Miracle recovery for injured carnival queen
Published: January 18, 2006
THREE weeks ago, 18-year-old Alice Walker was lying unconscious in the neurological critical care unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.
She had been cut out of a car after it collided with an articulated lorry three days before Christmas.
Now Alice is back at her home in Audley Road, Saffron Walden, and describes her recovery as nothing short of a miracle.
She has a broken wrist, smashed knuckle, blurred vision and cracked teeth but she said: “Being here is just a miracle. It’s weird. I have always been independent but now mum says it’s like having a toddler as I have to learn so much again.
“I can now wash myself but I can’t wash my hair, make food or carry anything and because my eyes won’t yet focus together I get an awful dizzy sensation which is irritating.”
Alice is having her teeth fixed in February; her eyesight will hopefully return to normal in six months; pieces of glass, still embedded underneath the skin on her face are gradually making their way to the surface and she is all set for a complete recovery.
But it all looked so different on December 22 when the car, driven by Alice’s boyfriend Luke Forman, was involved in the accident at Hadstock.
Alice remembers nothing for several days but parents Brien and Kate faced a nightmare wait to find out if she had suffered brain damage.
“She was unconscious in the neurological critical care unit for 48 hours,” said Brien.
“Our big fear was brain damage. For the first 12 hours she was wired up to life support equipment but then they realised she was able to breath on her own. She had two lots of brain scans which showed no obvious lesions but we were still very concerned, especially when she came round on Christmas Eve and did not recognise anyone, even her mother.
“The following day however, she started talking and the first person she recognised was her 16-year-old brother Charlie.”
Alice said: “I remember Charlie talking to me and then I remember the smell of horrible food on Christmas Day but that’s all I remember about Christmas.”
Christmas was put on hold at the Walker house until New Year’s Eve when Alice returned home and opened her presents with her sisters Hannah and Rachel and brother Charlie.
Alice, who was chosen as Saffron Walden’s Carnival Queen last summer and is on a gap year before starting university, is looking forward to celebrating her 19th birthday on February 9.
“I think I have got a guardian angel somewhere,” she said. “I think I must have been saved for something.
“I would like to thank all my friends and family and lots of people I don’t even know who have sent cards and asked after me. It is really nice to know so many people care.”
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