The morning of the day in 2010 that everything changed, my life was on track. I was on my way to getting a law degree and in a happy marriage. I adored my stepson, James, and my husband and I wanted another baby. I was driving on the Monash Freeway when I saw the trees in the median strip shaking wildly. The last thing I remember was seeing the front of a truck. A semi-trailer jackknifed across the median strip on the freeway, crushing my car, trapping me inside.
Everything went black. I was in agonising pain, pinned under the steering wheel with the roof crushed around my head for what seemed like eternity. I recall hearing voices and crying “Help me”. Someone asked for my next of kin. I thought they were coming to say goodbye before I died. I later learned that when emergency services saw the smash they thought they’d be retrieving a body. They considered amputating my arm right there on the freeway.
I remember the moment air and light rushed in when they finally cut the roof off. I thought “I might actually survive this.” After three hours I was prised free of the metal carnage and flown to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital for urgent care.
My injuries were vast and varied. Bleeding on the brain, a broken collarbone, fractured shoulder, severed tendons, broken hand, bulging discs and a haematoma in my leg. I needed multiple surgeries. And that’s just the physical injuries. The psychological harm was severe. I became anxious and fearful and experienced vivid, terrifying flashbacks.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.