March 1971 (19 years old)
A young man asked me out. I went on a couple of dates, but he was always nervous and I felt slightly uncomfortable with him the few times we went out. He asked me to see a movie on our next date and I decided it was time to tell him, after the date, that my feelings for him were more sisterly than girlfriend.
He picked me up on his motorbike. I was wearing a dress, pantyhose and chunky heeled shoes – not the best attire for bike riding. The helmet fitted snugly, so off we went. As he was wearing rather strong glasses, which embarrassed him, he changed into contact lenses at the movie theatre.
Once the movie finished, we put on our helmets ready to leave, but he could not remove one of the contact lenses. Deciding to deal with it later on, he put his glasses on to prevent his eyes watering in the wind on the bike. (Many helmets didn’t have visors back then) Goodness knows if this affected his vision on that night.
On the return ride, we struck the back of a car, I flew over the roof, onto the bonnet of the vehicle and ended up in the gutter on the road. I was taken by ambulance, to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, unconscious and with spinal fluid leaking from my ears. The helmet had a crack down one side, so wearing it no doubt saved my life.
Unconscious for 3 days, my head was about to be shaved to investigate what was happening, when I woke up. I remember a doctor standing at the end of my bed asking me if I knew where I was. My answer at that time was “ Yes, do you think I’m an idiot, I’m in the Royal Adelaide Hospital.” Poor man, he may have asked me the same question a couple of times when he thought I was alert, and not received an answer.
The doctor informed me that I had ‘deep’ concussion, as the one x-ray taken had not shown any broken bones. There is no memory of him mentioning a fractured eye socket, but I can still remember high on my left cheek being tender and having a scabby scrape healing.
My stay in hospital was around 10 days and on the day I left, I was a little nervous in my Dad’s car on the journey home. The trip felt a little surreal after 10 days inside.
The local General Practitioner (doctor) visited me at home to check on my recovery after a couple of days. I had noticed that my balance was ‘off’, I would run into the edge of the house while chasing my 4 year old brother around the house to the letterbox. My hearing was also different and the doctor did a simple test to discover I had lost the hearing in my left ear. He believed I had shattered the nerve in my ear when my base of skull fracture occurred, and he also suggested I had a fractured eye socket on the same side. I was not to watch television or read, to give my brain time to heal. Informed at the time that often, only one in three survive a base of skull fracture (obvious to him by the spinal fluid found in my ears) and they can be left with lifelong issues.
Sadly, I would have gone back to work as soon as I felt ok, if my GP hadn’t made his diagnosis. We didn’t have MRI or CAT scans available back then to pick up the changes in the brain or broken bones, so I was one of the lucky ones.
No hearing in one ear took a while to adjust to as it is a little difficult to work out the direction a sound is coming from. Surprising how our ‘stereo’ hearing helps define different sounds from different rooms, how far away a noise is etc etc. I would have to look around to work out who was calling out to get my attention. The slight balance issues were minor, as long as I didn’t try running, and I do have to watch uneven ground. It did worry me that I may develop issues as I matured as many people get unsteady on their feet as they age anyway.
June 2024 (72 years old)
These days I have been married (and divorced) twice, gave birth to two daughters, been employed since the girls were 12 and 14, until retiring in 2018. I have eight biological grandchildren and 4 non bio grandies. So far I have 8 bio great grandchildren. I have a car licence and did have a MR licence, driving buses, until recently. The medical required yearly once I reached a certain age, was an expense I could do without, when I rarely drove a bus for most of the year, so I gave up that licence.
Managed to purchase my own home in 2018 prior to retirement and I live in the house on my own (with a cat). I enjoy gardening and some volunteer work. My daughters (and their children) live roughly 3 hours away in opposite directions, so I drive to visit when finances allow.
Really, I have no idea if I have a brain injury because my life has been sufficient, and I am grateful to be this age with only minor age-related issues such as slight arthritis. I am a lucky survivor.