I’m not sure where I would be now….

I’m Kat, I’m married to a beautiful man Daniel, we are young parents of Sophie, 4, and Leah, 18months. We live in Cairns, North QLD. I am a stay at home mum and Daniel is a fitter and turner.

I have been really been really reserved with sharing this story as my husband and I have had a hard time dealing with the aftermath however we both think it’s time we tell our story so others don’t make the same mistake.   And also for people that have been through the same thing and are having a hard time dealing with it we want them to know we are here, if they ever need us.

We were camping and my brother in law thought it would be a good idea to take his four kids and my oldest daughter for a drive to get them to have a sleep. Leah (my 18 month old) and I just woke up from a nap so I said she could stay with me.
 
My brother in law called for the kids to get into the car. I was talking to my sister in law and Leah came up and in her little toddler talking asked if she too could go to the car, so wrapped up in my conversation I said no and proceeded to talk to my sister in law.
 
Next thing I heard was my husband screaming “stop the car!!! Stop the car!!!” when I looked over all I could see was Leah’s feet underneath the Tarago. I collapsed and my husband calmly dragged Leah from under the car and put her little lifeless body in the recovery position.
 
There was about 3 minutes of complete silence as our friends an family watched in horror. Then came the faint but reassuring cry from Leah (a sign that she might pull through).

Luckily we were camping in a big group and just so happened that we had a paediatric nurse, head nurse of Cairns Base and another nurse on hand to attend to her. We also had a police man who ran straight to my brother in law who was inconsolable.

As we all waited for an hour for the ambulance to arrive my husband with laying on the road with Leah to try and keep her awake. 

When she just got to the hospital. Just after all her scans and given the all clear. Also you can see the mark on her face where she was crushed by the tyre spring. 

The side of her face that was scraped on the gravel. Almost lost her ear.

I was too hysterical to even look at my baby girl laying in a pool of blood and mud. Thank the lord that she didn’t go under the tyre and escaped with minor injuries.

Her little head was squashed between the tyre springs and the gravel road causing minor scratches and her hair on the right side was scraped off.  The nurses at the hospital were shocked that there were no internal injuries and the next day she was running around and playing with some other kids at the hospital.

It was an accident and it still haunts me that it could have been prevented. No one was to blame. Thanks for letting me share my story.
 
We are blessed to have our faith we are Christians and believe that Jesus is our saviour.
 
[Sophie and Leah about 2 weeks from the accident. Best friends.]

 

Posted in:  Sisterhood Stories

6 Replies

Cynthia Slattery

It's amazing how accidents can quickly happen. Thank you for sharing your story, and hopefully this will prevent a similar incident happening. Hoping your little girl is recovering well. xx

Loretta

<3

Mel

Oh Hun, Thanku for sharing your emotional story with us. It's hard to believe in just a few short seconds your life can dramatically change. I praise god for your little girl here with you today. It would be any parents nightmare. Two yrs ago my 5 yr old & I were doing craft at the table, she was using my scrapbooking scissors. With one slip the scissors went through her eye. After many surgeries, she has blurred vision. But she is a happy healthy little girl, & I am reminded everyday how precious life is as anything can happen. Xxx

Rachel from Redcliffe Style

Wow! I am so glad your precious girl is okay. This could have had a devastating ending. Thank you for sharing. Rachel x

jo

I really do believe in angels, thank god she is ok, I guess the emotional scares with be with mum and dad for a while, but these things happen, they are accidents. Thanks for sharing x :)

Rebecca Hindson

Thankyou so much for sharing this. I'm sobbing as I type. I'm so glad she's well and happy.