Advertisement

Student given 2% survival chance after M2 car crash makes miraculous recovery

Macy Window, 20, has made a miraculous recovery after a horror car crash. (Macy Williams/JustGiving)
Macy Window, 20, has made a miraculous recovery after a horror car crash. (Macy Williams/JustGiving)

A student who was given a 2% chance of survival after a horror car crash on the M2 has made a miraculous recovery.

Macy Window, 20, from Corringham, Essex, said she feels “so glad and grateful to still be alive” after surviving the accident.

Macy was travelling home to her family in Essex from the University of Kent along the M2 in heavy rainfall on June 6.

She suddenly lost control of her car and skidded across the road before crashing into a tree.

The 20-year-old was airlifted to Kings College Hospital in London where she has remained in intensive care for the last six months.

But with the help of physiotherapy, Macy has now been able to sit on the edge of her bed for the first time.

Read: ‘Just tragic’: Exasperated health expert’s fears over Christmas deaths

Looking forward, she hopes to recover as best as she can so that she can one day ride her beloved horse again.

Describing the accident, the English literature and sociology student said: “I was travelling home for my dad’s birthday, and I was supposed to meet my boyfriend, Ceyhun, who I lived with at university, at a service station so I could give him some of his belongings that he left at the flat.

“He had set off ahead of me and had forgotten some things. We had added each other on Find My Friends on our iPhones so that he could see where I was and know when I was close.

“When I left the flat it was a really wet day, and the rain continued during my journey home. I don’t remember much from the crash, but I wasn’t on my phone and I wasn’t speeding.

“Because of the rain, part of the road was flooded, and I skidded and crashed into a tree, where I was trapped.”

Due to the tracking app on her boyfriend’s phone, Ceyhun noticed that she hadn’t moved in 15 minutes.

Macy Window, 20, has made a miraculous recovery after doctors gave her a 2% chance of survival. (Macy Williams)
Macy Window, 20, has made a miraculous recovery after doctors gave her a 2% chance of survival. (Macy Williams)

He quickly became worried and decided to drive back to make sure everything was alright.

But instead, he saw the wrecked car and Macy screaming for help surrounded by police and paramedics.

Macy said: “After he arrived, he was the one who had to inform my family about what had happened.

She said it took the emergency services six hours to get her out of the car because her legs were stuck in the engine.

Both her lungs were punctured and the main artery in her right thigh had been severed so there was severe bleeding.

Macy said: “After I was removed from the car, I was airlifted to Kings College Hospital where my family had driven to meet me and they were told I had a 2% chance of survival.”

Macy immediately underwent a 14-hour life-saving surgery before being put in an induced coma for six weeks.

She has been in intensive care since her accident and says that it will probably be another six weeks before she is out of ICU.

Even though she missed her 20th birthday on June 16, she said her family still came to see her with balloons, presents and a big cake to share with the NHS staff.

Then after suffering four strokes, Macy said she had to be brought out of her coma early.

When she woke up she was unable to move her limbs due to the strokes, injuries and muscle wastage.

Watch: Trial volunteer amazed by speed Oxford vaccine success

She was also given a speaking valve which she was only allowed to wear for 15 minutes a day to help her communicate again.

“So I couldn’t really speak, drink or eat,” she said. “I could suck water off a sponge and I could just say one word at a time with the speaking valve in.

“This was very distressing because I was in extreme amounts of pain and I couldn’t tell anyone and I couldn’t communicate well with my family.

“Most of the time I just had to blink for no and stick my tongue out for yes, but I was so determined to be able to talk again.

She soon was able to wear her speaking valve for longer each day and was even able to remove it altogether within five weeks.

She said: “This was incredible because when I first had it inserted, the doctors told my mum that I would probably have it for life.

“This meant that I can speak normally, even though it still takes me a bit longer, and I could eat a normal diet. I was so proud of myself for this.”

Macy has also been doing physiotherapy, which she at first found “really difficult” because of how much pain she was in.

She said: “Recently I have been able to engage in it more. The amount of pain that I have is still really high, but it is better than earlier on in my recovery.

“At the start, I couldn’t stand my left leg being touch at all. It literally felt like it was on fire when someone would touch it.

Read: Teachers hit out at chaotic plans for mass testing in schools - 'it's pretty disgusting'

Macy said she is making much more progress, has been able to sit on the side of her bed and is going to work on standing up next week.

She said: “My future is still really uncertain in terms of what I will get back and what I will be able to do, but I am so determined to be able to walk and ride my horse again.”

“However, we can’t be sure about what I will be able to do, I may be in a wheelchair, no one knows yet.”

The 20-year-old said how grateful she is for the support of her “amazing” family, who have been in the hospital every day even though it is an hour and a half from where they live.

She said: “I am also so glad and grateful to still be alive and have the ability to tell my story.”

Macy has launched a JustGiving page to help her raise funds for specialised physio and rehabilitation to give her the best chance of making a complete recovery.

She said: “For a three-month stay in a rehabilitation centre it will cost around £150k, I was really nervous about deciding to do this, but I am so appreciative of all the donations so far.”

Watch: Queues of ambulance form outside NI’s over-capacity hospitals