Centre for Road Trauma Recovery

The tenth of March 2000 was a huge turning point in my life. At about 07:10 on that Friday morning while training with blind paralympic runner Jeff McNeil, we were struck by a motor vehicle on a country road on the outskirts of Bairnsdale, Victoria. This was just 7 months prior to the 2000 Paralympics.

I survived the hit but my neck was broken. To stabilise my fracture the doctors fitted me with the halo-thoracic brace which remained in place for eleven weeks. Initially I directed much of my energy towards ensuring that my blind friend, Jeff, recovered well enough to compete in the 2000 Paralympics. He did, & that is another remarkable story in itself. According to my doctor in a discussion much later, I was lucky to be walking at all. With the conclusion of the Paralympics in October 2000, my focus was lost. I became depressed & later was suicidal. The person on the scene of our accident was a doctor who came across the crash while on his way to taking his child to catch the school bus. He stayed with us until we were airlifted to The Alfred. This is the same man who reappeared in my life during this new crisis & supported me through it. Looking back I now realise how fortunate I was to survive at all. Further still I realise just how much I have learned, & indeed still learning about the process of physical & psychological recovery from such a traumatic event. Some time ago I finished reading "Cry of the Damaged Man". It is the true story written by Dr Tony Moore, a gifted trauma surgeon who was involved in a road crash while driving himself to work one morning. His account details the physical injuries that he sustained & the long process of healing that followed. He gives particular attention to the fact that so often, trauma patients are seen only in terms of their physical injuries. Psychological wounds are barely acknowledged so they are not really considered during the healing process. This was certainly true in my case. I learned of Tony Moore's book while listening to Dr Francis MacNab; Uniting Church Minister, founder of the Cairnmillar Institute, world renowned author & psychoanalyst. I am not a particularly religious person, but my mother-in-law suggested that I go & listen to Francis MacNab at St. Michael's in Collins Street, Melbourne. I went that day, & have attended many other days too, listening to his positive theology as well as reading some of his books on coping strategies. It has been a great help to me throughout my own recovery. Surviving this road trauma became a huge turning point in my life. I have encountered numerous obstacles along the way and will no doubt come across many more in the future. However, I draw great strength from all those around me to continue moving forward. My recovery over the years has been a most harrowing experience. There were so many occasions when I would have been grateful for some guidance and direction to help me make informed decisions about my recovery.

Now I want to help other survivors of road trauma to best manage their recovery process. I am achieving this through the establishment of this new organisation called Centre for Road Trauma Recovery. The website will provide useful information as well as links to other organisations offering spport and assistance.

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