A year on Faye still recovering from crash
One year on from a crash that left her in a coma, Faye Emery is still surprised she survived. In late January last year, Emery was travelling from Auckland to her rented property in Tu¯ rangi with three of her great-grandchildren when she was hit head-on by another vehicle at the intersection of Huka Falls Rd and the Thermal Explorer Highway.
The crash sparked a 17-day search for Emery’s two-year-old Chihuahua, Bubbles after she was thrown from the vehicle. A year on, Emery is still reeling from the impact of the crash and still needs aid from crutches to get around.
She received a broken ankle, wrist, hand and toe bones, as well as a smashed knee and the two veins connecting her heart to her stomach sliced in half.
The damage was so severe she was put into an induced coma at Waikato Hospital.
‘‘I know I’m lucky to be alive, I don’t know how I survived,’’ Emery said.
‘‘They thought they were going to lose me, especially after the main valve to my heart was cut in half.’’
Emery remembers bits and pieces of the day of the crash like seeing a clear road in front of her and all of a sudden hearing a big bang.
‘‘I looked out my window and saw my bonnet up and just thought ‘shoot, I’ve been in an accident’,’’ she said. ‘‘I went to get out but could only get one leg out. People were helping me and all I could think of were my great grandkids.’’
Not long after, she collapsed and the next thing she remembers is seeing a doctor and being told she was not in good shape.
‘‘He said ‘Mrs Emery, you’re very ill’. I think he was preparing me to say goodbye.’’
She went on to spend five weeks in Waikato Hospital. Although she beat the odds, the road to recovery has been anything but easy with Emery needing more surgeries after being discharged from hospital.
‘‘After the Taupo¯ community got together and found Bubbles for me, I decided to move here at the beginning of April last year,’’ she said.
‘‘A few days later I went to the doctor with pain in my knee and they sent me straight to Rotorua Hospital. Once again, I was in surgery for my knee.’’
Because of an infection in her knee, Emery is now on lifetime antibiotics but has been told if they don’t work they may need to amputate her leg. While recovering in hospital, her beloved pooch sparked a central lakes search with people coming from Tu¯ rangi, Tokoroa, and Rotorua to look for Bubbles.
After 17 days living in Wairakei Forest, Bubbles was finally found.
‘‘I can’t believe she survived that long,’’ Emery said. ‘‘I was so happy to have my baby back.’’
To thank everyone who got together to search for Bubbles, Emery is holding a barbecue at Taupo¯ Pak’nSave on Saturday at 2pm.
‘‘I just want to thank everyone – especially Ken Moody – for all their help in finding Bubbles. They never gave up,’’ she said.
Emery also wants to thank Pak’nSave for donating the goods for the community barbecue.