Bloggers

You need to take medical symptoms seriously. Angela’s story – Part 1

Jul 11, 2016

Firstly this is a true story. I have changed our names for the purpose of this post. I have also left out doctors and hospital names. The reason I have to share this story is to make as many as possible aware of our MVA insurance setup. If you are in an accident and are injured, you have only 6 months to make a claim otherwise for the most part you are outed. We were. The injuries Ian suffered were not investigated in a proper manner at the ER so they had to run their course before showing up. A period of 3 years after the accident. Because of the accident financially we are ruined. All we have worked for all our lives will soon be gone, our home, everything.

My name is Angela and I have been married to Ian for 33 years. On the 9/3/2001 Ian accepted a ride home from work. There were 3 people in the car. Ian had a seatbelt on and was behind the driver in the back seat. this was a country road, not the best. The driver was doing approx 120 kph, could have been more. The car was unable to get around a corner due to excessive speed; it slid sideways, hit a culvert, became airborne and went through a fence, hitting a large metal sign.

The rear of the car whipped around and then hit a telegraph pole, striking the car behind rear door on the passenger side mudguard with great force causing $23,000 in damages on a 12 month old car. When time came to repair, it was found to have the underneath snapped and was unable to be repaired so was written off. Throughout this whole time, Ian’s head was being tossed from side to side and the side of his head rammed into his shoulder with great force when the vehicle came to a sudden stop when it hit the telegraph pole. The part of his head that struck his shoulder is where his cerebral aneurysm was later diagnosed some 3 years later.

The driver was charged with negligent driving at the scene. Ian came home in a very strange state and was a bit dazed. He said he had a headache and I thought he was in shock, however, I never knew the full extent of the accident at that time. I only became aware recently because Ian could not remember, it is only the last 12 months that he has started to remember some parts of it. At the scene of the accident it appears Ian had lost consciousness for a few minutes. The lady who lived on the property came out and was abusing the driver, saying to him that she had heard him roaring down the road, all the while she was calling him an idiot and asking him what he was doing and what could he have been thinking to be driving in that manner.

The lady then looked at Ian as he was not looking too good. For some reason they got him out of the car and he was fighting very hard to stay conscious. He then made his way home by getting a lift in another vehicle.

He went to ER 2 hrs later but he was unable to have a CT scan as no radiologists were on duty. All the while he was saying the side of his head was sore and was tingling and was aching as well. His friend that took him to ER was not allowed in as he was not family.

At the scene of the accident, Ian’s head went black and I now know that was caused by a cerebral haemorrhage. That was not stated at the time, but at a later time a radiologist stated a previous bleed could not be ruled out.

The next 3 years were a nightmare. Very gradually everything changed, namely Ian. I was married to a kind loving person who turned into a mentally and verbally abusive bully. He never hit me but once he came very close. He poked me with his hand so hard I fell off the chair. His memory was getting worse and his body was turning on itself. He would suffer intermittent paralysis in his legs, groin, shoulder and back. Terrible pain. His behaviour was ok one minute then suddenly going off in a rage and I could not understand what he was saying. As this was all getting progressively worse I would talk to my mum and I would tell her something was wrong with Ian and i do not know what it is. I sat on the back steps many times and would ask God to please help me bring this whole thing to the fore so we could have Ian treated and whatever was causing the problem repaired.

Our marriage was in trouble but my gut feeling was telling me something was wrong with Ian. I now know Ian was at the doctors so often in the three years after the accident, and he had hardly been ill a day in his life prior to the accident. We have many doctors’ reports stating they did not know what was wrong with him or they would treat him for an illness he did not have. He had this unbelievable strength with no cut off point. He had continual headaches, which he never suffered before. He was also having strange thoughts, like wanting to run away up to the hills and hide and he did not know why. He said to me in the 3 years after the accident on many occasions, more than six, that there was something wrong with his brain and I would stupidly say “You are just tired”.

He remembered none of this until the last 12 months. A lot of it he still does not remember, but I think that’s for the best. Just before he was diagnosed some three years after the accident, he again said to me there was “something wrong with my brain and I want you to take it seriously” so I said to him “When your boss goes travelling in 2 weeks we will look into it”.

Wednesday before the long weekend in June 2004, Ian had what he said was an indescribable headache that was very severe that he could not get rid of. He said his groin went on him and they were very painful. Long story short he verbally abused me for no reason whilst we were talking on the side of the road. He came home after his boss arrived back, he was not good but he was okay. Monday long weekend took his boss to Sydney and Ian suffered another not normal headache. He came home very starry eyed as I had seen many times before but more severe. He sat in a chair he had not sat in before or since. He got up and went and laid down. I later on got him up for dinner, his symptoms were much worse. He was unable to focus on any one thing, staring at everything slowly, continually looking at things. He could not eat his dinner so he returned to bed.

This will be continued in Part Two tomorrow.