A year of pain as nurse recovers from frightening crash

As a registered nurse for eight years, Renee Johnson saw and cared for many road crash victims while working at the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine.

But she never thought that one day she would be faced with a similar situation, hooked up in the hospital for five months as a patient. On November 21, 2021, Johnson said her life was changed forever when the car in which she was a passenger went over a precipice in St Mary. Johnson broke her pelvis, arm and leg. The Spanish Town resident said that on the day of the accident, she and her friends planned a fun day at a river in Portland.

"We got lost about three times during the journey, as the place that we were going was really remote. We had to walk a portion of the way and on our way there, I got hives on my skin, so my skin was really itching. I kept telling myself that this must have been a sign, as I just wanted to have a good time and go back home. I was really over it," she said. A companion suggested that they go to a beach, but there was hardly any food there. Tired and hungry, Johnson simply wanted to return home and told one of the other travellers.

"But the carload of people that I came with still wasn't ready. I thought about hopping in the other girl's car and drive with her, but I didn't follow my mind," she said. Then while heading home, tragedy struck.

"I saw some gravel and there was a corner, and the driver was going straight. I just tell myself that this is it, the car a go dash weh and so said, so done. My side of the car hit the embankment and [the car] fell over the precipice. I felt the entire right side of my body just being crushed," she said. Johnson said the driver escaped unhurt, but she remained trapped in the vehicle for a few minutes as persons worked feverishly to remove her. She said the police rushed her to the Annotto Bay Hospital. She was later transferred to the St Ann's Bay Regional Hospital, then to Spanish Town.

"I lost a lot of blood and had to get a transfusion, and my blood count was really low. I spent five months at Spanish Town Hospital. It was really painful and emotional. I didn't want my six-year-old son to see me in the condition I was [in]. So for months we did not see each other. I couldn't do anything for myself, so I was heavily dependent on others," she said.

After a series of physiotherapy sessions, Johnson said she is able to walk with the aid of crutches, but she is nowhere close to her former self.

"I just did a surgery in October to basically lengthen my leg, because it got shorter than the right one. I have a frame on my leg which pressures my knee, and it's very painful. I am going to need a knee-replacement surgery, and I really just still have a long way to go," she said. "It's really hard not being able to work, because I love my patients and I love going to work and interacting with them every day, but now I can't. Nursing is my passion and I cannot do it."

As of November 21, 419 persons have perished in crashes since the start of the year, with the final projection hovering around 467 by year's end. A record 487 road fatalities were recorded last year. Johnson begged motorists to be more vigilant on the roads and be courteous to other drivers and pedestrians.

"Just think twice before you go above the speed limit and before you start showing off. That is basically what a lot of drivers do; they drive fast to prove that they are drivers and it doesn't make any sense. Think about your life and the lives [of others], as a couple seconds can change your life forever," she said.