Crash survivor urges drivers to be cautious

SURVIVOR Hayley Coleman at the VHI Women’s Mini-Marathon.

AWARD-winning makeup artist and road accident-survivor Hayley Coleman has appealed to drivers to be cautious and be aware of their driving.
The Westport native was speaking to The Mayo News ahead of last Sunday’s Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims and wanted to get the message across that ‘it can happen to anybody’ and to be careful on the road.
Hayley survived a road traffic accident which saw the car that she was a passenger in, in December 2002, lose control and crash into a concrete wall. She survived the crash, sustaining a broken neck, however her friend Regina Moran wasn’t so lucky and suffered brain damage, dying three days after the accident.
Aged 17 at the time, Hayley spent a month in hospital and describes how a road accident can take your independence.
“You take things for granted, everything. Mum had to wash my hair, I had a brace on. I was off school and went back into Leaving Cert wearing a collar. Like any teen you worry how you look,” she explained.
Not taking life for granted, Hayley makes sure to live in the present and talks to her family and friends a lot about the accident.
“It’s something you never get over, it’s something that’s always there. Bottling it up doesn’t resolve anything. People look and say ‘you’ve everything’, I’ve chosen for my life to be like this and live in the now.”

Invincible
Wanting to raise awareness and reminding people to be cautious on the roads, the talented makeup artist repeated that road traffic accidents can happen to anybody.
“People think it’s always guys who are in accidents and girls think it would never happen to them. Seeing young people flying around, and you think you’re invincible.”
Hayley said having friends and family going through the pain of having a loved one involved in a road traffic accident is one of the worst things.
“It’s any parent’s most dreaded phone call, late at night when their child is out. I just remember my parents coming in to the hospital and I kept saying I was sorry,” she recalled.
“Just be cautious, putting them through that is the worst, think about them before you make any drastic decisions. We never came home that night and I’m so lucky I came home, it could have been really different.”
Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims took place last Sunday with an event at Knock Shrine. The day marks the many millions killed and injured on the world’s roads, together with their families, friends and many others who are also affected. It is also a day for the emergency services who attend the scene of accidents.