‘There's always hope'- PAULINE'S SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE

A FREAK ACCIDENT CHANGED HER LIFE – BUT SHE DIDN’T LET IT BEAT HER

- Fleur Guthrie

Embarking on a three-week European journey – which included travelling through Russia in a minibus at the height of the Cold War – was to be the trip of a lifetime for Kiwi Pauline Stansfield.

But it became unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.

It was May 1969 and the qualified nurse had left Auckland a year earlier to work at the Royal Free Hospital in London.

She was excited to sign up for an adventure holiday exploring the sights of Moscow, Warsaw and Prague.

On the third morning of the group tour, the then-30year-old was dozing at the back of the minivan, having not slept particularly well the previous night while camping on hard Russian ground in Novgorod.

“Our van was on its way to Moscow when there was a terrifying noise as the vehicle spun across the road, somersaulted a couple of times and rolled down the bank,” recalls Pauline, who believes the front suspension of the older vehicle had suddenly fractured.

“I thought, ‘This is the end of me,’ as I was thrown forward and back as the van tumbled, because, of course, there were no seatbelts.”

The vehicle landed upside down in a marshy swamp and Pauline lay there with no feeling in her legs. She knew instantly that she was paralysed. No-one else appeared to be badly hurt.

“The driver ordered me to climb down through the window but I couldn’t do that. Not only had I broken my back, I’d broken seven ribs. It was very painful to breathe and excruciating to be lifted,” she says, wincing at the memory.

“Correct early care is fundamental to any recovery of the spinal cord and I had the very worst of early care. An ambulance should have been called and I should have been strapped onto a stretcher to keep my spine in alignment.