A Yorke Peninsula crash left Daniel Woolley with severe head injuries, now he uses it to teach SA school students about road safety

When teenagers approach Daniel Woolley to say he changed their lives telling them about his horrific car crash on Good Friday, it makes his day.

Daniel Woolley’s car was “T-boned” when he sped through an intersection on Yorke Peninsula in 2017.

The crash caused bleeding “all over and throughout my brain”, a lacerated spleen, broken ribs and a ruptured diaphragm that forced Daniel’s gut contents into the chest cavity, collapsing his lungs.

Daniel, 41, then spent weeks at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, four months at Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre and months more living in his parents’ home, learning to move, walk and talk again.

“When I woke up in hospital I only had feeling in one arm,” Daniel says.

Daniel Woolley spent weeks in hospital after his road crash. Picture: Supplied

He was determined to defy the odds and followed every rule to become independent again.

“When I left Hampstead I had to live with my parents, I had not lived with them for nearly 20 years,” Daniel says.

“My parents had to go through the shock of my crash, seeing me in the hospital bed literally unable to do anything for myself.

“My Mum had to resign from her job as a schoolteacher to care for me.”

But Daniel calls that time the beginning of his new life and is passionate about the crash leading to his positive new role in sharing this story through SA awareness programs as a warning for others to stay focused behind the wheel.

He has since bought a new home and found love over the back fence in the Barossa with his neighbour and now wife, Carly.

His mother has returned to work as a school principal, and Daniel is committed to being a good Dad to his two daughters and three sons.

Daniel Woolley with wife Carly Woolley, he was airlifted after a crash seven years ago, and is now a traffic safety educator. Picture: Kelly Barnes

Despite living with ongoing disabilities that create struggles with walking normally, balance, concentration, memory and pain through his back and head, Daniel is cherishing every moment.

“I am fortunate the occupants of the other car were not seriously injured, or worse, killed. I am fortunate to be surrounded by a loving and supportive family,” he says.

“In my first life, I had some attitudes that meant I didn’t follow the rules, in my second life I always do.”

That is partly why Daniel dedicates his “second life” to spreading the message to pay attention on South Australian roads.

“What I do now means so much to me, I love it because I’m helping teenagers make better choices,” he says.

“You think it will never happen to you but it definitely can, and every bad habit you keep up, every risky decision, makes it even more likely.

“Remember that every person who dies or is seriously injured in road trauma ripples out to families, friends and communities.”

Originally published as A Yorke Peninsula crash left Daniel Woolley with severe head injuries, now he uses it to teach SA school students about road safety