Nearly three years after the tragic crash that killed a young, pregnant couple on Australia Day, a mother from Brisbane who was left as the only survivor has talked about her “constant pain”.
On January 26, 2021, while walking their dogs in Alexandra Hills, Matthew Field, Kate Leadbetter, and their unborn son Miles were struck by a stolen automobile that had raced through a red light. The pair lost their lives in the collision.
The 17-year-old teenager who was driving the car was found guilty of manslaughter and multiple other counts and given a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
The stolen four-wheel drive also impacted a car that the other victim, who requests to remain unidentified, was driving, resulting in severe and lifelong agony.
“I went from being a happy, pretty healthy mum, being very hands-on … to not being able to pick up my child anymore, to dropping things, forgetting things,” the 35-year-old stated.
“The stolen car struck me in the head when I was stopped in my car.
“From what I understand, if I’d been a couple of centimetres further up the road I wouldn’t have survived, just from the velocity of the impact.”
She claimed that her injuries had radically changed her life.
“There’s constant pain.”My right side of my body has nerve damage, and my spine has three different areas of damage. “It’s almost been three years and I’m up to surgery number four on my back.”
The victim revealed the following day following her most recent surgery, in which medical professionals inserted a gadget that blocks pain signals from entering her brain by sending tiny electric pulses into the spinal cord.
It is only intended to control the pain; it won’t repair the damage, and there are no assurances that it will.
“It is really unfair and I hate to say that because in comparison to families that lose their children … that’s not fair,” she stated.
On a few occasions, I’ve had to tell my manager I couldn’t make it to work the morning before I had to report.
“I just can’t physically or mentally and that’s really hard.”
She estimates that the collision has cost her at least $40,000 in lost income, time off, and medical expenses.
