Leeds woman spent 14 years learning to walk after being hit by car and left with life-changing injuries
A Leeds woman who spent 14 years learning to walk again after being hit by a car at the age of eight has shared her emotional fight as a teenager for the first time.
Amy Stevenson, 40, penned an emotional letter to her former self as part of a new campaign launched this week for charity Day One Trauma Support’s Major Trauma Awareness Week.
It aims to highlight the long-term and complex recovery thousands of people face each year after suffering life-changing injuries.
Amy was left with catastrophic injuries in 1992. She was waiting to cross a busy road with her friend when a car came past, driving too fast and too close to the curb. Amy was knocked unconscious and was rushed to hospital, where she spent two weeks in intensive care and another six weeks in hospital.
She suffered a traumatic brain injury and was temporarily paralysed down her right side, with a broken femur and other wounds. It was years before she was able to walk unaided, aged 22.
In her letter, which you can hear read aloud at the top of this page, she shares the physical and mental challenges that lay ahead, feelings of isolation and helplessness, but also what will be gained.
Now, the only visible sign of her injury is a slight limp when she walks. The mum-of-three has since gone on to have a family of her own.
Amy is volunteering with charity Day One Trauma Support, to provide peer support for others who have experienced life-changing injuries and give them hope that life goes on.
The charity provides the practical, emotional and financial support that goes beyond what the NHS can provide through caseworkers based in trauma hospitals and a national support line and network of volunteers.
It gives out more than £82,000 in grants and provides around 8,000 hours of vital support to more than 1,500 people each year, but says thousands more aren’t getting the help they need with their emotional and psychological wellbeing due to disjointed and inadequate services that are underfunded.
Lucy Nickson, CEO of Day One Trauma Support, said: “We’re so proud, grateful, and humbled by our incredible volunteers who are sharing their stories with strength, grace and vulnerability to raise awareness of major trauma and the vital support people need. ‘Dear me’ is an honest, powerful and enlightening glimpse into what it’s like coping with life-changing injury.
“Each letter is unique, but there are consistent themes that represent the thousands of people who experience a catastrophic injury each year. The journey to recovery is long, complex and daunting, but the emotional and psychological support that so many need is often lacking and disjointed due to underfunding.
“That’s why we want everyone impacted by catastrophic injury to have access to emotional, practical and financial support. We’d encourage everyone to support Major Trauma Awareness Week by reading, listening and sharing these powerful stories from people who have lived through major trauma; share your own experiences; and, if you can, donate to our appeal so together we can raise £10,000 to meet extra demand for this crucial service.”