- Rebekah’s date night ended when a huge gum tree fell onto their car, leaving her trapped inside
- Rebekah spent two weeks in an induced coma with severe skull, brain and spinal injuries before beginning a long and difficult recovery
- After months of surgeries and rehabilitation, she returned home to her four-year-old daughter Margo and is now determined to make the most of her second chance at life
Here Rebekah Swanepoel, 23, from Campbelltown, NSW, tells her story in her own words
Taking a bite out of my burrito, I noticed a flash of lightning in the distance.
‘I hope we don’t get caught in that storm on the way home,’ I said to my then boyfriend, Kurtis, 24.
Leading busy lives, it was often hard to find quality time to spend together.
This was our first date night in months and my little girl, Margo, then four, was having a sleepover at my mum Karen’s house.
We weren’t going to let a little thunderstorm ruin our night!
Finishing up dinner, we decided to go home early before the storm hit and enjoy a movie night.
We jumped in the car and began heading home.
But that’s the last thing I remember.
Suddenly, the world went black…
Coming to, I saw my dad Stephen was by my side.
Hazy and confused, I looked around at the stark white walls and realised I was in hospital.
Covered in wires and surrounded by beeping machines, I squeezed Dad’s hand.
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‘What happened? Where am I?’ I croaked slowly, my throat hurting.
‘Don’t you remember? There was an accident,’ Dad said gently.
He explained that I’d been in a coma for two weeks.
‘Where’s Margo? Where’s Kurtis?’ I worried.
‘Everyone is okay,’ Dad soothed.
Exhausted, I became overwhelmed and fell back to sleep.
A few days later, Kurtis came to visit me in hospital.
‘I genuinely thought you weren’t going to make it,’ he said, tearfully.
He told me that we’d taken the back road home to avoid the busy highway. He’d spotted a large gum tree on the side of the road that looked like it was about to topple over.
Then, horrifyingly, the tree fell right on top of us, completely crushing the car – and me.
Completely unharmed, Kurtis managed to kick his door out and run to my side.
He then called for the ambulance.
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Holding my neck still, paramedics pulled me from the wreckage and rushed me to hospital.
Scans showed I’d broken several vertebrae in my neck, which was causing pressure on my spinal cord.
I also had a broken cheekbone and a massive break across the back of my skull, reaching from my left to right ear.
Suffering a bleed on the brain, I was rushed into emergency surgery to have part of my skull removed to relieve the pressure.
With no protection for my brain, I’d have to wear a helmet every time I left the house.
Fearing the worst, doctors kept my family updated on my recovery, and placed me in an induced coma.
‘Her injuries don’t look good. If she wakes from the coma she may be in a vegetative state,’ they warned.
My parents spent every waking minute by my bed.
After two weeks, I’d somehow pulled through, finally coming to.
But I couldn’t walk, and it was hard for me to talk in sentences.
Moved from the ICU to the neurosurgery ward, I knew I had a long road to recovery ahead.
But I was determined to get home to Margo. She was staying with my parents, and video-called to check in on me every chance she could.
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‘Mummy got really hurt, but I’ll be home soon,’ I told her, hopefully.
COVID restrictions meant I could only have one visitor at a time.
Being separated from my girl for almost two months was gut-wrenching.
Working with a physio, I started speaking better and walked within two months.
Doctors were shocked at how quickly I was recovering.
‘You’re weeks ahead of where we thought you’d be,’ my surgeon exclaimed.
Margo was my motivation to keep fighting. And I couldn’t wait to get back to work as a make-up artist.
After three months in hospital and tiring rehab sessions, I was given the green light to come home for Christmas.
‘Mummy you’re home!’ Margo squealed, hugging me close when I got out of the car. It was such a special moment.
Margo was the perfect home nurse, waking me with a kiss on the forehead each morning.
‘How are you feeling, Mummy?’ she’d ask sweetly.
Two months later, I was terrified when I began losing feeling in both my arms.
Scans showed that the breaks in my neck weren’t healing and were putting pressure on my spinal cord.
In surgeries over the next month, doctors fused the vertebrae on the front and back of my neck before removing multiple vertebrae in hopes of relieving the pressure.
At the six-month mark, I had my final surgery to put my skull back in.
While I still have a long road of recovery ahead, a lot of things may never go back to how they were.
Having lost my peripheral vision, I now have a wobbly walk and very limited mobility in my neck, meaning I’m unable to drive or return to work.
While Kurtis and I decided to go our separate ways, I’m grateful he was there to help me that night.
Now I’m focusing on living life to the fullest and making up for lost time.
Sitting Margo in my home salon chair, and swiping glitter across her cheeks, I’m so grateful for our special bond.
I got a second chance at life.
Now I’m making every second count!
