Danielle Donald woke up in a hospital bed, totally confused.
She had an attack in the early twenties – maybe she had another one?
But something of this felt different. Enger.
“Where am I?” She opened her mouth, but there was no sound. Her words were stifled by the tube in her throat.
She was also connected to other beeping machines. Her sight was blurry and her whole body was in pain.
One of the nurses around her bed stepped forward to talk to her.
She told Danielle that she had been in a coma for 48 days after the car she drove had hit a tree at high speed.
The 31-year-old did not remember the crash that had caused a serious brain injury and broke her back, ribs and face. A flying shard glass had damaged the view in her right eye.
Danielle Donald, from Melbourne, Australia, was in a critical condition after her car crashed with a tree on 26 March 2018. The single mother, now 38, is depicted here before the accident
Since it arrived at a hospital in Melbourne, she was in a hospital in Melbourne six weeks earlier. It was a miracle that she was not brain dead.
But there was something in depth that Danielle could not remember.
She had a 14 -month -old son, Bruce. He had been in the back seat of the car when the accident happened, but was unharmed.
“I didn't know who Bruce was,” Danielle tells me.
Even when her little boy was brought in to see her, Danielle was still confused and felt heartbreakingly disconnected from her own child.
“I couldn't bring two and two together. I couldn't understand that he was mine. I could not hold him because of the nerve damage in my arms. I could only watch, “she says.
The day that changed everything
Danielle was a hairdresser and make -up artist for her accident. She liked to be sustained in glamorous outfits for the evening with friends.
The police believe that she drove at 110 km/h when a kangaroo jumped out of the bushes on the side of the road. She was in a coma for 48 days and continued to fight for life after suffering on severe traumatic brain injury, a broken back, broken ribs, blindness and a 'broken face'
She was a single mother of Bruce and bright independent.
The accident had changed everything.
Although Danielle was unable to remember details about what happened, a police investigation was able to merge the events of that fateful day.
Danielle rode in the twilight along a country road from Tarrowingee in Victoria to her parents' house in Eldorado.
Bruce had been in his car seat at the back of the left.
Danielle rode in a zone of 110 km/h when a kangaroo jumped out of the bushes on the side of the road.
To try to prevent the animal from being on the side of her son, Danielle panicked and waved. The vehicle hit the roo on her side before bumping into a tree.
Homeowners in the neighborhood who heard the screaming sound of the crash called Triple-0 and emergency services rushed to the scene.
Danielle's father and brother, both volunteers for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) who helps firefighters, also arrived on site without any idea that Danielle was the one who had been in the crash.
“It breaks my heart knowing that they would both have recognized my car immediately,” she says.
'I had to be carved physically out of the car. Bruce was distraught but completely good. '
Danielle was flown to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne for urgent care, while Bruce was brought to the Wangaratta Hospital.
After arriving at the Alfred, she stayed in a coma for 48 days.
During that time, her parents of doctors were asked an unthinkable question: do you want to disable her living support?
The doctor explained that the hospital needed the bed and if Danielle woke up, there was a good chance that she would be needed around the clock.
Danielle's parents, who now also provided Bruce, refused to give up.
She was transferred from the Alfred to the Epworth Hospital where she eventually woke up from her coma.
“The coma was the easy part it was the most difficult when I got out and had to live from day to day,” she says. Now she is 'smart but brain -damaged' and she avoids social situations
The way to recovery
From that moment on, Danielle had to learn to walk again, talk, read and take care of himself.
“The coma was the easy part. The hardest thing was when I got out and had to live like this, “she says.
In the beginning, Danielle was bedridden and developed a blood clot throughout the day, for which she needed medication.
“I just wanted my normal life back and they had to teach me the basics how to cross a way,” she tells me.
The rehabilitation was tiring and mentally challenging for Danielle.
Even after she was good enough to leave the hospital, she had to withdraw from her parents again and she needed current physio and doctor's appointments.
Doctors would use large flashcards with photos to improve Danielle's memory, but her score was always below average.
“I have post-traumatic memory loss, so I can remind me of 10-20 years ago, but I can't remember what I ate for breakfast yesterday,” she explains.
'I am also unsuitable for working, what a truly confrontational change of life has been for me. Life is over in that respect.
'I think slowly, struggle with my emotions and have ADHD and OCD. I avoid going out and I prefer to go to the gym. '
The loss of her former self grieve
Accepting her appearance has also been a challenge for Danielle.
'Before the accident I was about to look good. I loved beauty, I loved attention and make -up, but now I get attention for all the wrong reasons, “says Danielle.
'I get weird looks from people because I look a little different and walk a little differently, which has influenced my mental health.
“I moved from this glamor girl to a mentally disabled single mother.”
Now Danielle describes herself as 'clear but brain damaged'. She avoids social situations, takes selfies or looks at herself in the mirror because her mirror image is so different from the person she once was.
Her son Bruce is now eight and one of the biggest challenges she is confronted with is being a mother with limitations.
“I have the mental capacity of a child; I am very easily angry or frustrated and when I do that, it is difficult to come across things, “she explains.
In a sense, she and her son have the same emotional ability.
To cope with the trauma of the accident, Danielle has shifted her focus to health, fitness and well -being.
She exercises every day and describes the gym as her 'happy place'.
In the past three months she has been training intensely to participate in a bodybuilding competition – the Ausfitness Expo.
“Gym has been my love since I could live as an adult,” she says.
Danielle describes her parents as the 'real heroes' in her story. They moved 300 km to be closer to her while she was in the hospital, supported her through her recovery and played an important role in raising their grandson.
Danielle says that her own relationship with Bruce is now 'great'.
“That's why I go on,” she says.
