I woke up this morning thinking about all those people who are 'stuck in bed' through no fault of their own. I remember it well, being told I would never walk again.
It was August bank holiday 1986 and we had been to a pub in Nefyn North Wales for dinner to celebrate a friends birthday, I was 20 years old full of hope at what life had in store for me. On the journey home my boyfriend at the time was driving quickly and in my opinion showing off a little to his friends who we were in convoy with back to a friends chalet. In a split second my life was to change forever. Unbeknown to me we had hit a stone wall at a high speed and the front of the car was completely embedded in the wall. Most of the impact was on my side of the car, the seat I was in detached itself from its position and I was thrown unforgivably forward to meet the dashboard and all the horrors that came with it.
It took the fire brigade around an hour to cut me out of the wreckage and at this point what once was my pretty face was like something out of a horror movie. My skin was split open, my eye was perforated and had collapsed and the entire right side of my face was crushed. I didn't realise that I would unable to walk as my lower spine was crushed badly too.
I was carted off to Bangor hospital without delay with a slim chance of survival, fortunately for me I have a real fighting instinct inside me that was destined to keep me alive at this crucial point in the proceedings!
After a life saving nine and a half hour operation to repair broken bones in my face and 7 days in intensive care, experiencing a flat line and an out of body experience I survived against all odds and today after 27 operations to rebuild and reconstruct my face I live on to tell the tale! One thing I will never forget is lying for days and days and months in that same hospital bed with bed sores, bed pans and daytime TV from a small portable TV my parents had brought in for me to watch to relieve the boredom, wondering how I would ever be able to face people with such a devastating facial disfigurement and start my life again with a completely new identity and possibly unable to ever walk again ...... I was one of the lucky ones and with sheer determination and incredible resilience I learnt to walk properly again within 12 months with the aid of an very uncomfortable metal back/body brace.
For all those people 'stuck in bed' my thoughts are with you and don't forget sharing your journey and your experiences may just help others to cope in their darker days of being 'stuck in bed'!
Love from someone who did survive it and is very grateful to be alive!!
xxx
