Life changing crash leaves mother learning how to walk again at the same time as her 15 month old son. Watching your child take their first steps is an emotional milestone for any parent but for Rowena Owen, its even more significant because she is learning to walk again at the same time as her young son. Rowena’s life changed forever on a sunny afternoon in August when a distracted driver drove onto the wrong side of the carriageway and slammed head-on into her Audi A6. Rowena was a mother-of-one at 40 years of age and was driving back from a lunchtime get-together with a friend who lives an hour from her home in Canterbury, Kent which is located in the U.K. Recently, Rowena joined the Crash Support Network Group which is an online support group for motor vehicle crash survivors and shared her story with us. I reached out to her and with her permission, I am now sharing her story with you through a blog specifically dedicated to her.
I suppose I should share my story – it’s been nice but also really scary reading the stories others have bravely shared. I’m struck by a deep emotion where I realize now so many people are dealing with a similar situation that’s changed their lives in so many ways. I am only just on the start to my recovery as I was involved in a head on collision with another car. A combined speed of 100 mph on a country road which was in the middle of nowhere. Writing it reminds me how tragic it sounds yet whilst my injuries reflect that fact, I often can’t quite accept what happened to me.
I Have No Recollection of the Crash Itself
I have zero memory of the life changing crash, in fact I remember maybe 30 seconds or a minute before the impact. Then nothing until six or eight hours later in hospital with my life partner beside me telling me what happened. Like a dream or nightmare come true. One of the things I feared most of what would it be like to just wake up and you can’t move. I was calm though, like I’d expected this day to come. Why I don’t know as I am not a bad driver, just a feeling that I somehow knew. The other driver for reasons unknown swerved across the centre into me at the last moment (witness account). I was conscious and trapped in my car – the reports described me calling the emergency services within minutes of my accident (I find this haunts me knowing that).
I’ve read the reports of my description of my injuries and that I was in agony. Again, saying it fills me with tears as I feel for the “me” that endured that terrifying moment. The one I’ve forgotten thankfully. Many don’t have that luxury but yet I still seek answers to all of them almost to torture my own mind to learn what happened in those 55 minutes before I was removed from the car and taken by helicopter to hospital. I endured multiple injuries. I’ve broken both legs, one is open which required a donor of flesh from my arm to mend it. Broken foot and a lisfranc injury. Broken C6 in the spine, several wounds, perforated bowel and a blood clot on the lung. I was lucky I was told. Countless times the many doctors said that I could have lost a leg and possibly died but here you are with only a couple of years to recover – yup lucky!
The other driver broke her arms, similar bowel injury and chipped a tooth. I found her injuries insulting at first, compared to mine as she caused the crash and yet I was flown to a trauma hospital to be put back together. I hold onto four months of some anger towards the other driver. It’s now passing but somehow I need to blame someone for my pain.
Hugging My Son For The 1st Time Was Pure Bliss
I have a small son who was only a few months old when the life changing crash happened. I didn’t see him for four weeks, only once in my six weeks I was in the hospital. I spent most of it alone due to COVID rules. It was a very dark time for me and the terrible realization that the recovery wasn’t going to be quick. On the very plus side, I am walking, I am mostly pain free and that’s four months in. I would never have believed the doctors if they told me I would be driving again so soon. So as brutal as it was, I’m finding inner strength to get back to being me again. I want to be a better person at the end of it all as it is a blessing to be alive to see my son grow up and I must not ever forget.
“The first morning I woke up at home was really incredible. Finally a night uninterrupted by nurses, beeps and occasional crash noises. Then Harvey was brought in awake, happy with his morning milk and with a beaming smile, his happy hands outstretched for a hug. That hug was without a doubt the best hug I have ever had. Watching Harvey cruise around the furniture, taking his first steps made Rowena realize it was possible her toddler would be walking before her.” I have been told it will take me about two years to recover, and that I will need a lot of physio as the body forgets how to move and muscles waste away. I even had to learn to hold my arms up again, and they weren’t even broken. I am determined to make a full recovery, so I can do the things mums do with their families.
She Looks Forward to Giving Back
Rowena plans to arrange to meet Officer Janser of Folkestone Station who stayed with her in the aftermath of the collision. And a meeting with the paramedics who kept her alive on the helicopter flight from the scene to Kings Hospital is also on Rowena’s to-do list. At the time of her crash, Rowena was a business owner and she hopes that through her company, Bloom Stays which is a whole new holiday letting agency, that she is able to do a big thing with all the great and good of the county. Rowena is also keen, once the country is free from the curse of COVID, to hold a huge fundraising event for the Kent Air Ambulance, which only receive minimal funding from local government and rely heavily on public donations.
Rowena spent six weeks in the hospital in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, underwent four operations to re-build her shattered body and was only able to see her son Harvey once in that time. We are so thankful that Rowena found our online support group as sharing stories can be quite powerful. They move us, inspire us and motivate us. We thank Rowena for sharing her story with us and wish her positive healing as she continues to recover from this life changing crash. (Pictured above is her first cuddle with her son Harvey).
The Crash Support Network is a truly unique platform that brings together survivor-focused support and road safety education in one accessible space. Created for individuals and families affected by motor vehicle collisions, it offers online support groups, a crash survivor blog, a quarterly newsletter “ Sharing Our Recovery,” and a growing library of informative articles. Built on a foundation of connection and compassion while amplifying the importance of road safety, the Crash Support Network goes beyond a website; it’s a community united around support, education and making our roads safer for everyone.
