Colin Smith, 35, was sitting stationary in the car with his four-year-old daughter Sadie in the back seat, waiting to turn right into the oval grounds to pick up his two eldest kids from footy practice, when he felt “an almighty hit up the back” on May 21.
The Queensland father-of-five had just been smashed from behind by a tiny hatchback — the impact was enough to lodge the vehicle underneath the ute tray of Smith’s Ford Ranger and force it 10m up Middle Rd at Greenbank.
“I’ve been smashed up in derbies, so I’ve been in some big accidents, but nothing, nothing could’ve prepared me for the impact of that tiny little vehicle, and the speed of it,” Smith told 7NEWS.com.au
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Smith survived but, due to his injuries, there are now days he wishes he hadn’t.
He credits his will to live to family, and the support of his high school sweetheart, 32-year-old stay-at-home mother Brahe Davis, who at the time of the crash was already pregnant with their sixth child, and unaware how much their lives were about to change.
“He’s lucky to be alive, the other guy, if Colin didn’t have the tow-bar bracket which grabbed the bottom of the (hatchback) when the top of the car went under the tray … he probably just would have been decapitated by the tray,” Davis said.
Smith was also lucky to survive, but at the time, the extent of his injuries were unclear. His diagnoses did not come in a single swift delivery but in a series of blows months apart, one-by-one ruling out things he may never be able to do again.
He was first taken to the Logan Hospital ED on May 21, and eventually discharged with a bulging disk diagnosis, but just a day or two later his condition deteriorated, eventually leaving him in a wheelchair, and unable to control his body.
Pins and needles-like tingling down the right side of his body, the loss of feeling, and incontinence sent him back to the hospital.
Smith headed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) where scans showed the bulging disk was pressing on Smith’s spine and restricting fluid to his brain.
He needed emergency spinal surgery — an anterior cervical corpectomy of his C4-C6 vertebra — or the loss of feeling he was experiencing could spread to other areas of his body.
The Carole Park couple were warned that, in the process of removing the spinal disk and vertebra, and replacing it with a bone graft from Colin’s hip before caging and fusing the section, Smith would lose mobility.
He had the surgery on June 13, and was discharged on June 20. Then, just over a month later, more bizarre symptoms started to emerge.
“He was dragging his legs, he couldn’t move, he had no strength, just full weakness,” Davis said.
Smith was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), caused either by the impact of the crash, or from the surgery — they will have to wait for a follow-up appointment in November to find out.
FND affects the pathways used by the brain to send messages to the body, which means certain functions like movement and speech can be cut off, leading to jolting, jerking movements, paralysis, and episodes that resemble seizures.
Sometimes Smith has movement in his body, and other times he doesn’t. All the while, pain ripples out from his spine to his shoulders, and down underneath his rib cage.
“I have been strugglin’, I’m not gonna lie. It is a massive change,” he said.
Smith had 15 minutes to decide whether he wanted real or artificial bone used for his emergency spinal surgery, but because Smith is a type 1 diabetic, he was advised due to use his own bone, so his body didn’t reject it.
“There’s still a high possibility that I’ll get a bone infection,” he said.
“In all honesty, if I didn’t have my amazing family, my children and Brahe, and even my oldies and what not … I would’ve preferred it if I was outta here,” Smith said.
‘Up sh*t creek’ at 37-weeks
Davis is now 37-weeks pregnant, and she and Smith are expecting their baby to arrive any day now.
They when Davis was just 16, and had their first son, Xzavier, when Davis was 20.
When Xzavier was born, and during the four births that followed, Smith was very physically involved, she said. From helping her in the shower during labour, to weighing their babies after delivery.
Now they are having to reimagine their plan for the birth of their sixth child.
“It’s really hard to actually enjoy and embrace this moment. It’s horrible, actually,” Davis said.
Soon after meeting their newest family member, they’ll also have to face the reality of the family’s “breadwinner” losing his job due to the injuries.
“Right now it’s just trying to buy the simple things, like the medications he’s on that aren’t covered by the PBS,” Davis said.
“And just the cost of living with five kids. It’s not as if I can go to work because (Smith) requires a full-time carer, and I’m literally about to have a baby. We feel like we’re up sh*t creek, really.”
They’ll also need to look at mobility aids, and modifications to help Smith remain an active part of the kids’ life, and of his own.
A GoFundMe has been created to help support Smith and his family as they navigate their next chapter.
‘It’s impacted all of the children’
Smith was a heavy diesel mechanic before the accident — the complex and physically demanding work was his dream job, but it was also high-earning enough to support his large and growing family.
After a six-day week of 16-hour days, Smith would look forward to spending quality time with the kids, who enjoyed tickles, swimming, fishing, wakeboarding, motorbike riding, and even hunting on their grandparents’ regional NSW property.
“Obviously, we can’t do that now,” Smith said. “As shit as the situation is, I get to spend a lot more time with the kids, but I can’t do much with them.”
“It’s the older kids that are suffering a bit more, especially my son … the young bloke is struggling to get his head around it.”
But Smith said: “It’s impacted all of the children.”
He recalled how his youngest daughter Sadie, who thought the crash she, too, was involved in “was like a rollercoaster ride”, struggled during a Father’s Day event at her daycare, during a Hokey Pokey dance activity with the parents and kids.
“I love that I was able to go to the Father’s Day event but, obviously, I was in my wheelchair. There were about 40 dads there and Sadie’s standing beside me. They say, ‘put your right leg in and put your right leg out’ and all of that sorta stuff,” Smith said.
“Sadie just stood there beside me. I was trying to do the hand gestures, and I was getting involved as much as I could, but she knows I can’t do bugger all with my legs — that’s why she just stood there. I just broke down about it when I got home.
“She’s been a little trooper.
“Sadie was born on my birthday, so me and her are very close … You can ask her any question about what’s happened to me, and she’ll be able to tell you. She knows all the information inside and out, she really cares for Dad.”
‘It’s not just your life you can destroy’
Smith never pressed charges against the driver who hit him. “Such a nice kid, a real nice kid,” Smith said of the driver.
“He’d done a 12-hour shift, two hours to work, two hours home. He fell asleep, micro-sleep, and turned my life upside down.
“I could sit here and be spewin’ and say it’s all his fault … but there’s no point cryin’ over spilt milk, it is what it is, and I’ve gotta get on with it.
“Aggression doesn’t get you anywhere.”
Instead, he hopes his story will encourage drivers to pull over if they feel drowsy.
Davis said the young man who hit him was a professional driver, but even his experience behind the wheel was not enough to prevent the life-changing accident.
“Doesn’t matter how short of a distance you’re driving … No matter how good of a driver you are … If you feel like you’re fatigued or tired, pull over,” Smith said.
“It’s not just your life you can destroy.”
Donations to support Smith and his family can be made via GoFundMe.