Gracie

Hi my name is Gracie; I had my accident when I was 19 on January 16^th, 2023. I was reckless teenager and that lead me to fall off a balcony 3 stores high. I was rushed to Rockingham hospital for a blood transfusion while unconscious and lost a lot of blood. I was in a coma for 3 weeks in ICU at Royal Perth. I had a fracture to the base of my skull and blood clots on my brain, a shattered pelvis with multiple bone breaks from neck to waist, a punctured lung, kidney bleeds and many other complications.

Then I had a stroke due to the pressure in my brain, which then meant they had to take out some bone from the back of my head to relieve pressure. The fluid was filling up in the back of my head and made it burst on several occasions, so then I had to have an EB drain put in my head to drain the fluid. I also had a Tracheostomy to give me airways, so was unable to eat, drink or talk for 4 months. 

Further complications caused me to not be able to hold food down through a nasal feeding tube or use my bowels from lying in bed for such a long period of time. I had to be given an IV method and a TPM bag, so I got some nutrients to survive.

Finally, after fungal infection I was well enough to have surgery to have my VP shunt put in my head after 4 EB drains and infection it was causing. Unfortunately, I then got pneumonia and nearly ended up back in ICU after 4 months. I made it through with my family by my side every single day.

I was now ready to get the tracky out, but it had grown skin which was blocking airway so more surgery. Now I could start learning to talk and chew food for first time in 5 months. My walking and balance were the hardest to get but I never gave up and pushed through. After 7 months in hospital including a short stay at Fiona Stanley rehab, I made it home and my mum became my full-time carer. I worked hard with many issues with depression, impulsivity and moodiness because my mental health was terrible. I am still working on it every day.

I’m coming to terms with having to learn to drive again from scratch and that my whole world has changed for a 21 year old – for the better now! My goals are starting to take place with my independence and getting places without my mum, so I’m giving back to the community by volunteering at hospital to have a sense of purpose again as I miss my job more than anything. I was an aged care worker and absolutely loved it and was good at what I did, so would love to get back to that as my ultimate goal.

I’m also doing talks to the youths about my story about the impact it has on our families with using with drugs and alcohol and hoping to reach a few teens to stops them from doing what I did and this happening to them. I’m grateful to have a second chance at life so I need to make a difference.