Driver paid $500 bond for crash that cost Paradise woman Vivienne Duffett her leg

Vivienne Duffett doesn’t recall the crash that cost her a limb, but she remembers her reaction to discovering the price the driver who caused it paid.

Vivienne Duffett can’t remember the crash that ultimately caused her to lose her right leg below the knee.

But three years after her motorbike was hit head-on by a car on the wrong side of Main South Rd near Normanville, she found the courage to watch a video of the shocking aftermath.

“It was like watching a movie,” says the 65-year-old of the confronting film, taken by her brother-in-law, who had rushed to the crash scene.

“I could see me lying on the road but I didn’t feel anything. I thought it might trigger some sort of memory but it did not resonate.”

Road crash survivor Vivienne Duffett with her three prosthetic legs. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Ms Duffett, who had her right leg amputated and now wears a prosthetic, was riding with a friend in December 2014 when she was hit head-on by a car on the wrong side of the winding country road.

She remembers a “blue cloud” from the veering, blue-coloured car and then nothing. Her next memory is waking up in the Flinders Medical Centre after 10 days in a coma.

She said she knew, through reports from her friend and police officers, that she was flung 3m into the air before skidding along the road for 200m and smashing head first into a big tree.

Three years later – after three operations on her foot and still only being able to stand for 10 minutes without needing to rest. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Vivienne Duffett has had her right leg amputated below the knee after being hit on her motorbike by a drugged driver on a country road in 2014. Picture: Kelly Barnes

A doctor and a nurse were in the car behind and helped at the crash scene before Ms Duffett was airlifted to hospital by helicopter.

“When I woke up and realised I was in hospital, the first thing I asked was ‘what did I do wrong’,” says Ms Duffett, who had been riding bikes for about six years at the time of the accident.

“I do remember thinking ‘I need to heal and to heal I need to not worry about the driver who hit me’. I didn’t want to be a victim.”

Ms Duffett, of Paradise, suffered several broken bones on the right side of her body, including her femur, tibia, ankle and ribs.

Her right big toe was ripped off and her foot crushed. She spent six weeks in hospital and then another four weeks at College Grove rehabilitation centre in Collinswood.

The recruitment manager was also unable to return to the job she “really loved”.

Three years later – after three operations on her foot and still only being able to stand for 10 minutes without needing to rest – she took the brave decision to have her leg amputated below the knee.

She now wears a computer-driven prosthetic leg that simulates an ankle joint. She also has a waterproof leg to shower in and a strong, stable leg to wear when she lifts weights at the gym.

Vivienne Duffett says she “didn’t want to be a victim” after the 2014 crash which caused her to lose her right leg below the knee. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Years after the crash, Ms Duffett discovered the driver was given a “frustrating” six-week prison sentence that was suspended on a $500 bond and a 12-month suspension of his licence after being found guilty of two charges – aggravated driving without due care and overtaking a vehicle when it is not safe to do so.

“I said to police ‘oh, that’s worth losing my leg for’. It was a bit of a smack in the mouth, really,” says Ms Duffett, who has not ridden a motorbike since the crash.

“But I just made up my mind that I wasn’t wasting any energy on him, I just couldn’t. It was too important to get better. I want to live to 100.”

Ms Duffett has backed The Advertiser’s Arrive Alive campaign, urging motorists to “always think about others and be mindful of what you do”.

“I get very cross when I see motorbike riders hooning, I’ve thought about chasing them down and telling them off,” she says.