Sleepwalking Terror: Woman Loses Her Leg After Driving Car While Asleep And Slamming Into Tree
Kelly Jackson, 26, of Hall Green, Birmingham, lost her leg after hopping into her car and slamming into a tree while she was sleepwalking, according to the Mirror. On the night of May 18, 2013, after hanging out with a group of her friends, she went to the home she shared with her grandmother and went to sleep in her bed.
Some time later, she crawled out of bed — wearing her pajamas — and began sleepwalking, making her way outside and into her Mini Copper. Once she had driven half a mile past her home, she slammed into a tree. Jackson was ejected from her vehicle and was “trapped between the wreckage.”
Woman loses leg after crashing her car into a tree while SLEEPDRIVING #UkNews http://t.co/xVPaczUJ9r pic.twitter.com/5IrW7pbof7
— newslocker_uknews (@newslock_uknews) September 4, 2015
When local EMT arrived at the massive crash, she was immediately rushed to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where she slipped into a coma; she didn’t wake up until three weeks later. The sleepwalker survived the crash but lost her leg as a result.
She claimed to not have remembered what transpired on the night of the crash, saying, “I know what I have been told, that I was out with friends, my ex-boyfriend dropped me home and my nan saw me go to bed.”
“I don’t know why I got into my car but I was found in my pyjamas. I used to sleep walk as a child and I can only assume I must have slept walked that night, which is incredibly scary.”
“I have no memory of being in the car or the crash itself, I suspect I will never really know what happened but one thing I do know is that I am lucky to be alive,” she added.
According to the Birmingham Mail, after the car crash, Jackson suffered a brain injury and severe burns. She also had to undergo several operations to reconstruct her face, but there was no saving her leg.
“I’m not upset about my leg – I count my lucky stars that I am alive. I haven’t really had dark days,” stated Jackson. “But I am impatient so I have found the recovery process very slow. I know I still have a long way to go.”
“I know it sounds silly but I am only 5ft tall and I used to live in high heels so I’m gutted I will probably never wear a stiletto again. But I never had a moment when I thought: ‘God, I’ve lost my leg what am I going to do?’ After I awoke from the coma my family had to tell me every day what had happened to me.
“The brain injury meant I wouldn’t remember from one day to the next. I used to have a diary next to my bed. Visitors would write down the day and time and what we talked about. I would wake up the next day and read it to find out who had been to see me as I could never remember.”
Two years has passed since the sleep walking incident, and Jackson is still healing but is more focused on raising money to give back.
“I’ve taken so much time from the nurses, surgeons, consultants and therapist. I just want to give something back to the hospital and charities that have helped me in my recovery,” Jackson said.
[Image courtesy of Bruno Vincent / Getty Images]
