Transport Accident Commission (TAC)
Your Voice
TAC clients sharing their stories and information
Edition 8: June 2011
In this edition:
· Victorians’ attitudes to speed
· Cyclist: Greg back to work
· Driver: Maria will walk again
· Firefighter: Rob at the scene of an accident
Attitudes to speed
In this issue of Your Voice, we meet three clients who have been involved in, or witnessed, road accidents in which speed was a factor. Their stories show how dramatically a split second can change someone’s life.
Their stories coincide with new findings from research into the attitudes of Victorian drivers which show that many people think it’s okay to speed. The findings, from the latest TAC Road Safety Monitor, show that 39 per cent of people think exceeding the speed limit by 5km/h in a 100km/h zone is acceptable.
Meanwhile, 21 per cent think going 5km/h over the limit in a 60km/h zone is okay, and 90 per cent of motorists surveyed said they thought it was okay to drive at least 1km/h over the limit.
More than half of all respondents admitted that they were likely to speed at least sometimes in 100km/h zones.
Regional and male motorists appeared to be even more relaxed about speed limits, with both demographics showing higher incidences of speeding.
The TAC estimates that 30 per cent of all road deaths and serious injuries can be attributed to speed, costing the Victorian community about $1 billion each year.
Small changes in speed can result in significant reductions in road trauma. For example, in average conditions, a car travelling at 60km/h will take about 45 metres to stop in an emergency braking situation. A car braking from 65km/h will still be travelling close to 32km/h after 45 metres travelled. Research undertaken by Professor Jack McLean of the NHMRC Road Accident Research Unit of the University of Adelaide has shown:
• The risk of involvement in a casualty crash doubles with each 5km/h increase in free travelling speed above 60km/h and
• A 5km/h reduction in speed could result in a decrease of at least 15% in the number of crashes.
Greg
Up and about again
I was cycling in Melbourne when my accident happened. As I rounded a corner to join a bike lane, I heard a car coming behind me. It felt like it was getting too close so I moved into a bus lane to get out of its way. What I didn’t know was the car was one of two jostling to move into a merge lane. One of the cars ended up driving into the bus lane to avoid a collision and it subsequently hit me from behind. I was pinned up against the car and thrown to the ground.
Unfortunately, the car drove off and I was left dazed and confused. I tried to pick myself up but realised I was in a bad way. I had a broken arm and two smashed up knees. Some of my teeth were broken and I had a lot of cuts and bruises.
Ironically, I had taken up cycling on the advice of my doctor because I’d been suffering from mild anxiety and panic attacks since my parents died within weeks of each other. My doctor advised me to exercise to help overcome these feelings. My accident happened two weeks after I started exercising.
After the accident, I had countless operations. My job as a technical advisor at Nestlé was obviously put on hold during my recovery. I was in and out of hospital twice and had bad panic attacks while I was there. After I was discharged, I recovered at home for about three months and found that I healed much quicker physically than I did mentally. I was afraid to leave the house. I had my weekly routine of physiotherapy and doctors’ appointments, but I was afraid. My friends and medical professionals encouraged me to get out of the house, but it was tough because of the threat of having a panic attack.
My friends were very supportive. They would come and visit and offer to drive me places. I did manage to get out and about. One day I was at Mentone train station and I had a bad panic attack. I called a friend and he came to collect me. On the trip home, he gave me some advice about how I could ‘get back out’ into the world again. He was right. I did need to get back out into the world.
My return to work was shortlived. I was there for one week before I was forced to go back into hospital to have surgery on my broken arm which hadn’t healed properly. I eventually returned to work, but then one of my knees started giving me trouble. My physiotherapist ordered me a knee brace but it didn’t fit properly. All these setbacks really shook my confidence. But my Rehabilitation Coordinator, Sophie, was great and helped me get the right knee brace.
I really wouldn’t be this far along in my recovery without the help of Sophie, my doctors and my friends. I’ve now increased my hours at Nestlé and I’m helping out at a family friend’s health food store which I love. I feel like I’ve adapted to my workplace and learnt a lot about looking after myself. I’ve started making the changes I need to lose weight, get fit and travel overseas in the future. I’m also back riding my bike which is great. Meet Greg’s Rehabilitation Coordinator, Sophie, on page 6.
Maria
Taking it one day at a time
In June last year, I was involved in a collision on the Goulburn Valley Highway, just outside Seymour. My daughter was with me in the car.
A car was heading straight towards us on our side of the road, so I swerved unsuccessfully to miss it. We were hit on my side of the car. The accident left my daughter needing five stitches under her knee. My injuries, however, were more substantial. I have a long list of them.
I really can’t remember much after my accident. I was in The Alfred for more than three weeks and had seven operations in the first 10 days. The first operation was to stop internal bleeding, the rest were more gradual repairs for my sternum, leg and pelvis among other things.
I’m in a wheelchair at the moment and, until recently, had been recovering at the North East Rehabilitation Centre. My days at rehab were filled with a range of activities, including physiotherapy and hydrotherapy.
I really missed being away from my family. I have four girls, including a 16-year-old with a disability. She had to be put in respite care while I was in rehab, but the good thing was she was able to come and visit me.
The centre was great because I didn’t feel like I was in a hospital situation. I was overwhelmed when I had my first outing from the centre because that’s where I felt safe. Even the prospect of going home seemed daunting.
But being at rehab really helped prepare me to go home. I forgot how hard it was to get around in a wheelchair, and I’ve been taught how to shop, how to cook and how to move around the house while in a wheelchair.
My progress is slow, but it really helps knowing that I will one day be able to walk again. I just want to get better so I’m taking it one day at a time. I really can’t wait to be able to do things for myself instead of depending on other people all the time.
Before the accident, my family and I had talked about moving to Rosebud. We still plan to do that once all my therapies are finished. I’m really looking forward to it.
Rob
Appreciating the gift of life
After reading Jacob Fry’s story in the October 2010 issue of Your Voice, I felt many emotions stir up in me. I was a firefighter who helped Jacob in the vital minutes after his accident when he was being treated and removed from what was left of his mangled vehicle.
I can empathise with Jacob’s story, not only because I was at the scene but because I was also involved in an accident in April 2009. I know how a car crash can turn your world upside down and I know how long it can take to recover. But my accident is a story for another time. This is an opportunity to reflect on the emotions an emergency service worker can feel when attending an accident, especially when the victim is a close family friend. The scene I confronted the night of Jacob’s accident had a profound affect on me. My family has a close relationship with Jacob’s family.
I can still remember jumping out of the truck and feeling shocked when I recognised Jacob’s car. It was the state of the car, with the front completely gone and engine laying 100 metres away, which sent a chill down my spine.
Jacob had a head on collision with a 60-tonne quarry truck. The truck lost its front right wheel on impact and the whole front end collapsed as it careened across the road. The driver of the truck was clearly in shock, sitting on the ground with his head in his hands.
As I looked at Jacob’s pale form inside the vehicle, my heart sank. I made a call to his parents, Paul and Linda, to let them know I was with their son. They had already learnt of the accident and were understandably distraught. In spite of my hopes and positive thinking, I prepared myself for the possibility that Jacob might not make it through.
As I looked on, the ambulance officers certainly had their hands full. Keeping Jacob alive long enough to free him from the wreckage was going to be a challenge in itself. With Jacob still trapped inside the wreckage, his right leg was protruding at an impossible angle where the door had once been. My first thought was that he needed a leg amputation. His severe internal injuries became more apparent as the minutes passed.
The ambulance officers were busy keeping Jacob alive while rescue workers tried to free him from the vehicle. At this point, my task was critical. Jacob needed fluids as fast as I could get them into him. As I continued working on emptying the first saline bag, I couldn’t believe how quickly Jacob was soaking up the fluid, particularly because there was no obvious external bleeding. Although it was during the third bag of saline fluid that Jacob began to crash, his blood pressure plummeted and the ambulance officers had to work intensely to stabilise him. I glanced at my watch. It had been 25 minutes since I arrived on the scene. Jacob had gone quiet and we were concerned. “Come on Jacob, stay with us,” I thought.
As I changed over the second last saline bag someone yelled “He’s out!”. SES workers had managed to free his badly injured right leg. His body was then straightened and a spine board put under him. The process of moving him onto a trolley took a painfully long time but finally he was free from the wreckage. He was wheeled to a waiting ambulance with at least eight of us surrounding him because he was still losing blood at a dangerous rate.
The air ambulance landed in a paddock not far from the wreckage. Once the ambulance officers settled Jacob, I knew I had done all I could. As I took a few steps back and watched the ambulance close its doors, I felt a great relief to have him finally on his way to The Alfred hospital.
I doubted Jacob was aware of what was happening around him and just hoped he would make it to the hospital alive. At the time we all thought that if Jacob survived, he faced a long, hard road to recovery, but after all he went through, we are so grateful he did survive. Jacob endured intensive and critical care, countless surgeries and physiotherapy. He is a remarkable young man with a great zest for life and his recovery was amazingly rapid. Jacob’s courage astounds everyone who knows him and there is no doubt in my mind that his accident has brought our community closer together.
If you missed Jacob’s story in the last issue of Your Voice, visit www.tac.vic.gov.au and select ‘Client information’ and ‘Client newsletters’.
Did you know?
The SES:
• Attends about 1,200 road accident rescues every year?
• Has 101 units accredited for road accident rescue?
• Is one of the biggest single agency accredited providers of road accident rescue services in the world?
Sophie
Hi. My name is Sophie. I am a Rehabilitation Coordinator at the TAC. I started working with Greg about six months after his accident. Greg was enthusiastic and determined to make a recovery that exceeded his treating practitioner’s expectations. I encouraged Greg to contact me anytime he needed, and almost every time I spoke with him, he had achieved or exceeded a new goal in his recovery.
I engaged a vocational provider to help Greg return to work after he told me that being at home was "driving him mad". Greg’s knee was a big concern when he first returned to work. He felt it was weak and was afraid to move around too much in case he fell. We ordered him a knee brace but the wrong one arrived which didn’t help matters. After speaking with his physiotherapist, I arranged for him to receive the right brace.
Having that brace helped Greg’s confidence because his return to work hadn’t gone as smoothly as he would have liked. But this was a breakthrough, allowing him to gradually build up his hours, do some volunteer work at a friend’s health store and get back on his bike.
He has returned to his pre-accident role and is gradually increasingly his working hours. I’ve really enjoyed playing an active role in helping Greg get back to his regular routine.
Sophie Peedle
Rehabilitation Coordinator
A poem from a TAC client
Pain is not my friend
Pain is not my friend, it comes each
morning when I wake
Pain starts in my neck and goes
through to both sides of my head
Pain pressures my eyes
No I am not dying of cancer,
no I am not on drugs nor do I have a hangover
Pain is not my friend when it comes stalking
through the day
It grabs me when I am walking, and trying to sleep
Pain rips in so the nausea rises
Pain takes its time to go
In the fifth month after a car accident, pain
is still a constant visitor
Pain stops me reading,
makes me lose the focus to do my job.
Pain makes me angry and irritable.
I have not lost an arm or a leg
You cannot see the scars
Pain from a car accident can stay forever
Think when you drive
and pain may not be your friend.