Luke and Melissa Buckton show the power of love after Paget motorbike crash

A Mackay man who lost his memory following a horrific motorcycle crash has told how he felt like he’d ‘won the Lotto’ upon discovering the woman standing beside his hospital bed was actually his wife.

A Mackay man who lost his memory after a horrific motorbike crash had to fall in love with his wife all over again because he did not recognise her when he woke from his coma.

Luke Buckton, 36, nearly died after crashing his motorbike at 60km/h into a parked 4WD in Paget on May 27, 2017.

He suffered severe bleeds in critical areas of the brain, having ended up underneath the vehicle and was not breathing when paramedics arrived on scene.

His wife, Melissa, 32, said she dropped her to her knees when she got the call.

“I knew straight away that something had happened,” she said.

Luke went on to spend three weeks in ICU, the first five days of which Melissa labelled “a wait for the worst”.

“We did not know what the outcome was going to be,” she said.

“The brain swells and the swelling is what we did not want occurring.”

While Luke eventually woke up, the traumatic brain injury wiped out his memory of life before the smash and his recovery in hospital rehabilitation lasted nine months.

The first person he saw when he regained consciousness at the hospital was Melissa, but he did not know who she was.

“I was in a bit of a daze because I did not know who she was to start with,” he said.

When he was told the woman standing by him was his wife, Luke said he felt like he had “won the lotto”.

“I’m still learning about her, which is the lotto part,” he said.

“I feel like I have won the lotto because she is still with me.

“She is such an understanding person and patient person and she is beautiful.

“Just when she smiles, I love it.”

For Melissa, simply being with Luke was the key to rebuilding their relationship.

“Me being there with him, day in day out, he came to accept I was his wife,” she said.

In a remarkable display of will, Luke is now walking and working and has welcomed his first son into the world.

“I pushed and pushed and pushed myself to try and walk again,” he said.

“Some days were pretty tiring and frustrating, not being able to do simple things.

“But then when I finally got them, able to do it, I was excited and over the moon for it.”

While Melissa said Luke was “very lucky to be walking”, he spent two years in therapy sessions relearning to do everything after being discharged from hospital in 2018.

Luke said fatherhood was “difficult” but “exciting”.

“He is crawling around everywhere and he is going to be walking soon,” Luke said.

“I’m trying to learn how to run again so I can keep up with him.

“It is a bit of a slow process but I’m determined to get there.”

Luke also has two daughters from a previous marriage.

Luke Buckton had to relearn movements like walking and swimming following his accident in 2017. Picture: Contributed

Luke credits Melissa for his progress, but she says it is his innate strength that propelled him forward, something she saw in Luke before the crash.

“His recovery, it is his story, not mine,” she said.

“Luke was always a very determined guy.

“He had that really strong work ethic to begin with.”

Melissa said the first two years after the crash were “definitely the hardest”.

“It was a whirlwind,” she said.

“We had lots of highs, lots of lows.

“Probably more so a lot of lows than highs but I guess I’m a very optimistic, hopeful person.

“You gain resilience going through what you do.”

Melissa says the man she fell in love with was still with her, despite the rupture and changes that have come.

“He has this personality which is the biggest thing that I was attracted to begin with, he has that still,” she said.

“He has his charisma and he just guns for life.

“He has always been like that, very driven.”

To move back into employment, Luke and Melissa sought help through APM, an ASX-listed human resources company that works to connect people with disabilities with employers.

Employment consultant Mickaila Dobbie took on Luke’s case and helped him to find work as a storeman at Blackwoods in Paget.

“Luke came to us directly,” she said.

“He was just so keen to provide for his family.”

For Melissa, Luke’s story demonstrates the danger of prejudging people.

“Don’t overrule someone because of their struggles, or because they may walk with a limp,” she said.

“Don’t rule them out, they could be your best candidate, or your best employee, but unfortunately they get overshadowed and overlooked.”

Melissa has also returned to work part-time as an administrator with Paget’s Fenner Dunlop.

Luke and Melissa first met at the Moranbah races in 2010.

Love blossomed and they were married in Bali in 2016, just nine months before the crash.

“He is actually a very romantic soul,” Melissa says of Luke.

Reflecting on the struggles of the past five years, Melissa says “love prevails” and we should “never give up” on life.

“He is still Luke, he is still my husband,” she said.

“I have never looked at him differently because of what we have gone through.

“I look upon him as still the guy I met and fell in love with, who I married, who we now share a child with.

“It is definitely testimony that love does prevail and you can get through some really hard times when you do have that.

“Never give up.

“That’s probably the biggest message of all.

“Times are tough, we all go through struggles in life, but if you can see the silver lining and you are true to yourself and just believe in your own intuition and advocate for you and your partner, you can get through anything.”