A moment’s inattention, a life ruined

It was only a moment that Jarrod Gyde was not paying full attention to his driving - but it was a moment that led to horrific injuries and a lifetime of pain and anger for Naomi Jefferies.

With a trembling voice, the Cambridge physiotherapist detailed the consequences of the crash that led to the loss of her foot, her career and her peace of mind at Gyde’s sentencing in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday.

‘‘When you hit me, you did not just hurt me. You ripped apart and traumatised a whole family,’’ she told him.

It was about 7.25pm on Wednesday, September 13, 2017 when Jefferies was returning home in Bracken St, Cambridge, after a session at her local gym.

She had parked her car on the side of the road, mostly on the grass berm, with just part of the car on the road. She got out and opened the back right-hand door, and leaned in to get her gym bag from the back seat.

That’s when a Toyota Altezza driven by Gyde, 21, rounded the corner and smashed into her.

He failed to notice Jefferies’ parked car, which was fitted with rear reflectors and had its cabin light on. Nor did he see her brightlycoloured clothing.

He clipped the rear of her car and up along the right-hand side. He hit her with enough force to push the back door flat on to the side of her car and then throw her five to six metres further down the road.

Gyde travelled a further 129 metres before stopping. He told the police he simply did not see his victim or the car.

Jefferies’ injuries were devastating. She was rushed to the intensive care unit at Waikato Hospital, where she was placed into an induced coma for eight days.

During those eight days she underwent surgery seven times. She had lung surgery to stabilise a collapsed lung. She had a rod inserted into her broken upper left leg. She had more rods inserted into her broken upper left arm. And she had a shattered left elbow reconstructed and wired together.

She also had to have other wounds debrided and irrigated, and plastic surgery to attach a 500mm by 200mm wide skin graft to the back of her left leg.

She spent a further seven days in the high dependency unit – but it was just the start of a two and a halfmonth stay in the hospital. Once she fully regained consciousness, it was discovered there was nerve damage to her left arm that resulted in a loss of motor function and paralysis.

She also underwent another operation to reconstruct her shattered left ankle.

This included bone and ligament grafts and the insertion of more rods and bolts.

That operation proved ultimately unsuccessful. She had to be readmitted to hospital in early February to have her left foot amputated.

She is also now waiting to receive more operations on her knees, as well as more plastic surgery.

Judge Glen Marshall sentenced Gyde to 175 hours of community work and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.

Gyde had also offered $5000 in reparation to Jefferies, and the judge ordered this be paid.

‘‘No matter what sentence I pass, I cannot turn back the clock,’’ Judge Marshall said.

‘‘Her bright future has been stolen away ... the change has been incomprehensible.’’