‘I went numb’: Holly Scott’s dad received the knock on the door that every parent dreads

Richard Scott’s close mate knocked on the door but Sergeant Joe McDonald brought devastating news. Richard’s daughter Holly was fighting for life ... and that was only the beginning of her family’s struggle.

• Driven: Watch the full documentary series this week
• Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription

Richard Scott still remembers the day he received a knock on the door no parent wants to get.

On July 2, 2017, the 51-year-old opened the door to his mate, Sergeant Joe McDonald, who he had seen the day before at the local footy game.

“A very serious look he gave me and no, it’s not a catch-up,” Mr Scott recalled.

He was told his eldest daughter Holly was in a severe crash while driving to her boyfriend’s place near Echunga, and the 22-year-old might not survive.

“You go numb, for want of a better word,” the father said.

“You don’t know what to think … I was told not to go to the crash site because you won’t get through, and you just want to be there but you can’t.”

Car crash survivor Holly Scott with her father Richard, boyfriend Johnny Zehle and grandmother Judy. Picture: Matt Turner

The sergeant, who was Mr Scott’s groomsman at his wedding, had heard about the crash and Mr Scott’s name came through on the police radio.

He knew he had to be the one to notify his friend of more than 20 years.

“I think the look on my face probably said enough. When he’s looking at me and I’m nearly in tears, he knew this was the news you don’t want to get,” Sgt McDonald said.

“Is anyone really grateful when you get the knock on the door? I think he appreciated it was me, just not the message being delivered.”

In The Advertiser ’s seven-part web documentary in partnership with SA Police and Lifetime Support Authority, Mr Scott described the excruciating wait for Holly to wake up from an induced coma.

“We went in the emergency room and she was just lifeless with tubes and leads and monitors everywhere,” the father said.

For the next two weeks, Mr Scott slept on an air mattress and sleeping bags in the waiting room.

After Holly woke, the focus was on her rehabilitation, which was expected to be difficult and painful.

“It was about what Holly needed, it wasn’t about me,” Mr Scott said.

“Knowing she was in pain everyday, that was always hard. You can see sometimes she was aching everyday and you just feel the pain for her.”

One of the hardest challenges was getting Holly behind the wheel again, which for her dad was “nervewrecking”.

“She told me one day she didn’t know how she was going to do it (drive again),” he said.

“She feared waking up again in the hospital and having to go through it all again. She didn’t want that again. You don’t want to go through it again as a parent either.”

Holly Scott in hospital.

But the young woman “knew her independence would outweigh her fear” and began driving again after months of physiotherapy and psychology work.

The family came together in their own ways to support Holly – the house had to be set up when she moved around on crutches and Mr Scott was grateful his employer was flexible, allowing him to care for his daughter for an extended period before he returned to work as a prison officer.

Grandmother Judy was there to hold Holly’s hand when she got into the back seat of a car for the first time, and later drove to her granddaughter’s medical appointments.

Younger brother Sam Scott said the days when his big sister and “partner in crime” were in a coma were the hardest.

“I’d go to her if I’m in trouble … (but) when she was the one that was in trouble, I couldn’t help her,” he said.

The 22-year-old said his sister’s outlook on life has changed and she was more “appreciative”.

“What Holly is choosing to do is helping other people be safe out on the roads … that makes me pretty proud.”

The Driven series of videos and reports is free online for all readers. Please consider supporting our journalism with a subscription – find more information here.