Screws can fix body – but not soul

HER legs were shattered. Broken into pieces.

She broke her tailbone, tore her bladder and the trauma forced her into a coma for three days.

But still, somehow, Sandy Bampton has the fortitude to tell her story and warn others of the dangers on Queensland roads.

“I don’t feel angry at her (Miriam Grace Paton). I feel sad. Because if she could take it back, she would take it back,” Sandy said in her first interview since the tragedy.

Today, Sandy’s legs are held together by nails, screws and pins. They barely function, but she remains as upbeat as she can be.

“It looks like a shark bite but it’s not. I call it my shark bite,” she said.

“Every time I shut my eyes, (the crash) was all I could see,” Sandy said.

“We are still going through terrible times, sleepless nights, nightmares and the vision of what we saw that day. This includes all of us.”

Indie’s sister Lily is fighting her own battle. She has had multiple surgeries and suffers extreme post traumatic stress disorder, including a fear of carparks.

The impact of the crash destroyed her leg muscles and shattered the bone beside them.

If nothing else, Sandy wants other drivers on the road to learn from the trauma.

She had hoped Ms Paton would go on to recover from the crash and champion the family’s cause too, but it wasn’t to be.

“I think that lady could’ve done a lot of good,” Sandy said.