sharing this message with others. 

For this reason she has penned her first book, “KopyKat: Take Time to Find Yourself”, which is expected to be released on October 12. It chronicles her journey so far and seeks to remind readers that they are uniquely made by God.

“For most of my life I did my best to fit in by following the order of the day. I simply fell in line; this kept the peace. Keeping the peace externally made me unhappy and not at peace internally because I wasn’t being true to me. At one point, however, I did follow a dream of mine, which was simply to become a 2008 Miss Bahamas Universe beauty pageant contestant. I didn’t win and that’s fine because I wasn’t prepared to represent the Bahamas internationally at that time. Rather, it was about fulfilling a dream of mine and no one’s dream for me. The fulfillment of that dream was the start of my journey,” she said. 

As a pageant contestant, Paquell there were several demands that weighed on her, including the feeling of having to be perfect all the time.

Her life became all about achieving and maintaining perfection, and the material things in life. She lost sight on who she was. 

“For me, seeing that I struggled with low self-esteem up to this point, I began making everything about this image – the image of perfection. What do I want people to see? Like you may be doing now, I was hiding behind this image. The real me was lost, confused, hurt, angry, wanted to be loved and accepted. I, however, showed people a strong female who could do a lot of things, just like the guys,” she said. 

For 24 years of her life, Paquell said, she merely existed; she was a “kopykat”.

That all changed with the car crash. That incident caused an instantaneous and tremendous change in her life. The now 30-year-old woman said following the accident it was as if God had “placed a transplant on my heart”.  

“Once I was awake physically, I spent a period from 2011 to 2015 learning, travelling lots for medical assistance,and therapy. I had to go back to basics; learning to write, speak, walk, and mature mentally and emotionally – just like a baby. In essence, I had a second chance at life where I learned how to live with the new version of myself. This was not easy because I found myself still holding on to the old me, doing everything I could to live the life I had planned for myself through society,” she said.  

Today, Paquell said she is fully awake spiritually, mentally and physically. She hopes others are able to have the kind of joy one can only experience when one discovers their true self.

“I’m fully awake, and what woke me was when I stopped fighting sleep. I stopped fighting between being at peace with the world and myself. I chose to live in harmony with the new life I had received. This makes me ‘rebellious’ because I refuse to be boxed in. I have a life to live, dreams to pursue, principles to live by and a mind of my own,” she said. 

“KopyKat” is available at Amazon and Barnes & Nobles. Hard copies of the book can be purchased directly from the author by e-mailing info@paquellbutterfield.com.