Maria's Story
As we approach another Mother’s Day I am once again reminded how lucky I am to be able to hug my beautiful children.
It’s almost three years since my accident and James, my husband, finds it difficult to talk about it even now.
James was the one who found me. He heard the ‘bang’ and rushed out of our unit to find me lying in the middle of the road, our daughter Sophia crying.
It was a Monday morning, three days before Sophia’s first birthday. Not much of a birthday for her, her mother hit by a reversing ute, Sophia landing in the back.
That’s not what I remember, of course. I remember kissing James goodbye - just part of our usual morning routine. Then nothing more.
That Monday was to be anything but routine.
“Why are you people keeping me here?”
I’m the first to admit I’m ‘vertically challenged’, a polite way of saying I’m short! So as I stepped out with Sophia in my arms to cross the road, the ute that had just passed us couldn’t see me over the pile of grass clippings in the back. Certain the road was clear, I stepped out to cross, oblivious to the ute as it reversed back around the corner.
The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital. I wanted to know why I wasn’t at the meeting I had scheduled for that morning.
“Why are you people keeping me here, and where’s Sophia?”
They told me to touch my head. When I did, I was shocked. It had been split open and I was terribly bruised all across my chest and abdomen.
CareFlight sprinted the 150 metres up the road
I now know what happened during those missing hours.
The grass clippings that obscured the driver’s view saved Sophia’s life. As the vehicle hit me, she flew into the air and landed gently on the cuttings. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that she was completely unharmed. But her crying alerted James.
At CareFlight, it was 7.20 in the morning. Dr Rob Bartolacci and the team were in the air just a few minutes after the ‘000’ call. The area was packed with peak hour traffic, traditionally a very busy intersection. You can barely get two sets of rush hour traffic through it. CareFlight landed a chopper.
Rob and the crew sprinted the 150 metres up the road to where I was lying. I was unconscious but aggressive and having a fit. The ambulance officers at the scene could do nothing. Rob and his team had to put me into a coma so they could work on me.
I’m told it’s not the initial injury that’s the problem, but the subsequent damage to the brain: low oxygen levels, low blood pressure and CO2 building up. Rob knew that he needed to get me, and my breathing, under control. If he couldn’t, there was a real risk of permanent brain damage. Speed of treatment would be the key to my survival.
Eventually, the CareFlight team stabilised me and we took off at 8am, less than an hour after the accident. The fact that the emergency medical care started when CareFlight arrived at the scene, and not when I reached the hospital an hour later, is the only reason I can write to you now.
It could have been so much worse
I can’t say my recovery has been easy. Not only was my head split open, but the whiplash compressed my spine and damaged the nerves in my neck.
When I left hospital, my mum had to come and stay. The damaged nerves made it difficult to control my hand-eye coordination. I couldn’t do the simplest things like change Sophia’s nappies or wipe down the kitchen bench.
It could have been so much worse.
This Mother’s Day, as Sophia and our other two children hand me a card, I’ll just be glad I’m still here to receive it. And that CareFlight were there to save me.
Every mission costs thousands of dollars
We were given the very best emergency medical care. This care was given at the scene of the accident, not minutes or hours later - thanks to the generous support of people like you.
I’m living proof of the remarkable work that CareFlight does. The price of a life is worth so much, yet they ask for so little.
Please give what you can. A few dollars, a few hundred or a few thousand. Lives will be changed forever.
I hope my story has lifted your spirits - it’s not a sad story, but one of triumph - of what can be achieved by CareFlight, and by your helping to keep them in the air.
This Mother’s Day, I’ll take a moment to think of CareFlight and give thanks. I hope you’ll take a moment, now, to think of the lifesaving work they do, and how you can help.
Maria
Thankful mother and wife
PS I can’t change what happened to me. But you can make sure CareFlight will be there for other innocent victims of accidents. Please give what you can. Thank you.
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