Hi There
It was an ordinary day back in September 2010. I was late for a meeting and I was picking up a colleague to take her to the meeting we were due to attend that day.
I was aware that the road was a little wet as there was a quick shower that morning. I had to drive through a small tunnel on the way. I was driving a little faster than normal and I approached the tunnel and started to turn the bend. As I did this my car started to slide around. I tried to keep control of my car and also brake at the same time. I didn't want to roll my car over onto its side. I was aware of a lorry on the other side of the road approaching me but it had stopped on seeing my car out of control.
All I remember was opening my eyes and I felt really awful all over like I had hit a brick wall very hard. I was aware that I couldn't breath properly and I had cuts on my hands. A women banged on the window and I wound down the window to talk to her. She asked if she could call someone for me and I told her the name of the person I was going to meet. She said she knew her and had her number so she called her. I remember that I could reach out my hand and touch the lorry that I had crashed into. I was that close from losing my life. The firemen arrived and began to start to cut open my car. One of them grabbed hold of my head and told me not to move. I was in a lot of pain and then that was all I remember until I came around in hospital and there were a lot of doctors and nurses around me. I remember one doctor saying that I had punctured my liver and that it was bleeding and he had to drain the blood away.
I then came round again and I was in a hospital room and there were needles in both my arms and I had something in my nose to help me breath and one of my fingers had a rubber clip on it to monitor my breathing. My right ankle was wrapped up. I came round again and I saw that they had put a pot onto my ankle. They told me that I had at least 8 broken ribs, I had punctured my liver and I had broken my right ankle very badly and I had to have an operation the day after to put pins in my ankle. I also had cuts and bruises on my hands, arms and my right ankle. I live in France and I was in a French hospital and only a few people could speak English. I did not have any belongings with me and my clothes had been cut off me. A colleague who was at the meeting I was due to attend came to visit me in hospital. I had never been in hospital before, never broken anything or had an operation. I had a button that I could press for morphine for the pain. My colleague offered to bring in some of my clothes and some things to wash with. My colleague told me that it took 1 hour to cut me out of my car and that the firemen were absolutely gorgeous and I missed it because they put me to sleep. I even had a ride in a helicopter that I knew nothing about. I was gutted! She told me that my car was taken to a garage and it was in a mess. She told me not to go and see it because it would just upset me so I never did. My car was a Nissan Xtrail that I loved dearly. I also lost my mobile in the accident. Luckily something made me write out all the numbers that I had in my phone just in case anything happened a few months before. I was also told that there had been a spill of diesel on the road where I had my accident and there were no signs up. After my accident signs were put up about diesel on the road.
The care I received in hospital was excellent. I was on a high dependency ward for a week so the nurses checked on me regularly. When I was being washed one morning the nurse asked what I had done to myself. I told her and that I had arrived at hospital in a helicopter but I didn't remember any of it. She said to me "that was you" she sounded shocked. They must have got a message to say how bad the accident was. She told me that I was very lucky to be alive.
I truly believe that my guardian angel saved me that day. The driver of the lorry came to see me in hospital and sent me flowers and was very concerned about me. He told my colleague that he had a man in the lorry next to him. He had survived pancreatic cancer and he said that an angel saved him just like an angel saved me! The driver of the lorry is called Ben and as soon as I saw him we had an instant connection. I also met my soul mate in the accident! It was a violent way to meet my soul mate but that's how the universe wanted it to be. He asked me to go out with him when I came out of hospital. I told him that I had to crash into him to get his attention. He told me that next time just ask him and he will say yes.
I was soon the talk of the ward as I was English in a French hospital. The nurses liked to come and tend to me so they could speak English and learn new words. One day I was visited by an English women. She told me that her son had been in a climbing accident and had broken his leg and his shoulder. She was giving him round the clock attention. I had heard someone going past my door every day in high heeled shoes but thought that it was a member of staff. She gave me some DVD's to watch and some magazines. She came in to see me regularly that week and it was very good of her to do that.
I was taken down to the operating theatre and had to wait outside. The doctor who was going to operate on me showed me my ankle in 3D. I could not work out which part went where, I was shocked. He said he would do his best to put my ankle back together for me. One of the nurses said that he was an excellent surgeon. He has done an excellent job and I am so grateful to him. I will have problems with my ankle for the rest of my life and I cannot bend it as much as before. If I walk around to much at work during the day it starts to hurt me. I have got used to it now.
I moved to another ward after a week as I no longer needed round the clock attention. The women came to see me once when I moved to say goodbye. Her son was being flown back to the UK to attend hospital there and carry on his treatment.
I am just so grateful for my life and I live each day as it comes and make the most of every day.
I was in hospital for 3 weeks because there was risk of a blood clot in my liver. I had to have regular blood tests and scans to check everything was ok in my liver. Fortunately everything was good and I had no bleeding and no problems. I could not sit up properly or get out of bed for 3 weeks. I found it very hard the last week as I felt really well. I was allowed to get out of bed and walk with a frame. It was hard hoping around on one leg but it was good to be able to go to the bathroom and have a shower sat on a chair. Two weeks of bed baths was taking its toll! I was a professional on the use of a bed pan by the end of the two weeks. I had a room to myself which was great. I also had a screen where I could watch French TV and go on the internet. I spent a lot of time on You Tube watching Only Fools and Horses and anything I could think of to watch. French TV was not very good! It was good because I could send e-mails to keep in touch with people while I was in hospital. All the nurses were friendly and caring to me.
The after effects of the accident were very upsetting for me as I was having nightmares about the accident. They call it post traumatic stress disorder. I was asked if I wanted some help and a guy visited me who did tapping healing. I had not come across it before. He came to see me with an interpreter who spoke English to translate for me. He would tap the tops of my ankles and my knees and he would sway his hands in front of my eyes and I had to follow his hands. It really did help. He also gave me some herbal tablets for my bruising. After each session he asked me how far away the accident was. Every time he visited it went further away. He really helped me and I didn't get upset as much.
My mother and father flew over for a week for my second week in hospital. I am glad that they didn't see me the first week with so many needles in my arms and attached to the heart monitor machine. It really helped me to heal to have them visit me every day for a week.
The hospital food was not that bad and most of the meals very palatable. I got very fond of eating natural yoghurt and pureed fruit. I still have it to this day. My favourite puree is apple and mango with no added sugar of course!
Three years on and I sometimes think about that day but I don't get as upset about it anymore. I think now that if I can survive that then I can survive anything now! My scars are a reminder of how strong a person I have become.
Thank you for reading!
Has anyone else had a similar experience, I would love to hear about your story.
Be blessed Everyone!
Andrea Howard
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