18-year-old car crash victim Summer Mills shares brave journey of recovery

“I’ve been stripped of my basic human abilities”: A brave teenager left unable to walk after a crash caused by a drunk driver has told her harrowing story of survival. VIDEO

• ‘What have I done?’ Drunk driver jailed over crash carnage

The victim of a horrific Logan car crash has bravely shared her two-year long road to recovery after she was struck by a drunk driver just one week after celebrating her 18th birthday.

On January 17, 2021 Summer Rose Mills celebrated her 18th birthday and was excited to begin her journey into adulthood. By January 24 she was fighting for her life.

She recalled before Beenleigh District Court on January 30 this year, during the sentencing of drunk driver Samuel Kenneth Koa Potter, 23, that she had been planning to move out of home and was looking for a place to live while completing her hairdressing apprenticeship.

“I thought I knew which direction my life was going in,” she told the court.

“Like any 18-year-old I was excited to turn 18 and enjoy my independence and freedom.

“The night of the accident I was picking up my friend who had an argument and needed my help, with my dog Diesel in the car. Little did I know that my carefree smile as I walked towards my car would be the last smile I would have for a very long time.”

She was crashed into head-on by drunk driver Potter in Crestmead on January 24, 2021. Potter was three times over the blood alcohol limit at the time.

Summer Mills' leg after a tragic car accident in January 2021.

Emergency services took one hour to lift Ms Mills out of her Toyota RAV4.

In a powerful victim impact statement read out to the court, she recalled her horrific experience in hospital, where she stayed for a month, and her parents’ horror as they were told she may need her leg amputated or may not survive at all.

“They all thought I was going to die in my first surgery, I felt like a prisoner in my own body.

“I had three surgeries and was on so much medication I could barely stay awake for more than an hour. I was in so much pain if somebody so much as bumped my bed I would burst into tears.

“Each time a family member came into my hospital room and I saw their faces, my heart shattered.

“I did physio every day for a month. Everyday I was exhausted and in pain afterwards but I refused to let it get the best of me.

“I just wanted to go home and eventually I was discharged but at home I wasn’t able to walk around as normal.

Summer Mills recovering in hospital. Picture: Facebook

“At a time when I should have been saving to move out and enjoying being 18, I was trying to make ends meet because of the financial strain of my medical bills.”

Ms Mills bravely shared what a day in her life was like one year after being discharged from hospital.

“I would wake up in pain every morning, I would call my mum to get me out of bed and put me in my wheelchair and she would then go and get my clothes and dress me.

“I would then call my dad and he would help me lay on the couch, that is where I would spend most of the day. He had to make all my food and give me medications, which would make me sick.

“My life and that of my parents had become unrecognisable.

“I couldn’t run, jump, dance, swim or move my left knee. I feel like I’ve been stripped of my basic human abilities.”

Summer Mills’ car after a 2021 Crestmead car crash. Picture: Facebook

Ms Mills’ family dog Diesel had to be euthanized after the accident and the tragic loss added to the mental suffering she endured.

She said she felt incredible guilt over her family dog’s death and said she lived with it every day.

“I made the worst decision of my life taking Diesel with me.

“Diesel was passed down to us from my Uncle and when I found out Diesel had died I felt I had let everyone down.

“I live everyday knowing I was the person that put him in the car. I felt I had disappointed my uncle and it was my job to keep him safe and I had failed. I just kept saying I was ‘sorry’.”

Despite all the challenges, Ms Mills has remained positive about her recovery.

“It’s been one year and I am in a spot I could have only dreamt about a year ago. I can walk, I can jump, I can dance. I feel like me again. I still have things I cannot do but in time that is a hurdle I will again accomplish.”

Potter pleaded guilty dangerous operation of a vehicle causing grievous bodily harm while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance.and was sentenced to four years’ jail, to be suspended after serving 14 months actual prison time.

His license was also disqualified for three years.