Yvonne Clark’s neck is caked in thick, stripey grazes, showing where her seatbelt strained – but failed – to keep her constrained.
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Under her hospital gown, her body is covered in bruises. Tubes feed her oxygen and a cocktail of medication that has at last dulled the pain of her broken femur. It will be six weeks before she can think about putting weight on the leg, or doing much of anything.
The Mount Warrigal grandmother and her husband Colin are survivors of the accident that shut down Mount Ousley Road for much of Tuesday.
The couple was travelling down the mountain, with Colin at the wheel, when a truck came unstuck on the roadway behind them and collected their car.
From her Wollongong Hospital bed, post-surgery, Ms Clark was shocked to learn the truck has since been issued 24 defect notices for “pretty much everything”.
“Accidents happen, and I understand accidents happen, but knowingly having all these faults is a criminal offence in my eyes,” Mrs Clark, 57, told the Mercury.
“I’m very lucky to be alive. My husband is very lucky to be alive.
“But in those few seconds, we thought we were dying.”
The couple was returning home from a medical appointment in Sydney when Mr Clark noticed a car moving hastily out of the path of a truck in his rear vision mirror. Mrs Clark saw nothing of what was about to happen.
“I was just dozing, then all of a sudden I heard this bang and felt this shake, like I was inside a washing machine for ever and ever and ever and ever," she said.
“For me it just didn’t stop. The noise was horrendous.
“And the pain. Oh my God, the pain.”
Mrs Clark was thrown sideways across the car, landing with her head in the driver’s seat and her back on the central console. The accident has rendered her unable to lift her 13-month-old grandson. Mr Clark, a diesel mechanic, suffered whiplash in the crash and will likely require physiotherapy before returning to work.
“I think his scars will take longer to heal than mine,” Mrs Clark said. “He actually witnessed it unraveling, even though he tried to avoid it. He’s quite shaken up.”
Mrs Clark said she hoped her experience would serve as a reminder to truck operators to ensure their vehicles were road-worthy.
The circumstances surrounding Tuesday’s crash remain under police investigation.