A WOMAN who was involved in a horror crash that broke “almost every bone” in her body has vowed to continue on her remarkable path to recovery.
Angela Menzies, of Sandbeds, between Bingley and Keighley, was left fighting for her life after a head-on collision in which she broke her legs, knees, hips, wrists, pelvis, ribs, sternum, right clavicle, toes, punctured a lung, and suffered tissue damage to her stomach.
The 59-year-old was put in an induced coma and her family were twice called to the hospital to say their goodbyes amid a grim prognosis.
Now, to coincide with Road Safety Week, she has given a frank interview about her battle to recover from the accident in 2016 with the aim of inspiring others never to give up in the face of adversity.
Mrs Menzies has taken big steps - both physically and mentally - after undergoing no fewer than 15 operations.
She moved into a bungalow - more suitable to her recovery - with her husband earlier this year, thanks to the help of injury specialist lawyers Hudgell Solicitors.
The firm secured an agreement from insurers for a substantial interim damages payment to be made to Mrs Menzies.
Thanks to continued physiotherapy sessions, combined with the move, the grandmother has been able to build up her unaided walking distance to between 16 and 20 metres this year.
She also returned to driving independently again.
Mrs Menzies said: “Like moving into a new house, being able to drive a car again was another huge step forward.
“My family were worried about me getting back behind the wheel, and especially the thought of me driving alone given what happened to me before, but it has been a positive thing for me. I stick to the quieter roads and I won’t go on the main busy roads, but I feel fine behind the wheel and my husband has said I am a better driver than before.”
The accident happened when Mrs Menzies, who was national relief manager for retail group McColl’s, was heading to work in Bedfordshire, at around 4am, and she was hit hit by a van which veered onto her side of the road as it came around a corner.
She said: “I remember nothing at all of the crash. All I know is that I’d set off for work and it was dark, as it was 4am in the morning.
“The next thing I knew was when I came out of the coma and almost every bone in my body had been broken.
“Looking back now, they must have been horrific times for my family.
"They were the ones who knew everything that was happening during that first month. They were twice called in to hospital to say their goodbyes. I was oblivious to it at that time.
"It must have been so hard for them.”
Mrs Menzies was in the induced coma for around a month before she woke up.
The whole ordeal seems a blur to the grandmother and she recalls a unique mirage moment during that time, which she was convinced was real at the time.
She said: “My son is on his phone all the time. So I was in my son’s phone - he had taken me from my bed and put me in his phone and sent me on missions. Most of these times had been when doctors said I wouldn’t make it. I saved other people - I was like a sniper with people who needed saving.”
She added: “I don’t remember much until I was transferred to BRI, in intensive care.
“I couldn’t move and I was being hoisted everywhere - that was hard.
“A couple of times I ended up crying, but my family stood by me and encouraged me.”
“I had nightmares, night terrors, I wasn’t sleeping.”
Mrs Menzies underwent her latest operation on October 21.
She had a total new knee replacement and Mrs Menzies jovially described it as “more metalwork” in her body.
The operation has left her on crutches, but another set back in the road to recovery won’t get this inspirational woman down.
She said: “I’ll keep on fighting because so many people are fighting for me. I’ve got an amazing family. Since the accident, I’ve got a new granddaughter and I’ve got a four-year-old grandson.
“Me and my husband have our granddaughter three days a week.
“It keeps me going, keeps me positive.
“I’m looking forward to the day I can take them out on my own, because I can’t at the moment. I have to use a wheelchair because I can’t walk too far.”
Mrs Menzies has a few more operations to go and once “everything is sorted” she plans to complete 'Walk4Life'.
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