‘I could have died that day’: 19-year-old woman speaks out after horror crash on Belair Rd

A 19-year-old woman has described her painstaking rehabilitation, after she was seriously injured in a horror crash in an affluent inner-southern suburb.

The teenage victim of a horror crash on Belair Rd has spoken out about having to learn to walk again and undergoing multiple surgeries for injuries she sustained in the collision.

Bronwen Iona Bosley, 24, faced the District Court on Monday as prosecution read out a victim impact statement from her 19-year-old passenger.

In her statement, the young woman described how she spent two weeks in ICU, ten days in an induced coma and faced uncertainty about whether she would be able to walk again.

“I lie awake at night repeating the same fact in my head that I could have died that day, if the ambulance didn’t get there when they did, if medstar weren’t on site …. if the front of my head had taken the impact, if my spinal cord was affected or if the bleeding on my brain bad been worse,” she said.

Bronwen Bosley pleaded guilty to causing serious harm by dangerous driving. Photo: Facebook

The court heard she now has two 90mm screws in left hip. three plates in her lower jaw and is still undergoing rehabilitation.

“I had to learn how to walk again, how to pick up things … how to type, and those things I could no longer do with my right hand I had to learn to do with my left,” she said in her statement.

“Those first two months consisted of setback after setback and it took a toll on me both mentally and physically.” 

She added that some of her injuries were irreversible.

The 19-year-old was in the passenger seat when Bosley crashed a Holden station wagon into a tree on Belair Rd at Torrens Park last May.

In January, the Morphett Vale woman pleaded guilty to causing harm by dangerous driving.

Bosley has pleaded guilty to causing serious harm to her passenger. Picture: NewsWire/Ben Clark

Earlier, the court heard the offence was aggravated as Bosley’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.08 or more at the time of the offending.

The victim, in her statement, told the court she had no memory of getting into the car that morning or the weeks following.

“Not having memory of those weeks is extremely daunting. Those weeks hold vital information as to what happened to me and what I went through and I had to hear it second hand,” she said.

“It has taken a lot for me to truly grasp what I went through and I don’t think I will in some ways.”

She said she crash has taken a toll on her in many ways. She no longer played football, struggled to eat and faced uncertainty about her career.

“The things that happened that day and the way they impacted me will stay with me forever,” she said.

The case will return to court in July.

Originally published as ‘I could have died that day’: 19-year-old woman speaks out after horror crash on Belair Rd