The P Plate Factor By Drew Lindsay Smashwords Edition Copyright © Drew Lindsay 2012 The right of Drew Lindsay as the Author of this Work has been asserted. Smashwords Edition, License Notes This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. “****” ALSO BY DREW LINDSAY All books are available at Drew Lindsay’s page at Smashwords.com The Killing Short Story The Cylinder Short Story The Writing Competition Very Short Story Coral Sea Affair Ben Hood Thriller Number 1 Black Mountain Affair Ben Hood Thriller Number 2 Flesh Traders Ben Hood Thriller Number 3 The Dead Woman’s House Ben Hood Thriller Number 4 “****” ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We want to thank Danielle Mills from the Ambulance Public Affairs Unit, together with the paramedics from the Ambulance Service of NSW and Special Casualty Access Team paramedics from the Air Ambulance Service of NSW for their wonderful assistance arranging the reunion with Elias and his family. Thank you to Leonarda for the cover design. http://leonardaarmstrong.com THE MAIN CONTRIBUTORS Elias Yousif – accident victim Maurice Yousif – Elias’ Father Jolanta Yousif – Elias’ Mother James Yousif – Elias’ Brother Fred Yousif – Elias’ Uncle Mitch Newman – Elias’ friend & witness Michelle Wozniak – Elias’ girlfriend “****” PROLOGUE In the silence of night, there is nothing more sickening or frightening than to hear the smashing, tearing, splintering, shattering sound of a motor vehicle which had been travelling at high speed, crashing out of control into a large tree or other solid object. Actually that’s wrong. There is something more sickening or frightening than the sound of the crash. It’s approaching what is left of the vehicle, if it’s not on fire, and observing the condition of the occupants. It can be even more painful an experience, if you observe a P plate on the vehicle before you actually reach it. That will mean the occupants are probably teenagers. Unexpected and violent death or serious injury is always a shock, but when the victims are young, the impact is often greater on witnesses, emergency personnel, the victim’s friends and especially their family. 17 year old, P plate driver Elias Yousif loved to drive fast. He especially loved the power of his Grandmother’s BMW 328i and was more than happy to be allowed drive it when she went on an overseas holiday in June, 2008. He had thrashed his own car to the point of mechanical breakdown. Fortunately for Elias, his Grandmother’s BMW was equipped with more crash survival devices than his own car. On the evening of the 19th July, 2008, had Elias been driving his own vehicle along Glenhaven Road, Glenhaven, and overtaken his mate’s car as they approached a blind bend, it is quite likely that he wouldn’t be around today to assist with the preparation of this book. He would be just another fatal P plate driver statistic. A young life violently ended. He would no longer be someone’s son or brother or grandson or nephew or friend. He would be gone from the face of the earth forever. On that fateful night, Elias made a quick decision to overtake a vehicle at reasonably high speed as they approached a blind bend in the road. That decision almost cost him his life and set in motion a chain of extremely painful events that plunged himself, his family, loved ones and friends, into a nightmare world. They say that time heals all wounds. This accident happened just over 3 years ago. The physical wounds healed quite miraculously as you will see. It’s harder to determine the extent of emotional healing because that affected more than just Elias. Tears flowed from some witnesses who were interviewed to obtain material for inclusion in this book and from others who assisted in the proof reading of this book. One foolish decision caused mountains of pain. Statistics clearly show that P plate drivers are more prone to making foolish and dangerous decisions when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle, than older and more experienced drivers and often with fatal consequences. We’ll examine the statistics a little later. Elias’ driving habits are now different than they were prior to his accident. There is an old saying. “Death is natures way of making you slow down” The saying wasn’t specifically aimed at drivers but it can equally apply. This book examines the horrific flow on effects caused by one foolish decision by a P plate driver. If just one young driver’s life is spared a similar or even worse fate by reading the story of Elias’s survival, it will be worth all the hours of research, interviewing, writing, paper and ink. “****” CHAPTER ONE COINCIDENCE? The Catholic Church in Australia celebrated World Youth Day from Tuesday 15th July and continuing to Sunday 20th July, 2008. Pope Benedict XVI and Catholic pilgrims from over 170 world countries arrived in Sydney. Hotels were sold out. Thousands of families offered their homes as accommodation for hundreds of thousands of visitors. It was the largest mass gathering of people ever held in Australian history. 223,000 people were registered pilgrims to Australia with close to 500,000 attending the closing mass at Randwick Racecourse. Three of these visiting pilgrims were priests from Poland. Father Jozef Oleszko from Bielsko – Biala Kosciol Trojcy Swietej; Father Sylwester Suchon from Kosciol SW. Marcina Cwiklice – Pszczyna and Father Krzysztof Sontag of Matki Boskiej Rozancowej Ledziny – Tychy. They had been driven to the airport in Poland by a brother priest, who explained that he had two distant cousins in Australia, although he could not recall their names and had no idea where they lived. He only knew that they were sisters. How the three priests would ever identify and meet these two distant and unknown relatives of the priest who drove them to the airport, amongst the millions of people living in Sydney together with hundreds of thousands of visitors, would take nothing short of a miracle. The three priests were billeted out to willing families in various parts of Sydney. Father Oleszko was billeted with a family in the Marayong area. He was invited to participate in mass on Wednesday 16th July at the Marayong Catholic Church by parish priest, Father Antoni Dudek, originally of Matki Boskiej Czestochowskiej, Poland. Father Dudek recognised a characteristic in Father Oleszko’s Polish accent that possibly linked him with a particular area of Poland which would also be familiar with one of his Polish parishioners, Mrs. Roza Matulin. After mass he introduced the two. During this conversation, Roza, as is customary, asked the visiting priest if she could arrange for him to visit a part of Sydney during his brief stay in Australia. Father Oleszko indicated that he would love to see the Blue Mountains and that he had two other Polish friends, also priests, with him who would also be very excited to be able to visit the famous mountains. An outing was arranged for the following Friday. Roza left her mobile number with Father Oleszko. Roza’s sister is Jolanta Yousif. Jolanta is the mother of the person central to this book, Elias. Jolanta had no knowledge whatsoever of the meeting between her sister and Father Oleszko and in fact did not know Father Oleszko. Jolanta and her son James visited St. Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney on Thursday 17th July as part of the World Youth Day celebrations. They were just two people amidst tens of thousands massed in and around Sydney that day. They were in the security section of the cathedral picking up their bags which had been stored for safe keeping. Three men were standing in this area with one attempting to take a photograph of the other two. The man with the camera stepped back in order to frame the photo but in doing so almost stepped onto Jolanta’s foot. One of the other men called out a warning to his friend, in Polish, and Jolanta responded in Polish that she was OK and would move aside. The men were surprised to be addressed in fluent Polish by someone they assumed to be Australian and they started chatting. They introduced themselves as Father’s Oleszko, Suchon and Sontag. Jolanta offered to be a guide for the priests if they wanted to visit anything in particular during their short stay in Sydney and they advised her that they were being taken to the Blue Mountains by another lady the following day and invited Jolanta to phone this woman and coordinate the outing so that they could all travel as a group. Father Oleszko wrote Roza’s mobile number on a Mary MacKillop brochure together with his mobile number and handed to Jolanta. She tucked it into her bag without looking at it. Security guards were moving people on and the group parted company soon after. Later that evening, Jolanta decided to ring the woman’s number and introduce herself. She took it from her hand bag and immediately recognised it to be her sister’s mobile number! She spoke with her sister and the pair marvelled at the coincidence of their chance meetings. Jolanta then phoned her mother in Poland and advised her of the meeting with the three Polish priests. Jolanta’s mother recognised Father Sylwaestor Suchon’s name and advised that her uncle and brother were known by this priest. She also asked Jolanta to inquire of Father Suchon if he knew a Father Antoni Swadzba in Poland, who was Jolanta and Roza’s cousin. Jolanta wrote down the name of her distant cousin on the same Mary MacKillop brochure. The group went to the Blue Mountains as arranged on Friday 18th July. As they turned off the Woodville road and onto the highway to the mountains, Jolanta had Roza read out the name of the priest who was their distant cousin. A silence descended on the three priests. Finally Father Krzysztof said, ‘are you the two sisters?’ Jolanta replied, ‘Yes, we are sisters.’ Father Krzysztof went on. ‘No, you are not following. Our best friend, Father Antoni Swadzba who drove us to the airport in Poland, is your cousin. He spoke of you just before we left but he didn’t know who you were or where you lived.” Father Sylwester then said, ‘What is God trying to tell us? What is God’s message here?’ Jolanta reported feeling that something very strange was about to happen. She described deep fear of perhaps even dying that day, although she had no idea why she would feel so frightened. As it turned out, the visit to the Blue Mountains was a wonderful outing for Jolanta, Roza and their guests. The priests were required to perform mass that afternoon upon their return to Sydney. Roza made phone calls and arranged for them to perform mass at the Marayong church that afternoon. The priests prayed publicly for Jolanta and Roza and their families at that time. Jolanta was constrained to attempt a meeting between the priests and Maurice and her family, in order that the priests might personally bestow a blessing on each. She rang Maurice and arranged a family meeting at his place of business, World of Tiles in Castle Hill. The priests met Maurice. They blessed him and Jolanta first as Elias and James had not yet arrived. JOLANTA (ELIAS’ MOTHER) STATES: ‘First they had to turn the water from Maurice’s drinking fountain into holy water as they had no equipment with them, so they did a prayer over the water and then they blessed us and sprinkled the water over us and did the sign of the cross but when Elias walked in a short time later, they became kind of different. I thought about it looking back many times. They asked Elias to kneel down because he was too tall for Father Suchon to reach. Elias kneeled down and all three put their hands on his head and one prayed in Latin and another prayed in Polish and it was very confronting as they blessed him for all his adult life starting from his HSC and his teenage life and further on and it was very different than how they blessed all of us.’ ELIAS STATES: ‘The priests came on the Friday evening to bless us at Dad’s showroom. I’d seen priests do blessings before but not like this. Mum asked me to bring James to the showroom. I had to kneel down and they put their hands on my head and they started saying prayers. I began to feel a bit nervous, like a butterfly feeling in my stomach.’ The group dispersed. Jolanta and the three priests went to Roza’s home for a bar b q. Maurice and James went home. Elias visited his girlfriend, Michelle. Jolanta was very surprised when Elias and Michelle also arrived at Roza’s place. He rarely visited there. Elias asked if the priests would also bless Michelle. Jolanta was dumbfounded. This type of request was not something she would have expected from Elias. The priests were happy to bestow a blessing on Michelle. Jolanta had not intended going to the huge Sydney mass on Sunday 20th July, and had not purchased the necessary tickets. The priests gave her three tickets and invited her, Elias and James to be their guests. Michelle had already purchased tickets and was to attend with her mother. On Saturday 19th July, Jolanta remained home as James was not well. She cleaned the house. Later she discovered that Elias, a keen soccer player, had, on that Saturday, played what many have described was the best game of his life and had also kicked the winning goal for his team, beating a previously unbeatable team. More surprising was the fact that Elias was not a goal kicker, but a defender. JOLANTA STATES: ‘When he came home from soccer that day, he stood up near his room and looked down into the kitchen where I was and he said “Mum, what did the priests do to me?” I looked up at him and said “What do you mean by that? They blessed you.” Elias said to me, “You don’t understand. I feel really different.” I said to him, “Just go and have a shower. You stink.” Elias said, “You don’t understand Mum. You should have seen the goal I kicked.” ELIAS STATES: ‘I remember waking up the next day, after the blessing and having the same feeling, like butterflies in my stomach and we played a very good team and I played really really well. I’ve been thinking back and in fact the whole day I felt really weird.’ Elias showered and got ready to go out. Jolanta encouraged him to be home as early as possible as they had to make an early start to reach Sydney the following morning for the World Youth Day mass celebrations. Maurice and James remained at home. Jolanta drove to the nearby home of Maurice’s brother Fred, to undertake hairdressing activities with Fred’s wife Renata. As was previously indicated, Elias would normally have been driving his 1986 BMW 318i, a smaller vehicle with no air bags on this evening however he had recently sold it, following repairs to the gear box and linkages. Elias has admitted that the repairs to his car were caused by his tendency to drive the vehicle at reasonably high speeds and on occasions, quite erratically. His vehicle had little driver protection safety equipment installed. On the night of the accident, he had been given the loan of his grandmother’s BMW 328i motor vehicle while she was on an overseas holiday. This much larger and solid vehicle was fitted with front and side airbags. This equipment most certainly played an important part in saving his life. Just coincidence? “****” CHAPTER TWO THE ACCIDENT Saturday the 19th July, 2008 was an ice cold winters night with clear Sydney skies and a rising full moon. They say crazy things happen to people when the moon is full. Perhaps it was the huge pale moon that twisted fate in the life of teenager, Elias Yousif on that particular night. The thing is; P plate drivers; especially males, seem to be more prone to behaving badly behind the wheel of a car no matter where the moon is in the sky. It would seem they also prefer to drive like idiots and smash themselves and others up on the weekend. This accident happened on a weekend. Elias to this day, cannot remember anything about the accident. This is not uncommon for someone suffering a Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, also known as Acquired Brain Injury. In fact memory loss is probably one of the less serious effects experienced with this kind of injury. Initially, he had lost memory of anything he had done for weeks prior to the accident. Little by little, things have moved back into focus. He now knows that he left his home to drive to a pizza shop in Glenhaven Road, Glenhaven, to meet up with his best mate, Mitch Newman. Mitch worked there and was just finishing up his shift for the evening. Elias had a pizza while waiting for Mitch to complete his shift. Perhaps he can actually remember this or perhaps he knows it because he was told that happened. Whatever the case, from there his mind entered a black hole and the weeks that followed are probably gone forever from his memory. Mitch is the only one who actually knows what happened from there. MITCH (ELIAS’S MATE) STATES: ‘I had finished work. We were going to go and see a movie. I drove out from the Pizza shop in my Dawo Landos hatch and turned left onto Glenhaven Road. Elias was behind me in his grandmother’s BMW. We were heading back to my place at Kellyville. Elias knew where we were going. He was on my arse all the way down the road and that was normal for him. He was on my arse. We were going about 80 and I think he’s probably been on his phone or something, which he used to do as well and he’s probably looked up; seen that he’s right on my arse, pulled out to correct it and then just thought, oh, I’ll just overtake him. I wasn’t aware that he was overtaking me until he was right beside me. I’m really not sure but I think he overtook me just before the left handed bend. We were just into the bend. I usually slow down for that bend. It’s a pretty tricky bend. That’s why I also reckon it caused him to want to try and overtake me. I remember I put my foot on the brakes. He’s probably looked up from his phone and seen that he might have hit me. I’m only speculating. I couldn’t see him on the phone. It was dark. He was accelerating as he overtook me.’ Ok, let’s stop there and have a look at what is happening. The first thing you need to do is examine the attached photograph taken south along Glenhaven Road just prior to the accident location. It’s a poorly lit, sealed, semi rural road in Western Sydney with a 60 kilometre per hour speed limit. The boys were approaching a blind left handed bend at the end of a straight stretch of road which had been marked with unbroken double white lines (indicating that it was illegal and dangerous to overtake here) for around a kilometre before the crash site. Mitch admits he was travelling at around 80 kilometres per hour and Elias was tailgating him, as, according to Mitch, was his usual practice when driving. Forget the mobile phone speculation. It didn’t happen. If Elias had been on his mobile phone as he overtook Mitch that evening, the person on the other end of the phone would have heard the crash. The police would have located that witness in a flash when the mobile phone was examined. The person on the other end of the phone would have made contact to see what had happened. No. It is more likely that Elias was not distracted by his mobile phone as he overtook his mate that evening. It is more likely that his concentration was fixed on just one objective. He wanted to be first to reach Mitch’s place and in order to achieve that, he had to get in front. He was tailgating Mitch well over the speed limit since they had left the Pizza shop, obviously without an opportunity to overtake. Mitch slowed up at the blind left handed bend in the road and Elias saw his chance. The only problem was that he had no idea what was approaching in the opposite direction, or even if his vehicle would handle and safely negotiate the bend at the speed he was travelling. An older, more experienced and prudent driver would never have attempted to overtake at high speed on a blind bend. Elias was neither of the above on that evening. He was in the high accident risk category of MALE….TEENAGE….’P’ PLATE DRIVER. THE 30 SECOND FACTOR Consider this:- On the evening of Saturday 19 July, 2008, Mr and Mrs Jackson would normally have been battling to get Jessica, their 5 year old daughter, to buckle up in the back seat of their Holden sedan. Jessica hated the child safety seat and usually found a reason to delay any trip out for as long as possible; other than this particular evening. On the evening of the 19 July, 2008, Jessica was in the car like a flash. She was visiting her grandmother and that was special. Seat belts were quickly fastened and they were away, right on time, heading north along Glenhaven Road towards Old Northern Road, at least half a minute earlier than would have been the case if Jessica had tried out one of her delaying tactics. They were now heading towards the blind bend where the accident occurred. Mitch and Elias were approaching the same bend from the opposite direction. Elias is travelling at or in excess of 100 kph overtaking Mitch on that blind bend. Mr. Jackson is about to enter the same bend at 60 kph at least. Headlights blind each of three drivers from opposite directions. Elias desperately swerves left, his vehicle colliding heavily with Mitch’s. Mr. Jackson attempts to swerve left but his vehicle takes the full front and driver’s side impact of Elias’s vehicle at a combined speed of around 160 kilometres per hour. Most rev heads get a blast at achieving acceleration from zero to 100 kph in 6 seconds. Imagine stopping by impact from a combined speed of around 160 kph in a split second. That is a flesh, bone and tissue crushing stop. Mitch’s vehicle is flipped on its side and slides in a shower of sparks through a fence, landing upside down on a pile of sandstone boulders. It bursts into flames. Mr. Jackson is crushed to a pulp, as is Jessica. They die instantly. Their vehicle rolls over and slams into a tree on the side of the road. The roof is crushed and part of the window frame slices through Mrs. Jackson’s neck. Her carotid artery is severed. The left side of her skull is crushed. She dies within minutes. Mitch is trapped, screaming as he burns to death. Elias’s vehicle is left in the middle of the road, crushed to half its usual size. The engine compartment and bonnet have been violently pushed back into his body, severing his head at the neck and crushing his rib cage to pulp. He is dead. Even safety air bags couldn’t save him from that kind of high speed impact. But wait up a minute! Elias didn’t die. Mitch didn’t die. The Jackson family didn’t die. You’re right. They didn’t, all thanks, among other things, to the 30 second factor. On the night of the 19th July, 2008, THERE WAS a vehicle approaching Mitch and Elias from the opposite direction…….. But it was 30 seconds away from the blind bend. Jessica Jackson decided to pull one of her delaying tactics that particular night. They weren’t going to her grandmothers’ place at all. They were visiting boring friends. Those 30 seconds of delay, saved a huge amount of money on funerals; and intolerable pain for many, many people. BACK TO THE ACCIDENT MITCH STATES: ‘When we got just out of the middle of the bend, then his car started to go sideways. It happened in slow motion. He just slid. It seemed so slow but it happened so quick at the same time. His car slid in front of me and he was going towards a tree sideways. 180 degrees. The driver’s side hit the tree and his car was facing towards me. Bits of his car went everywhere. I saw him hit the tree. It wasn’t good. Not good at all. Huge, very loud bang. The tree had fallen and I climbed through the tree and just ripped the door off….not off obviously but I pulled the door back and he was hunched over and he wasn’t breathing. I remembered first aid from PE so I tilted his head back to open up his airway and just shoved my hand…my two fingers down his throat to try and clear any blockages and then he just started going ‘aaahhhhh’ like, gasping. He had a seat belt on. The side and front air bags had gone off and I reckon that is what saved him. Then I got sat down by some witnesses and from there I don’t really remember much after that. He was completely unconscious. He had blood coming out of his mouth. When it happened the adrenalin just kept me calm. I just wanted to save him and as soon as the Ambulance was called and that, I just can’t remember anything. I just went into shock.’ Mitch states that when his and Elias’s motor vehicles were in about the centre of the bend, with Elias going much faster than him, suddenly Elias’s vehicle slid out of control in front of him and then continued to slide around 180 degrees, travelling sideways until the driver’s side heavily impacted a large tree on the left hand side of the road. That tree, or what was left of it, has now been removed but part of the stump is visible in the grass at ground level. That tree was about 80 metres from the centre of the bend where Elias lost control of his car. Even if his vehicle slid sideways for 50 metres, the side on impact with the tree had sufficient power to split the tree in half, knocking parts of it over into a residential front yard. Enclosed photographs reveal the massive structural damage caused to the BMW Elias was driving, and also to the substantially large tree. This was high speed impact. One can only speculate on the speed the BMW was travelling before it went out of control. Local residents obviously heard the thunderous impact and came quickly to the scene to investigate. People started dialling OOO. “****” CHAPTER THREE EMERGENCY RESPONSE – GROUND CREW Paramedics Craig Watkins, Cassandra McKenzie and Robert McCall were three of a number of NSW Ambulance paramedics dispatched to the accident scene in two separate ambulances. Police and Fire Brigade were also called to attend. Elias was unconscious, dying and trapped inside the twisted metal shell. His head had been slumped forward and he wasn’t breathing. Mitch had immediately crawled into the wreckage and sat behind Elias, grasping his head in his hands and moving it gently backwards which maintained an open airway. Elias began to breathe with a raspy, gurgling sound. Had Mitch not performed this relatively simple first aid procedure, the paramedics would have arrived to find Elias dead. Paramedics Craig and Cassandra were operating out of the Parramatta Ambulance station that evening. They were the closest available resource. From the time the first 000 call was received, it took them less than 10 minutes to reach the accident scene. They quickly assessed Elias’s condition as critical. A breathing tube was inserted. They worked with other emergency personnel to extract him from the car. His legs were trapped under the crushed dashboard. The paramedics knew they needed expert medical assistance at the scene. A two way radio was used to request the urgent attendance of the NSW Air Ambulance helicopter and medical crew. EMERGENCY RESPONSE – AIR CREW Inside a huge metal hanger at Bankstown Airport is a relatively small, pre-fabricated room. The walls are covered with maps of NSW, white boards, rosters, training schedules and weather information. A large desk is festooned with telephones and communication equipment. This unassuming room is where some of the most delicate and sophisticated Air Ambulance rescue missions in Australia are planned. On the evening of the 19th July, 2008, Air Ambulance helicopter pilot John Broome, a Special Causality Access Team (SCAT) member and SCAT paramedic Lindsay Court, received a call for assistance. They and a medical team were required urgently at the site in Glenhaven where Elias was struggling to hold onto life. They consulted with the Doctor who was rostered on that evening and the group gathered in the small operations room to quickly plan a recovery strategy. A short time later, the men climbed on board a Bell 412 twin engine helicopter. The motors roared and the huge blades began to turn. Pilot John Broome completed his final aircraft checks and obtained lift off clearance. At 8.57 pm, John applied power to the large helicopter, guiding it slowly at first, then more rapidly into the clear night sky. He set course for Glenhaven. It had been determined that the only available landing site was an oval just off Glenhaven road, a short distance from the crash scene. On the ground, a race against time was on with paramedics trying to keep Elias alive. Police sealed off Glenhaven road. Flashing red and blue emergency lights lit up the trees and sky in every direction. Seven minutes after takeoff from Bankstown airport, John Broome quickly brought the red and white helicopter into the Glenhaven area and made a careful examination of the oval where he was to attempt to land. Floodlights were activated. He scoured the area for any hazard which may pose a threat to the aircraft and crew. He carefully brought the helicopter down. Emergency vehicles were waiting to take SCAT paramedic, Lindsay Court and the Doctor to the nearby crash site. The rescue and medical crew worked furiously, cutting metal and forcibly removing wreckage. The critically injured boy’s Father arrived at the scene. He was dreadfully shaken. He tried to speak to his son but collapsed and had to be attended to by other paramedics. Elias was eventually extracted from the car and placed on a stretcher. He was unconscious and blowing bubbles of blood; always a very bad sign. Life saving procedures continued. “****” CHAPTER FOUR HORROR HITS THE FAMILY MAURICE (ELIAS’ FATHER) STATES: ‘That evening we had all planned to have a very early night because Jolanta, James, Elias and Elias’ girlfriend Michelle, were planning to be down at Randwick for the Youth Mass. They had organised tickets but they had to leave home at about 5 O’clock in the morning. It meant that everyone had to have an early night. Jolanta had to go to my Brother Fred’s house to do his wife’s hair. She left home around 6.30 that evening after we had dinner. She told me that she would be home around 8.30 but if not to make sure the boys go to bed. Around quarter to 7, after Jolanta left, Elias made a phone call or received a phone call and he decided he was going to step out for a little while. He told me he was going to visit his friend Mitch at the Pizza shop where he worked. He was just going to spend half an hour there, and come back home. So he wasn’t going to be long. I said to him to be very careful and don’t stay out late. You need to be home. I’ll give you no more than an hour. You need to be home before 8 O’clock. At the time, my Mum had travelled overseas two or three weeks before to Syria and she left her car with me. Elias decided to take my Mum’s car that evening. That was a 2000 model BMW. I felt more comfortable with him driving that car because it had all the modern air bags and safety features. He was going to visit Mitch and maybe have a pizza there and then come home. I was in the bathroom around 8.30 and I heard the house phone ring. James answered the phone and he was talking to someone but his voice sounded alarmed. I could hear him through the door. James knocked on the door and said “Dad, Dad, you have to speak to someone on the phone. I think its Mitch. I think Elias has had an accident.” My heart dropped. I grabbed the phone. Mitch was on the other end but he wasn’t talking clearly. I said to Mitch, “Has he had an accident? What’s going on?” Mitch was sobbing on the other side. He wouldn’t make sense. I was pleading with him. “Tell me what happened? Is he OK?” All I could get out of him was that Elias had had an accident and he couldn’t wake him up. I was trying to get him to say where the accident had happened. Finally he told me that it was on Glenhaven road. I hung up and came out of the bathroom. I told James that Elias had been in a little accident but he should be OK. I didn’t want to alarm him. I asked him to call his Mum and tell her to come home because Elias has had an accident, but he’s alright but Dad has gone to make sure he is alright. I told him that the accident was on Glenhaven road and to tell his Mum that I was on my way there now. I didn’t want James to be alone for too long, but I didn’t want to take him with me. I drove off towards Glenhaven road. That’s about a 7 or 8 minute drive from where we live. I turned off Old Northern Road into Glenhaven road. In the distance I could see a light haze in the tree tops. It seemed like at least a couple of kilometres away. There were bright lights….flashing lights bouncing off the tree tops. I was at the top of Glenhaven road. I drove down Glenhaven road and saw a road block. There was a Policeman blocking the road. Cars in front of me were making U turns to head back the other way. I got to the road block and I asked the Policeman what was going on. I didn’t think that Elias’ accident was to do with the road block. I could see all the lights but I thought that this could not be what Elias was involved in. I asked the Policeman why the road was blocked but he didn’t want to tell me. I told him that I had just received a phone call and that my son had been involved in a car accident. I told him that I needed to get through because his accident was on Glenhaven road somewhere. He said, “You’ve been told that your son has been involved in a car accident?” I said, “Yes”. He said, “You can drive through. Just follow the road but drive slowly.” I drove for another half a kilometre or so. I was the only other car on the road at that time because of the road block. I came around a corner and the bright lights became more and more obvious. It was an ocean of lights. There were Police cars and Fire engines and Police rescue. I had also seen a helicopter parked on the left hand side, before I reached the other vehicles. Its lights were on and its rotor was still going. I’m thinking, na, this can’t be Elias’ accident. Something big has happened here. There is a helicopter and all these rescue vehicles. I was hoping I could get past them to where Elias’ accident was because this couldn’t be his. I was thinking that I should have approached Glenhaven road from the opposite end to get to Elias’ accident because then I wouldn’t have had to drive through all this. The rescue vehicles were blocking the road. I couldn’t drive any further so I had to proceed on foot and as I got closer, the reality started to hit me. I started thinking, ‘my God, this could be Elias’ accident.’ The accident scene was lit up like daylight. I could see bits of a car. I realised that the bits of the car were white and I knew my Mother’s car was a white BMW. It was becoming more painful as I was approaching. It’s looking like it was the accident but I still held out hope that it wasn’t. I got to within 40 metres and I could see the number plate on the car. I knew it was the car. My heart just dropped. People stopped me from going closer. I said, “look, that’s my son in that car.” There were rescue people all around the car. I couldn’t see Elias at that time. They let me through. A man put his hand on my arm and he told others that I was the boy’s Father. Some of the rescue people had machines and were doing something with the car. There was about four or five people holding up tubes and things and they were giving Elias treatment. I couldn’t get to him because the rescue people were all around him. One of the Ambulance people said to me, “What are you doing here?” I said, “That’s my son.” A lady came up to me and put her arm around me and she said she wanted to say something to me. She said, “Go up and talk to him. He may be able to hear you.” I went closer to Elias who was still inside the car and I said, “Bubba, I’m here. Don’t be scared. I’m here for you.” They couldn’t get him out. He was trapped. I remembered seeing Mitch and Mitch’s Dad. I don’t remember what happened after that. I think I must have passed out. I remember people trying to give me some sort of treatment. I don’t know how long I had passed out for. I remember being on the ground. Then I was near the edge of an ambulance. Then when I looked back, they had Elias on a stretcher. There were medical people, Doctors and nurses working on him. They put him in the ambulance and I gather they were going to drive him up to where the helicopter was and they were going to transport him by helicopter.’ Jolanta had visited her Brother in Law, Fred Yousif and his wife Renata, at their Castle Hill home earlier that evening. Jolanta is an extremely competent hair dresser and this visit was primarily to style Renata’s hair. At around 7.30pm, Elias arrived at the house and asked his Mother for some money she owed him. Jolanta gave him the money and as she did, Elias kissed her. He then left the house. Jolanta reflected on this kiss for some time as she felt Elias had not kissed her in quite a while. She remembered feeling the stubble of his unshaven face. She was touched by this unexpected gesture on Elias’s part. Around 8.45pm, Jolanta’s mobile phone rang. It was Maurice. He told her that Elias had been involved in a car accident and that he was on the way to the scene. He told her that he would call her back when he knew more about the accident. She thought that Maurice mentioned that the accident had occurred somewhere near Lane Cove. He promised to call her back soon. Jolanta became somewhat alarmed. She got her cigarettes and went outside onto the verandah. She was pacing and agitated. Fred approached her to get more information but there was little else Jolanta could explain to him other than what Maurice had said. Fred left the house. JOLANTA STATES: ‘I was still outside on the verandah but suddenly there was a sea of sirens, coming from every direction. I said to Renata, “could they be going to Lane Cove from here?” She said, “No, they would be coming from Ryde or Lane Cove if they were going to a Lane Cove accident. I think it’s just fire brigade. It’s got nothing to do with Elias’ accident. He probably just ran into somebody and it’s nothing. Don’t be silly.” Jolanta vividly recalled how icy cold it was that night. A huge pale moon was rising in the crystal clear blackness. Fred returned a short time later and advised that he couldn’t locate or contact Maurice. He told Jolanta to return to her home where James was alone. He would continue to search for Maurice. Jolanta drove home. She was concerned that she could not contact Maurice. His phone wasn’t answering. She was furious with Elias for having apparently gotten into an accident in his Grandmother’s car. She was frustrated that Elias wouldn’t answer his mobile phone. It simply kept diverting to message bank. Jolanta rang James to ensure he was OK and then started driving around the Castle Hill area, randomly searching streets for the accident scene. She continued to try to reach Maurice and Elias on their phones. Eventually Maurice answered his phone. He told Jolanta that Elias had bumped his head and that there was nothing seriously wrong but that he would be taken to Westmead hospital for a check up. Jolanta attempted to determine where Maurice was but he told her that he was talking to ambulance paramedics and had to go. Fred Yousif phoned her a short time later and requested that she drive to the Westmead hospital and meet with them there. FRED YOUSIF (ELIAS’ UNCLE) STATES: ‘On the night of Elias’ accident I was at home with my wife and my baby. Jolanta was there also doing Renata’s hair. James called on the phone and it wasn’t too clear as to what had happened. James explained something to his Mother and then I spoke to him. It was something about a suburb that was far away. Neutral Bay or something. It wasn’t accurate information but we knew that Yesi (Elias) was in trouble. Something had happened to Yesi. Based on that information we knew he had had an accident but we didn’t know how severe it was. I was trying to keep cool so I could keep his Mother cool and my wife cool. I don’t think I was reacting too strongly or emotionally. I was trying to be, I suppose, calm. I left the house and drove towards the city which I thought was the right direction but something gave me a feeling, and I don’t know what it was, but when I got to Old Northern Road, I turned left. I just put two and two together from the little snippets I had. Then I saw an ambulance or a Fire Truck heading in that direction and instinctively I just followed whatever it was. I think it was an ambulance. It went along Glenhaven Road. I had been told that Maurice was already on his way to the accident site. Once I got closer I could see the lights from all the emergency vehicles. I got as close as I was allowed to go. I didn’t actually see Yesi. He was taken out of the car. At the time I didn’t recognise that it was Mum’s car at all. I couldn’t tell. I even had thoughts that maybe it’s not Yesi at all. That’s not his car. Maybe they’ve made a mistake. I saw Maurice sitting on a log or a chair or something and I picked up that he wasn’t doing too well. He was distraught. He never said a word to me. Emergency personnel were trying to stabilise Yesi. I could tell by looking at the faces of the people and the fact that they weren’t responding to any questions, that they were distressed as well, I mean they were trying to stabilise him and get him breathing and that became apparent to me when they got him into the ambulance. The ambulance drove to where a helicopter was by that stage but they didn’t go anywhere near the helicopter for at least 15 or 20 minutes. Maurice and I were observing from a distance. They didn’t let anyone get close. Then they put him in the chopper. It took a while for the helicopter to actually lift off. Maurice was in no condition to drive so we took my car and headed straight to the hospital.’ Renata (Fred’s wife) phoned Jolanta and assured her that James would be alright and that she had arranged to bring James to her home. Jolanta was confused as she felt they would not be long at the hospital. She also knew James was not well and would probably be better staying at home. Jolanta indicated that she was trying to get her girlfriend Maria to go sit with James for the short time they would be at the hospital. Renata assured Jolanta that James would be OK with her and not to worry. Jolanta became annoyed as she did not want to be running around to pick James up to bring him back home in the middle of the night. She did not realise how serious the situation was. Renata did. “****” CHAPTER FIVE ARRIVAL AT THE HOSPITAL Jolanta arrived at the Emergency section of the Westmead Hospital but could not see Maurice or Fred’s cars. There was no-one there that she knew. There were no ambulances parked in Emergency. This threw her into more confusion and frustration. She stood in the car park and began to chain smoke and nervously waited. The night air was freezing and the full moon was huge in the sky. No ambulance arrived. None of her family arrived. She began to conclude that she had gone to the wrong hospital. She contemplated driving to Ryde hospital. She tried all the mobile phones again. No-one answered. Jolanta entered the hospital and approached the desk. She told the receptionist that her son was involved in a car accident and she had been asked to attend the Westmead hospital but none of her family seemed to be there. Jolanta was asked where the accident had happened and she replied that it was in the Lane Cove area. The receptionist checked and informed Jolanta that they were not expecting an ambulance from the Lane Cove area. JOLANTA STATES: ‘The receptionist said, “What’s your son’s name?” I told her and she put his name into the computer and then there was a long silence. She would look over at her colleague and then back to the computer. Finally she said, “So you are Mrs. Yousif?” I said, “Yes”. She said, “Mrs. Yousif, the chopper hasn’t left the scene yet.” That was the moment when my heart was in my throat. My throat was just so closed up. I always knew that the chopper means serious. I don’t know what I said then. I stood still because I couldn’t take a step. I turned around. I felt so alone. Then I saw John, my brother in law, running up towards me. He said to me “Jolanta, it’s going to be OK.” I said to him, “What are you doing here?” I don’t remember much from then but I know we went outside and I saw my other brother in law, Alan, drive very fast into the car park in his sports car. That’s how he normally drives. I was wondering why everyone was turning up here. I asked someone to get Maurice on the phone for me but again Maurice wasn’t answering his phone. I was finally able to speak with Fred on the phone. He asked me where I was. I told him I was at Westmead hospital. He told me to just stay there. He said to me “Darling, they are doing everything they can. They’ll be bringing him in. Just hang in there and be strong.” I had no idea what was happening. I just felt lost and alone. I felt as if my life had stopped. I didn’t know if they were just bringing in his body. I didn’t have a clear picture of what was going on. Then Raja (Maurice’s sister) arrived and she was praying prayers that I’ve only ever heard my Mother in Law pray when my Father in Law was dying. She was calling Elias’ name in Arabic. They were Arabic prayers. That freaked me out because I didn’t know anything. 45 minutes later, a helicopter landed. It was the longest 45 minutes I’ve ever had to wait. It was making a very loud noise and it landed in a nearby car park. A number of paramedics raced out of Westmead hospital and they ran up the hill towards the helicopter.’ In fact the giant Air Ambulance helicopter lifted off from near the accident site at 9.43 pm, following Elias’s extraction from the wreckage of the motor vehicle and transportation by ambulance to the Glenhaven oval where the helicopter was waiting. It landed at Westmead hospital 4 minutes later. JOLANTA CONTINUES: ‘Some of the paramedics were stamping their feet because of the cold and some were saying, “Come on, come on, what’s taking so long?” I discovered later the paramedics inside the helicopter were trying desperately to keep Elias alive because they had lost him a couple of times. They got Elias out of the helicopter and they came towards me with him lying there. I saw a nurse pumping on his chest. Someone else was holding up drip bottles. I thought that Elias looked so peaceful. He just had a sheet partly over him. They were moving quickly towards the hospital door and I went with them. I was calling his name. A Doctor stopped me at the door but I was the Mother and I wanted to go with him. I felt someone grab me and hold me back. Later I found out it was Alan, Maurice’s brother. Alan is very tall and very powerfully built but he later said he has never had so much trouble trying to physically restrain anyone in his life. I began to look for Maurice. I couldn’t see him. Someone walked me into another part of the hospital. I was in shock. I didn’t know who was near me any more. I was in this world of my own. Then I saw Maurice. He was almost collapsed on the seat in the waiting room. He had grass all over him. His shirt was half undone and he was wearing his slippers. I was thinking, ‘My God, where has he been rolling? Where did he have to climb to get to where the accident was?’ I found out later that Maurice had actually collapsed at the scene and had to be attended to as well. A triage nurse came in and asked for Elias’s parents. She took us to a dark room and it was freezing cold. There were only chairs in the room and some tissue boxes and bottles of water and containers that you can be sick into. Maurice and I sat there. Other family members were allowed to come into that room. Maurice looked almost dead. I can hardly describe him. He was cold and white and his face looked dead. Every so often, we would touch each other’s hands. I was confused as to what was happening. They were ready to take Elias into theatre. Someone told us that Elias may be able to hear us. No-one actually asked us to say goodbye to him, but we were allowed to kiss him. They said he was in a coma. A nurse gave me his wallet. I later opened it and saw his driver’s license photo which I had gone with him to have taken just a few months before. I remembered Elias had asked me if he should be an organ donor and I agreed that he should as long as they didn’t take his eyes or face. That conversation at the RTA came back to me so vividly right then. Now I just didn’t want to be in the position of deciding which of Elias’s organs should be donated. He was a strong, healthy boy and his organs may save the lives of others. How do parents go through that kind of decision making? I thought about that quite a lot later. Elias was taken away and we were left to wait’. MAURICE STATES: ‘At the accident scene I remember trying to make a deal with God. I wanted God to take me and let Elias live in my place. Fred discovered from the paramedics that the helicopter was going to transport Elias to Westmead hospital. We waited quite a while for the helicopter to lift off. I was wondering what they were doing. I remember the helicopter taking off and going up in the air, and then it landed again. We were ready to drive off but then we realised that the helicopter had landed again. I was confused. The helicopter stayed on the ground for at least another 15 minutes. Then it lifted off again. Fred drove me to the Westmead hospital. I saw the helicopter there. It seemed as if Elias was still inside the helicopter. All my relatives and some friends were at the hospital. Jolanta was there. I found out later that they had to continually resuscitate Elias and that was causing delays in moving him. I also found out that there were two Doctors on board the helicopter that evening and that made a big difference in the way they were able to resuscitate Elias. As they brought him on the stretcher towards the helicopter, he was unconscious but he looked perfectly fine. We couldn’t go with Elias past a certain point. They provided us with a special room where family and relatives could wait. I sat there and I was praying. There wasn’t much talking. Other relatives and friends began arriving at the hospital to offer comfort and support.’ Michelle Wozniak had been Elias’ girlfriend for exactly one month prior to the date of the accident. She was in year 12 at Our Lady of Mercy College at Parramatta and had met Elias through friends. She refers to him as ‘EL’ with obvious affection. Elias was her first boyfriend. Michelle was also to attend the early morning World Youth Day mass in Sydney on Sunday the 20th July, 2008. She had decided that she would have an early night at home. Otherwise it is likely she would have been out with Elias in the car on the night of the accident. Michelle had spoken by phone with Elias earlier on the evening of the 19th July. Around 11pm that night, her Mother came into her room and told her she had just received a phone call and that Elias was in Westmead hospital in a serious condition following a car accident. She wanted to go to the hospital but her Mother advised that they wait and go the following morning. Michelle felt shock, fear and deep sadness. Her Mother attempted to comfort her but she cried most of the night and was unable to sleep. She didn’t know if she would ever see ‘EL’ alive again. JAMES YOUSIF (Elias’s younger brother) STATES: ‘On the night of the accident, Elias had gone out to where his mate works in a pizza shop. They were planning to go out later on somewhere. I was home with Dad. Mum had gone to Uncle Fred’s place. I think around 8.30 we got a phone call from Mitch. He didn’t sound normal. He was rushing his words. He seemed to not know what was going on. He wanted to talk to either Mum or Dad. He told me that Elias had been in a car accident. I kept asking him to repeat himself because I couldn’t understand what he was saying. I found Dad and gave him the phone. Dad then told me that he was going out to see Elias and he left. I was home for about two hours and then Auntie Renata picked me up and I went to stay with them for about a week and a half. They didn’t tell me anything other than that Elias had been taken to hospital. I was confused. I wanted to know what was wrong but Mum and Dad really didn’t want me to know that much. I wanted to visit Elias in the hospital but I wasn’t allowed. I just knew that something must have been wrong because he was in hospital for such a long time.’ James then went to live with his grandmother. He felt like he was the object in the game “pass the parcel”. “****” CHAPTER SIX TRIAGE AND EMERGENCY TREATMENT Have you ever been to the emergency department of a large hospital for a migraine or a nasty cut to your hand when the peeling knife slipped? Perhaps you just fainted or bumped your head on the clothesline? Perhaps you got your fingers jammed in the car door when your friend slammed it shut. So you gave them your name and sat in the waiting room for …..How long? That didn’t happen with Elias. This kid was close to death. That makes a world of difference. The life saving expertise of overworked and underpaid medical staff at Westmead Hospital kicked into high gear. This wasn’t about the money any more. This was about saving a life. The medical team isolated Elias from his traumatised family and friends. Of course the family wanted to hold his hand and stroke his hair, but that won’t work here. The procedures now have to be professional, clinical and detached from emotion. INITIAL DIAGNOSIS Severe Traumatic Brain Injury Closed head injury CT reveals right frontal lobe bleed. Right side tension pneumothorax. Right side mandibular ramus fracture. Fracture left sacral ala, diastasis and dislocation of symphysis pubis. URGENT SURGERY A tube is inserted down Elias’s trachea and his breathing is assisted by mechanical ventilator. He is rushed into the operating theatre. A senior neurosurgeon on duty at that time is summonsed, with his surgical staff. This is a full sterile operation with all relevant protocols observed. Most of us will never be present in an operating theatre when a life saving procedure is underway. Parents and friends aren’t allowed in for obvious reasons, although they desperately want to be there beside their loved one. Maurice and Jolanta were no exception on the evening of the 19th July, 2008. They just had to wait, hope and pray. You have all seen surgeons at work in operating theatres as shown on TV and in movies. It’s one thing to watch surgical procedures either real or acted. It’s quite another to actually be in an operating theatre and smell the smells and experience the action live. Please slip an imaginary surgical mask over your face now and pull on a full length surgical gown. You may stand inside the operating theatre, just near the doors. You may watch and listen. Elias is unconscious on the operating table. He is draped in sterile sheets and Dr. Robert Moore, anaesthetist, is seated on Elias’s left hand side with a large anaesthetic machine slightly behind him and to his left. Oxygen and nitrous oxide together with an exact measure of an anaesthetic flow down a tube from the machine, into Elias’s lungs. He is also on an IV drip with a barbiturate to maintain an induced coma. Sensors attached to Elias’s body monitor his blood pressure and heart beat. There is a soft beep, beep, beep, from the ECG machine. You pray that noise keeps going. If it stops, you have a fair idea what has happened to Elias. Dr. Moore is carefully monitoring every gauge and indicator. This patient has high intracranial pressure which can quickly cause death. Even if he does survive surgery, the damage to the brain can be catastrophic as far as prognosis is concerned. Neurosurgeon Dr. Carl Edmonds enters the operating theatre, fully gowned. He is accompanied by Dr. Elizabeth Beck, a newly appointed resident, and two scrub nurses, Mia Swann and Bridgette Donovan. If you are a bit adverse to surgical procedures and blood, you can leave the operating theatre now, or at any time during the procedure, or just flip over a few pages to the next chapter. Dr. Edmonds is not in a desperate rush to install an External Ventricular Drain (EVD) into Elias’s brain. You can’t rush such a delicate surgical procedure. He’s not about to waste any time getting on with it either. Nurse Mia Swann is already beginning to shave a large area on the right side of Elias’s head, just forward of his right ear. ‘How’s he doing Bob?’ asked Dr. Edmonds of his anaesthetist. ‘All set to go.’ ‘Scrub the shaved frontal area well Mia and I’ll pop my gloves on.’ Dr. Edmonds looks back at you. ‘Who’s this?’ ‘The reader,’ replies Dr. Moore. ‘Oh, I see. Alright people, let’s get this done. Can I get his head elevated just a bit more please?’ Nurse Mia raises the head of the operating table by a further 15 degrees, ‘That’s lovely. Thanks. I’ll have a pen thanks Bre. I’m just doing the measurements and we’ll mark him up.’ Dr. Edmonds draws a series of lines on the skin of Elias’s shaved head and part of his forehead. ‘OK, Mia, he’s all yours again for final skin prep and some sterile drapes.’ Nurse Mia swabs the skin area a second time and places sterile drapes over Elias’s head and face. Dr. Edmonds re-measures and places a mark with the pen at the operation site. ‘OK, I’ll have my usual 7 scalpel handle with an 11 blade thanks.’ This is quickly handed to him by Bre Donovan. ‘I’m just going to make a short incision over the target area. Can you use the suction tube please Liz? We’re going to hit a few small bleeders. I’ll just clip them off.’ Nurse Donovan hands across some small surgical clamps. ‘And a couple of retractors please. We’ll pull the skin back to expose the skull. There we go. Very nice. Drill thanks Bre.’ Dr. Edmonds holds a long black electric drill to Elias’s skull and turns it on. The blade cuts into the skull bone. ‘The trick with this,’ continues Dr. Edmonds ‘is not to push it too hard. The drill will get through the skull soon enough. Pushing on it is not necessary and in fact can be dangerous for the patient. OK, we’re in. Just suck a bit of that muck out please Liz.’ Dr. Beck uses the suction tube in the area of the hole. ‘OK now we’re going to cut a slit in the outer lining of the brain, called the dura, and insert the intraventricular catheter and stylet as you can see I’m doing, and I can just feel penetration of the ventricle. Once we get the intracranial pressure down and regularly monitored, there’s half a chance for this kid. Bob. How’s he doing?’ ‘Going fine Carl.’ ‘Alright, I’m almost done here. We’ve got drainage happening so we’ll connect the catheter to the monitor and drainage bag. Thank you Mia. Would you like to close up the incision Liz?’ ‘Intracranial pressure dropping already,’ said Liz Beck. ‘Good. We might be out of the woods Bob.’ ‘He’s got a fair way to go.’ ‘The pneumothorax will be the next fairly urgent repair and they’ll schedule a bronchoscope procedure after we’ve kept a close eye on him for a little while.’ ‘Car crash victim?’ asked Nurse Donovan. ‘P plate driver,’ said Dr. Moore. ‘He slammed into a tree sideways at high speed. The side air bag and quick work by the paramedics probably saved him a trip to the morgue.’ Dr. Edmonds peeled off his surgical gloves and threw them in a bin. ‘We get so many head damaged P platers and their smashed up teenage passengers that I’m seriously going to suggest we have a P plate operating theatre constructed, just to work on them. We’ll call it the P Plate wing,’ ‘You’re not wrong!’ said Dr. Moore ‘I’m going out to have a chat with the parents,’ said Carl Edmonds. ‘They will be worried sick. It looks like this one is going to make it.’ ‘God knows what he’ll be like when he wakes up,’ said Dr. Moore. ‘None of us can predict that one Bob. I’m expecting the worst.’ “****” CHAPTER SEVEN YOUR SON IS GOING TO LIVE Maurice and Jolanta waited as the surgeons worked on their son. The minutes dragged on. About an hour and a half later, a tall, young neurosurgeon approached them. Maurice and Jolanta held their breaths. The first words he spoke were like the opening of a window to let in bright sunshine. “You are a pair of lucky parents. You son is going to live.” The surgeon went on to explain that Elias had suffered severe brain injury together with other physical injuries and that they were unable to determine at that time the actual extent of his brain injury. Maurice burst out crying. Jolanta described it as if someone had lit a fire under him and he was crying out loudly as if he had suddenly found his life again. They both cried together. Maurice grabbed the surgeon’s hands and said to him: ‘This has been the worst day of my life. You have now just made it the best day of my life.’ The surgeon advised that they could not see Elias until he had been settled in the Intensive Care Unit. He explained that Elias was in critical condition and on life support. They would have to wait a little longer. The surgeon explained to Maurice that he, and the entire family, had to understand that things were still very much touch and go and that further extensive testing and treatments would continue. The doctor assured Maurice and Jolanta that it was clear that Elias was a fighter. At 4.45 am the following morning, Maurice and Jolanta were allowed into the ICU to look at their son. They were both exhausted, physically and mentally. JOLANTA STATES: ‘There were lots of machines attached to him, clicking and beeping and air breathing noises and different pumps. We had to scrub our hands and put on special clothes. It was all very confronting but I knew he was safe. We left the hospital around 6 am and there were so many of his friends and mates and their parents just there waiting to hear some news. We were going to shower and change and go back to the hospital. I wanted to see where the accident had happened so I drove into Glenhaven Road and drove until I got to the shops which are about 3 kilometres along that road. I thought I must have missed the place. I kept driving and was going to turn around and go back but there were double yellow lines so I had to keep going. I went around a bend and then I was confronted with this humungous tree that was no longer standing. The car had been taken away and it wasn’t until I saw the damage to the car at a later time that I realised that only a miracle could have saved him from a smashed up car like that. I stopped at the accident scene for a while and said a prayer of thanks. I was overwhelmed at what I was seeing. Cars were driving past and slowing down to look. I drove home. Maurice was watching something about the World Youth Day that we were supposed to attend, on the TV. We drove back to the hospital. Elias was still in a coma and in a critical condition, although the medical staff told us that he was ‘stable’ so that was a relief. Once again, when we arrived at the hospital, there were so many of our friends and Elias’ friends waiting there. I had been so busy with my life that I didn’t realise there were so many people who I didn’t even know, that loved and cared for Elias. Some of them probably knew him better than we did. It was really lovely to see people there.’ “****” CHAPTER EIGHT OFFICIAL REACTIONS It may be different in other places, although doubtful; but in Sydney, you can’t just crash a car at high speed into a huge tree, splintering it, knocking it over, pulverising your car and bringing yourself within seconds of death’s door, creating a huge life saving and rescue operation complete with Ambulances, paramedics, police and Police rescue, Fire Brigade and an Air Ambulance Helicopter, without it causing reactions from relevant officials. The Police in particular, may be concerned that all lawful issues are thoroughly investigated and brought to formal conclusions. This can be done in two ways. With compassion for the feelings of distress being experienced by the victim, if the victim is conscious, the family and also many of the witnesses involved. Without compassion, and with an aggressive determination to ensure that everyone concerned with the incident is questioned as soon as possible, and that justice is metered out to the person responsible for the accident. It is unfortunate that the female Senior Constable (who will remain unnamed) assigned to investigate this particular accident chose option number 2. Mitch wanted to attend the Westmead Hospital to be close to Elias and his family. The Senior Constable, who arrived at the scene, insisted that he provide her with a formal statement and this was to be done at his home, immediately. Mitch and his Father returned to their home and the police followed. MITCH STATES: ‘We went to my Mum’s house and we made a statement and then I went to Westmead. The constable….she wasn’t very nice. She wasn’t very sympathetic or have any empathy. She wasn’t empathic at all. I was just hoping he was alright. I felt fairly guilty because I was driving with him.’ This same police officer exhibited similar behaviour to Elias’s parents at the Westmead Hospital and on one occasion when Elias was in the Intensive Care Unit, seriously ill and in a coma, she insisted that ICU staff allow her access to Elias as she wanted to personally verify his condition and attempt if possible to speak with him. This rather aggressive behaviour was distressing to hospital staff and especially Elias’s parents. The Senior Constable’s Commanding Officer was contacted a short time later and she was removed from the case. Elias was never interviewed by police and no official action was taken against him in relation to the accident. It would be a fair assumption that the relevant Police Commanding Officer considered Elias and his family had suffered enough. Elias was the only person injured and the chances were he would not recover from his injuries anyway. THE HILLS TIMES NEWSPAPER While Elias lay in a coma, critically injured, the following press release went out:- ‘P-plater fights for life after crash. A P-PLATE driver is fighting for his life in hospital after his car smashed into a tree in Glenhaven on Saturday evening. Police are seeking witnesses to the crash, which happened at 8.30pm on Glenhaven Rd. Police said the accident happened after the 17 year-old’s 1998 BMW 328I sedan overtook another vehicle 400m west of Mills Rd. The Castle Hill youth was air lifted to Westmead hospital with significant head, chest and leg injuries. The road was closed for several hours as fire fighters cut him from the wreckage. He was in a critical but stable condition in Intensive Care on Monday.’ “****” CHAPTER NINE THE LONG ROAD TO RECOVERY The following operational procedures were performed on Elias. 19 July, 2008EVD Insertion 22 July, 2008Bronchoscopy 23 July, 2008Removal of drain tube to the right chest. 1 August, 2008Tracheostomy 1 August, 2008IM fixation screw wiring of mandible 4 August, 2008IM fixation screw wiring of mandible removed During Elias lengthy stay in the Intensive Care Unit at Westmead Hospital, he was regularly monitored and treated for high intracranial pressure and required chest drains for Haemopneumothorax and aspiration pneumonia. There was an episode of atrial flutter corrected by cardioversion. JOLANTA STATES: ‘We were the only ones allowed to visit Elias. Each day Maurice and I would take turns to be with him. Maurice would go to the chapel when I was sitting with Elias. I spent a lot of time with Fred and Wagdvi and Renata, having meetings with the Doctors who were treating Elias. This was because his recovery was taking sudden turns all the time. Half a day he would be one way and then the other half we would be another way. Often when we left the hospital around 1am, we would get a call from the medical staff around 4 am to say that something different and more serious had happened to Elias. This went on for at least a week or so. It was always touch and go. Sometimes they would have to pack ice around him to bring his temperature down.’ THE THREE PRIESTS BECOME INVOLVED. The three Priests, who had only recently blessed Elias and his family, were alerted to the tragic accident and a special mass was held at Our Lady of the Rosary church in Kellyville. The Priests were determined to visit Elias personally before they had to return to Poland. Special permission was arranged for them to be with Maurice and Jolanta in the ICU room with Elias, where normally only two people at a time are allowed. The priests used holy water and bestowed blessings on Elias, praying for his recovery and for strength to be given to the grieving family. Elias lay in a coma for almost 2 weeks. Maurice and Jolanta fell into a pattern of going back and forth from their home to the hospital. They were unaware during this time if their son would survive and if he did, what mental and physical condition he would return to when he was finally brought out of the induced coma. It was almost like walking in a nightmare each day. They were supported continually by family and friends. Gifts of food were left at their home together with bunches of flowers. Neighbours visited the house often to check on Elias’s recovery and express their concern. One morning shortly after Jolanta had taken a shower; she had quickly dressed and was drying her hair when a knock came at the front door. She expected it to be another concerned neighbour, so she wrapped the bath towel around her head and pulled open the door. Father John Boyle from their local St. Bernadette’s Church was standing there. Jolanta was immediately conscious of wet hair and a towel around her head but Father Boyle didn’t seem to even notice. Jolanta was deeply touched as this strong man with tears in his eyes, assured Jolanta that he and everyone in the parish was praying for Elias and that he and the church would do anything in their power to assist the family in any way possible. Jolanta recalled experiencing this kind of solid church community support in her native Poland, but now as she looked up at the concern on Father Boyle’s face and listened to his words of support, she realised that she and her family were actually experiencing, first hand, the true ‘Aussie Spirit’ she had heard so much about but never fully understood until now. She was seeing it in the words and actions of the medical staff who she dealt with every day, together with family and friends and even neighbours who she hardly knew. She was also appreciating the true ‘Aussie Spirit’ within the huge extended family at St. Bernadette’s Church, represented especially now by their leader, Father John Boyle. Elias made several trips to the operating theatre. His condition occasionally improved, or so the monitors indicated, and then worsened suddenly. Jolanta kept family and friends updated on his condition as best she could by SMS messages from her phone. On the 2 August, 2008, the Doctor’s discontinued coma sedation and were encouraging Elias to wake up. He obviously didn’t like what was happening to him from the darkness in which he seemed trapped. ELIAS STATES: ‘I started to wake up. I was in a room but I didn’t know where I was. It was very confusing. I couldn’t feel any pain but I was very hungry. There was no-one in the room with me. I just woke up by myself. I had a tube down my throat. Prior to waking up there was nothing. I had no dreams or thoughts. Nothing. I could remember that I had been on school holidays and then it was just nothing. My short term memory wasn’t good. I remembered Dad and Mum being there soon after I woke up, and Mitch. I knew that Doctor’s and nurses would come into the room and leave but then I would just forget them and wouldn’t remember who they were when they came back.’ In the days that followed, Elias was gradually weened off the life support system but continued to suffer excruciating pain. Thankfully, as we now know, he now has no memory of that pain. He was unable to communicate this to anyone although eventually the Doctors realised what was happening and increased his pain relief. Elias was now starting to be aware of his surroundings. Jolanta began to realise that the hugely stressful and unsettling pattern of life they had fallen into, may be going to return to normal, but not just yet. There was a glimmer of hope, but only just. They may start eating properly again. They would slow down on the high intake of cigarette smoke and gallons of coffee. The huge load of stress pressing down on both her and Maurice was starting to take its toll. They were both trying to be strong yet both knew how fragile they were. One evening when they arrived home, Jolanta simply broke down. She began to sob. She had no strength left to keep going back and forth between home and hospital, watching her helpless son, listening to medical staff. Maurice found her and grabbed her and held her tight. He said to her, ‘Don’t fall apart on me. You are my rock.’ It was at that moment that Jolanta realised that he had also been feeling as weak as her, every day. She had only just been coping but Maurice had felt the same as well. Jolanta believed that Maurice was her incredibly strong husband. He was always in control. She firmly believed that nothing would ever unsettle Maurice. To hear him call her his rock totally astounded Jolanta. It made her realise that this horrible situation had created a bond between them that had never been there in that particular way before. They had survived business problems, financial hardship and relationship crisis. Jolanta now realised that the ordeal they were both facing with the near death of their precious son, had formed an even stronger bond between her and Maurice. She drew strength from him, and he drew strength from her. JAMES James was basically taken off Maurice and Jolanta’s hands for almost three weeks following the accident. Fred and Renata looked after him. Initially it was decided not to let him visit the hospital because the situation of seeing his brother in the ICU would be too confronting. They felt that they were protecting James by not allowing him to visit his brother. This situation continued until one of the Doctors at Westmead made the comment that he knew Elias had a brother, but that the brother had not been brought to the hospital to visit. The Doctor understood that Maurice and Jolanta were only trying to protect their young son from possible distress, but advised them that to prolong the absence of contact between James and Elias, may in fact create more harm to James in the long run. Jolanta explained later that when the Doctor explained this, she felt as if she had been slapped in the face. Arrangements were immediately made to have James visit his brother. James was apprehensive in the lead up to the visit and it was an emotionally difficult time for him. Elias could not speak at this time, however he squeezed James’s hand so firmly that it actually caused pain (to James) JAMES STATES: ‘After about 2 weeks I was allowed to visit Elias at the hospital. I was staying with my Grandmother at this time and she drove me to the hospital. He was in the Intensive Care Unit. He was unconscious when I first saw him and I knew that it was really bad. Mum and Dad were different. Dad was now carrying around rosary beads and religious stuff. I’d never seen him do that before. Gradually I was told what was actually wrong with Elias. It took a long time for him to recover and I was staying with relatives for most of that time. It felt a bit strange. I was sad. I got to see him later when he was awake.’ SCHOOL ISSUES Elias was about to undertake his HSC trials when this accident happened. He was obviously not going to do these or the HSC itself. While these issues were far from the mind of his parents at this time, the Authorities at his school, Dean Newman and the Vice Principal, Brother David, regularly communicated with Jolanta by phone and personal meetings with numerous papers to sign in order that Elias could be awarded his HSC on assessments made of his academic ability, outside the normal HSC process. Brother David ensured that Jolanta had the relevant paper before the Department of Education in sufficient time for an assessment to be made to award him a successful HSC achievement based on his previous outstanding academic record. “****” CHAPTER TEN COMMUNICATION Maurice and Jolanta had been warned that Elias may not know them and would be totally unable to communicate with them as his broken jaw was wired shut. Maurice began to ask Elias simple questions with instructions to blink once for a ‘yes’ answer and blink twice for a ‘no’. Elias was able to intelligently communicate with his parents, by the use of his eye lids only. This amazed not only Maurice and Jolanta, but the medical staff as well. The communication by eye lid blinking eventually progressed to thumbs up for ‘yes’ and thumbs down for ‘no’. Maurice then wrote out the letters of the alphabet in large letters. He asked Elias to blink once when his finger reached a particular letter. The first message Elias spelt out in this manner was: I LOVE YOU. Various genetic messages were then written out on a sheet of paper and he would blink once when Maurice pointed to a particular message. These messages included: Yes No I am sleepy I am hungry I am tired I am thirsty I am a little sad I feel a little crowded I am happy with that Can you hold my hand Can you leave me alone I miss Michelle JOLANTA STATES: ‘On the third day after he started to wake up, Uncle Fred came to visit at the hospital. Uncle Fred has this amazing bond with Elias. He walked in and was already talking to Elias as he washed his hands at the sink. Elias’s eyes were moving as he heard Uncle Fred talking. Uncle Fred finished washing and put a surgical gown on and he walked up to Elias to hold his hand and he said to Elias, “Go on. Show off. Show me what you can do” and Elias lifted up his hand. He had never been able to do that before. I was sitting on his right and he knew I was there and he turned to look at me and gave me a bird with the middle finger of his hand. He gave me the bird…! It was just so Elias. Cheeky. Just incredible, and Fred got just so emotional and he said to me “Fruit….he’s back….we’ve got him back.” He calls me fruit because he says I’m a fruit loop, like a fruit cake. It’s the first time I ever appreciated getting the bird from my son. It was incredible! I remember one day whilst in the High Dependency Unit, Dr. Nayer, a huge, tall, massive looking Doctor, one of the big shots over in ICU; he was walking down the corridor and I walked out of Elias’s room and he said, ‘Mrs. Yousif. I’ve been hearing rumours and I’m coming down to see for myself. Apparently, we are communicating? I said, ‘Yes, yes.’ He looked through the small window into Elias’s room and then we walked in. I said, ‘Elias, this is Dr. Nayer. He looked after you over in ICU.’ Elias put out his arm to shake Dr. Nayer’s hand. I could see that even that shocked Dr. Nayer. He said to Elias, ‘Hello Mr. Yousif. Nice to meet you.’ The two shook hands. Then Elias pointed to his phone so I gave it to him and he wrote: Thank you so much for looking after me and taking care of me. Dr. Nayer had the thickest glasses. He took the phone and read the message. He then put his fingers under his glasses to stop the tears and then he said, ‘My absolute pleasure Mr. Yousif. Just keep going the way you are going.’ Then he left the room fairly quickly and asked me to follow. I had tears in my eyes also. Outside he said to me, ‘Mrs. Yousif. I don’t know what to say. Sometimes in these cases we do see miracles, but this one is such a fast progress. God bless you.’ He walked away. I remember one day not long after that incident, walking into the High Dependency Unit and into Elias’s room. Maurice said to Elias, ‘Bubba, Mum’s here’. Elias looked at me and said ‘Hi Mum.’ It was just so emotional for me. We had been told that his vocal cords could be damaged because the air tube going down his throat had been in place for so long. His voice was deep, just like Maurice’s.’ “****” CHAPTER ELEVEN ONGOING TREATMENT PHYSIOTHERAPY A physiotherapy team became involved and visited Elias twice a day to commence treatment. His first real test when on his feet for the first time was to try and walk from his bed to the door of the room. This was a distance of around 4 metres. He was told that if he could actually open the door and take a step out into the corridor, that would be a bonus, although the physiotherapists actually believed that Elias wouldn’t even make it half way to the door before he asked for support. They totally underestimated Elias’s determination. He was through the door and into the corridor, unassisted, on his first trial walk. The effort wore him out and he slept soundly for 6 hours straight following that short walk. FIRST FLUID BY MOUTH Elias was fed by a tube down his throat for around 5 weeks. His broken jaw was still wired at this time. The first drink he took by himself was through a straw and was Coke. This was a big moment for Elias as he had been trying to convince the nursing staff (via messages typed on his phone) to pour Coke down the tube going into his stomach. The look on his face when he got that first taste of Coke in his mouth was priceless. BRAIN INJURY UNIT MAURICE STATES: It was predicted that Elias’s recovery would take many months, even years, both physically and mentally. As he started improving in the ICU, they started assessing whether he would be a candidate for rehabilitation in the Brain Injury Unit. That was a trial in itself. If he didn’t show certain signs of promise, he wasn’t going to qualify, and that was very important in rehabilitation. For us to achieve qualification for treatment in the Brain Injury Unit was a great thing, because if he didn’t qualify, it meant that they didn’t think he was going to recover. Elias was admitted to the Brain Injury Unit on the 25th August, 2008 and released to return to his home on the 10th September, 2008. Upon admission to that unit, the following was noted: He was sleeping well at night. He could take fluids from a cup through a straw. He could shower himself in a chair. He required assistance with some organisational matters. He experienced difficulty with complex planning issues. He was allowed full weight bearing on the right leg and touch weight bearing on the left. He could move around independently with the use of a forearm weight bearing walking frame (FASF) although some supervision was required. There were no issues with receptive and expressive elements of communication. Elias progressed rapidly throughout his time at the Brain Injury Unit under the care of Dr. J. Gurka, the Head of the Brain Injury Unit, and also Dr. Kathy McCarthy, the Outreach Team Leader with that Unit. Elias amazed everyone, especially the Doctors, with the speed at which he continued to recover. His hips and pelvis were repeatedly x-rayed and he was regularly evaluated by the orthopaedic team. Eventually his weight bearing status was upgraded from touch to partial weight bearing. His mobility increased dramatically. One could not mistake the determined look on Elias’s face as he attempted all rehabilitation tasks. Even in pain, he would press on. He was reviewed by the plastics team in relation to the wiring of his jaw (intermandibular fixation) and this was released slightly on the 4th September, 2008 which allowed Elias to now take soft food by mouth. An Orthoptics review confirmed that Elias continued to suffer from left 4th nerve palsy, which was caused by damage to the fourth cranial nerve involving control of the movement of his left eye. Rehabilitation encompasses his physical and mental recovery including: Personal care Mobility Communication Domestic and Community tolerance Cognition Behaviour and Emotion Psychosocial and Legal The first step in the rehabilitation process involved an interview with a Case Manager, Elias and Jolanta. JOLANTA STATES: ‘The first meeting was with the Case Manager and she comes with folders. There were about ten folders in front of her. She met us at ten o’clock this particular morning. We were sitting waiting for her and Elias’s crutches were next to him. His mouth and jaw are still partly wired up because he has to go back to Westmead to have the wires removed but he can grunt. He can talk to a degree, like yes and no. He can talk a little bit. He can shake hands and walk on his crutches. So she directs the conversation mostly at me whist he is sitting to the left of her and she was opposite me and every time she says something, he responds by either nodding or grunting something and she kept going quiet throughout the interview with us. She kept looking at the folder all the time and I was thinking….what is wrong with this woman? Why is she stopping all the time? This went on for about 15 minutes and she continued with the interview until at one point she just picked up a folder and snapped it closed. She said to us, ‘I’m really sorry. I’ll have to come back another day for this interview.’ She turned then and directly addressed Elias. She said to him, ‘I’m overwhelmed. I’m an ex-ICU nurse and I have studied your case. What I am seeing here is quite remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like this. Where you are right now Elias, I expected you to be in 12 months.’ Then she turned to me and said, ‘You are the luckiest parent.’ I started to cry. She told us that she would have to come back another day when she had totally revised the rehabilitation plan. Once again, Elias was proving everyone wrong. Something special was happening with this entire recovery thing.’ Elias moved forward with the use of crutches for mobility. Initially, for outdoor excursions, he used a wheel chair which he propelled himself. This was discontinued as his skill with the crutches increased. He was showering, dressing and grooming without any assistance. His communication skills were rapidly developing. His social skills and interaction were returning to normal. He had regained all the necessary ability to operate a computer. “****” CHAPTER TWELVE GOING HOME During Elias’s lengthy stay in hospital, the Yousif family moved into a new home. Elias was allowed out of the hospital for short weekend visits to see his new home, however on the 10th September, 2008 he was taken out of hospital and driven home. This time he could remain home. It was an emotional experience for the entire family. Maurice and Jolanta had been prepared to expect changes in his behaviour and moods. This was normal in persons recovering from a severe brain injury. A Psychologist would be involved to assist Elias in this regard. James also later visited a Psychologist as much of the quite aggressive and even physical bullying behaviour from Elias, was directed particularly at James. Jolanta also became a target for his frustration and aggression. The triggers for his anger could be as simple as someone closing a door the wrong way or as one Doctor explained to Jolanta, even a fly buzzing across the room. Elias had exhibited a bit of a temper from time to time prior to this accident, however now his temper could flare in an instant and be quite disturbing. Jolanta was tempted to simply discipline him when these episodes occurred as she had done when he was younger. This time however, she had to accept that Elias was still in the recovery process from a very severe brain injury, and allowances would have to be made. The family occasionally discussed these issues and that was of some assistance in the short term. ELIAS STATES: ‘Initially I couldn’t control my temper. I know I wasn’t like that before the accident. Because I had no short term memory I had no skill to remember what I had done. I would forget things basically after an hour. People would point out things that I had done but I had no memory. Even in hospital when Mitch or Michelle would visit in the morning, just a few hours later I would be messaging them asking if they were coming to see me that day. So once I got home, that just continued on for a while. I think now I’m back to square one in terms of temper. I always had a temper but I’m able to control it a lot more now.’ Even amid the frustration and difficulties of Elias’s recovery process and whilst still on crutches, he was still able to attend his Soccer presentation event where he was overwhelmed by the support shown to him by the club members. He also attended Graduation night at the Oakhill College where he was presented with his HSC accreditation. Photographs of his graduation are enclosed. Jolanta realised that having Elias at home with them full time was not going to be as easy as she had imagined, in fact having him there and attempting to deal with his constant outbursts of temper and frustration, finally drove her to the point where she felt she could take no more. She decided to take James and travel back to her Mother’s home in Poland for a lengthy stay. Elias’s anger outbursts eventually took their toll on his girlfriend Michelle and she ended the relationship for several weeks. Ultimately they were able to work things out together and the relationship resumed. The Westmead Children’s Hospital supply parents with a small brochure in relation to Acquired Brain Injury which their son or daughter may suffer. This is just one guide made available to assist parents and the injured party, through what may be a very difficult recovery period. A few short quotes from this brochure may be worthy of note: Following a brain injury there may be changes affecting physical function, cognition (thinking) personality, behaviour and communication. The child’s behaviour may become more demanding or they are easily frustrated. They may be fearful and anxious. They may have difficulty in getting along with others. Where possible, ensure the child has plenty of rest. Fatigue exacerbates behavioural control problems Listen to the child and adjust expectations. Try to remove triggers to agitation and be aware of warning signs of frustration. Try not to become angry with them. Arguing and yelling tends to escalate the situation. It is also unhelpful to say the same thing over and over in the hope that it will eventually “go in” Your child may simply switch off. Engage in programmes designed to try and assist with anger management. Based on facts and history, it was never going to be easy during the early stages of his recovery, for Elias and his family to simply be one big happy family again. There were tough times ahead for everyone. “****” CHAPTER THIRTEEN JOLANTA’S DIARY Maurice and Jolanta kept written records of events surrounding the slow, painful but nevertheless miraculous recovery of their son. Referring back to the word ‘painful’, it is interesting to note that while the parents and relatives and close friends felt the deep emotional pain of this situation and it was obvious that Elias could feel physical pain, when the writer questioned Elias about his experience of pain throughout his time in the hospital, he claims to have felt none. Perhaps some discomfort with his jaw wired closed, but otherwise he has no memory of feeling pain. Interestingly however, he recalls anger and frustration. This book has already outlined events based on interviews and notes recorded by Elias’s parents, family and friends and there is little need to quote all these notes word for word for the purpose of this book. Jolanta’s diary was kept in the form of her text messages to friends and family. Let me share some of her latter entries: 25/08/08 Ow my goodness, we did it. We have moved (houses) How good do I feel after my so needed bath and a fantastic glass of red…. My miracle boy (as he’s been calling himself) is doing great. Tomorrow he moves to rehab and we’ll start the countdown to our baby’s homecoming! He had his first real drink through a straw. I am guessing you all know what that was? Coca Cola of course. I am so pleased to be reporting good news as we enter the 6 week mark…..yes my sunny’s are on! Thank you all. 26/8/08 Hi everyone. Thank you 2 all that helped us with our move! Elias continues to improve and all your visits are so much appreciated by the miracle boy. Today Maurice was approached re the amount of people keeping him company. It may effect his rehab by tiring him out so we thought it might be an idea to do a roster, however we are not sure how. Perhaps we might go back to asking for a call before making the trip in to get the OK. Thank you for your understanding. 31/8/08 Three more weeks have passed since we started to see that light…..we are now just waiting for the last bits to be unwired and be given the all clear to start some serious therapy as well as get real food into our miracle boy. We are of course waiting for that with our sunglasses on as he keeps on doing great steps forward and none back! We are now settling into our new home and can’t wait to welcome Elias back. Thank you all for your continued support. 31/8/08 Good day for our miracle boy today…..Short term memory noticeably improving. We even managed to sneak in a trip to the hospital to visit Daniel (injured team mate in Saturday’s grand final) Good workout for mum’s muscles through the grounds of Westmead Hospital. Suggest you all get those sunny’s ready as we prepare to do the homecoming countdown. 5/09/08 Wow what a great day. Home visit accomplished successfully yesterday….this weekend release granted…jaw unwired…one serve of pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream consumed….prayers and thanks surely answered as well as Elias’s strength and determination shinning through like the brightest sunrise. 10/09/08 Our miracle boy is coming home to stay….to all of you our biggest thank you for all your prayers, best wishes and endless support you were kind in showing us in the long 7 weeks. Elias will become an outpatient still needing 4 hours daily rehabilitation. 18/09/08 Our dear friends. Sorry for the break in updates however our miracle boy seems to be keeping us very busy since his return home. Actually other than having to feed him all day long as he tries to get back over 20kgs of weight and listen to his newly found ‘brain injury’ sense of humour as well as he comes to terms with all that has happened. He has put on his uniform and was able to go to school for the last day, and got a standing ovation….was the best. 1/10/08 Our miracle boy has been home 3 weeks now. In that time he has graduated from school (oh what a night that was) His recovery continues at a fast rate and it’s a constant reminder of how blessed he’s been. Text books have come out and he has started studying for a short period each day. He was allowed to give up the crutches today and has not stopped walking around since. END OF TEXTS…… “****” CHAPTER FOURTEEN THE REUNION At the time of the writing of this book, over three long years have passed since the night of that horrific crash on Glenhaven Road. Elias has continued to improve and develop into a mature young man with a keen mind and sense of humour. He is studying Business Management and works in a Management role in his Father’s business, World of Tiles at Castle Hill. You wouldn’t know he had been through such a horrific experience just over 3 years prior. He is physically active and strong. If you look closely, you will see the scar in the middle of his throat where the tracheotomy tube was inserted. You may also notice a small operation scar on his head when his hair is cut short. While researching this project, the writer became aware that more often than not, paramedics and emergency personnel do not get to see the victim they rescue after he or she is delivered to the Emergency Department of the hospital. They get on with the next emergency, and the next and the next. Each victim becomes a memory which hopefully fades with time because of the often horrific nature of the injuries which confront the paramedic. It was determined that none of the paramedics who worked to save Elias and transport him to Westmead Hospital, had seen him or even heard news of his remarkable recovery, after their roles were completed that evening. With amazing assistance and cooperation from Ms. Danielle Mills from the Ambulance Public Affairs Department, a reunion was organised with as many of the available paramedics who were involved with Elias’s rescue treatment and emergency transportation to hospital. On the 24th November, 2011, they all came face to face with Elias and his family. A Current Affair was invited to attend this reunion at the Air Ambulance base at Bankstown Airport and a short documentary was prepared and later went to air on ACA. There were hugs and tears and laughter and discussion about the rescue and Elias’s recovery. The enclosed photographs tell the story much better than words. “****” STATISTICS This is the area where everyone likes to argue. The P plate drivers seem to argue and dispute the available statistics the loudest. Perhaps that is because as statistics continue to show that P plate drivers are more likely to be involved in fatal car accidents than any other road user, the more rules and regulations are imposed on them. This is done to educate them, warn them, frighten them or force them to stop taking unnecessary risks on the road and to slow them down and hopefully bring the death toll down. Elias quite openly admits that prior to his accident; he thought he was bullet proof. He thought he could drive fast and weave in and out traffic and take unnecessary risks, and nothing would happen to him. All the rules in the world wouldn’t have saved Elias from smashing into that tree on the night of the 19th July, 2008 because obeying rules was the last thing on his mind. He was deliberately breaking the speed limit and the limit imposed by his P plate license. He was overtaking another vehicle on the incorrect side of unbroken white lines and on the approach to a blind bend in the road. Only two things could have saved Elias from the horrific events that were about to befall him and his family on that night: He could have stuck to the rules and the speed limit and continued to follow his mate home without attempting to overtake him in what was a potentially fatal situation. He could have been banned from driving ANY car. No car; No crash. Current statistics from the Transport Roads and Maritime Services Department reveal the following: A 17 year old driver with a P1 licence is four times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than a driver over 26 years. Driving at night (after 10pm) and carrying passengers also increases the crash risk significantly. The biggest killer of young drivers is speeding and around 80 per cent of those killed are male. Young drivers are over represented in all fatal crashes, including drink driving and fatigue. Despite making up only 15 per cent of drivers, young drivers represent around 36 per cent of annual road fatalities. Get on Google and search all you like. The same kind of statistics will appear again and again. If that won’t convince you, get in your car and take a drive. Who is weaving in and out of traffic? Who just shot past you at 30 k’s over the speed limit? Who wrapped his car around a tree last night and killed himself and two of his mates? “****” CONCLUSION Is there a solution to prevent teenage P plate drivers killing and maiming themselves in record numbers on our roads and highways? Recent changes to the law in an attempt to slow the carnage include: Introduce driver training into schools. Capping the horsepower of cars which P platers can drive. Restricting P platers to carrying only one passenger. Other initiatives include: Taking their license off them for all speeding offences. Take their license if they are caught using a mobile phone or even a hands free device while driving a car. Make the driving test tougher. Hammer them with confronting TV campaigns. Has this stopped the crashes, deaths and injuries involving hundreds of P plater drivers each year? It would appear no. As Elias clearly demonstrated on the night of his serious accident, the rules and regulations and warnings meant nothing whatsoever to him. That single factor seems to be at the heart of every P plate fatality or serious injury where a motor vehicle is involved. So do we just make it illegal for anyone less than 20 years of age to drive a motor vehicle? The outcry would probably reach the moon. The only other reasonable solution is simply to force them to comply with the rules which are in place to keep them safe. And how do we force a 17 year old male to comply with the road rules and regulations? Only with LOTS of Police in LOTS of places, MOST of the times when the statistics show the deaths and injuries are occurring. That of course means LOTS of money. Government money. Tax payer’s money. Otherwise it may be considered by the powers that be, to be cheaper to just build bigger hospitals with more operating theatres and ICU departments with more Neurosurgeons and of course, much larger morgues. As for Elias, he was one of the lucky ones. He survived. Some say he only survived because of a miracle. If that was the case, a big part of the miracle flowed through the hands of paramedics who saved his life at the accident scene and rapidly transported him to a hospital where skilful surgical hands and expertise combined with loving and professional nursing care and structured rehabilitation, eventually brought him back to his family and those who love him and finally into a world where he now functions normally again. The writer recently asked Elias if this entire experience changed him in any way. He just looked at me for a while and then went on to list the changes in his life. If you are a young P plate driver you may learn something from Elias’s horrific experience, or perhaps you will have to experience all the pain and trauma for yourself in order to learn, provided you survive. Statistics show however that the P plate Factor will usually work against you, unless you choose to comply with the rules and make it work for you. “****” PHOTOGRAPHS Approaching the blind left hand bend 300 metres from at the accident scene. Unbroken double white lines go right to and around the bend. What was left of the tree Elias hit following an 80 metre sideways skid. Elias in the Intensive Care Unit – Coma stage “****” Awake, with tracheotomy tube attached Elias using a pen and paper to try and communicate. Communicating via the computer “****” Learning to walk again. First day back at school. School Graduation School graduation with brother James “****” Reunion with the paramedics who saved his life. Reunion with Elias and his family at the Air Ambulance base at Bankstown. “****” Reunion with Elias and his family at the Air Ambulance base at Bankstown. “****” About the Author Drew Lindsay is a dynamic Australian Novelist and Writer. Drew is a Sydney man and has been closely associated with the Yousif family for several decades. He has known Elias since his birth and felt some of the pain experienced by Maurice and Jolanta when Elias was seriously injured in the car crash of 2008. Drew wrote this book at the request of his friend Maurice. Other than newspaper articles, this is Drew’s first non-fiction work. Drew was a Policeman, Detective and Fraud Investigation expert for almost three decades. Drew is an experienced SCUBA Diver and DiveMaster by qualification. He holds a private pilot’s licence. He has travelled extensively throughout Australia and the world. To learn more about Drew Lindsay, visit him online at http://www.drew-lindsay.com/ ###