End of a nightmare for Saudi crash victim
Dublin People 09 Mar 2012
NORTHSIDE woman Carmel Feeney has told of her triumph over
adversity after she suffered horrific injuries in a car crash in Saudi Arabia
and lost guardianship of her four children when she returned to Ireland for
surgery.
In a candid interview with Northside People, Swords
resident Carmel told her extraordinary story of the nightmare she’s
endured and now overcome since the car smash in Jeddah in 1999, which almost
claimed her life.
In the heartbreaking years since the accident, Carmel,
now 54-years-old, slowly rebuilt her body through 22 operations and won back
her confidence thanks to a local centre for learning.
Before her life was turned upside down, Carmel was a
busy mum-of-four who worked as a pre-school teacher for children with special
needs and was also a freelance journalist.
She was married to a Saudi national and had been
living in the region for 20 years.
“Life was hectic but good,
? she explained.
“Then one day I was driving down the highway when a
car flew over the barrier and landed on the roof of my car.
“I learned later that the driver, who was killed
instantly, had been a 15-year-old boy who’d just been given a Mercedes from his
father as a present.
“I had a lot of injuries. I punctured my lung, had two
broken shoulders, a fractured femur and glass stuck into my body all over. I
was unconscious for a very long time after it happened.
?
Carmel spent three weeks in intensive care and
underwent numerous operations, one of which went horribly wrong.
“They had to take a lot of bone from my pelvis and I
wasn’t expected to walk again,
? she stated.
“After that I just wanted to come home and get
treatment in Ireland.
“So I came home on a stretcher with one suitcase in
2000.
?
Carmel’s relationship with her husband had broken down
and because of Saudi law she lost guardianship of her children, who ranged in
age from 10 to 17.
“It’s been tough but I don’t want to be seen as a
victim,
? she insisted.
“I’m not extraordinary.
?
Over the last 13 years Carmel has been through
intensive rehabilitation both physically and emotionally. She suffers from
chronic pain but she regained her mobility, although she now walks with a limp.
In rebuilding her emotional confidence, Carmel says
she is eternally grateful to the work of the National Learning Network (NLN)
based in Swords, and in particular a rehabilitative programme called Choices
that she signed up for in 2009.
“The Choices programme really helped to rebuild my
confidence,
? she explained.
“The people who run the course are absolutely
fantastic and for the first time I felt like the person I was before the
accident. I felt useful.
?
The following year, Carmel enrolled in an NLC-run
course in IT and Business Administration.
“If I had my health again I would love to be a teacher
for children with special needs but in my mind I know it’s not possible,
? she
said.
“I learned so much about coping from those children
when I worked with them. It’s ironic because I’m now in their position.
?
Carmel now works with the National Learning Network as
part of a Community Employment scheme and loves every minute of her job.
“Apart from working with children with special needs,
my second love in life is meeting people and being able to help them in any way
I can,
? she stated.
“I get so much pleasure from making people smile.
?
Life has almost come full circle for Carmel, who just
recently met her daughter, now aged 24, for the first time in several years.
“She’s married now and came to Ireland to visit me
with her young baby so I was able to meet my daughter and granddaughter at the
same time which was a dream come true,
? said Carmel.
“I’ve been in contact with the children every day
since I left and I have seen three of them in the last year.
?
The National Learning Network, which has 50 centres
throughout the country including one in Swords, provides free training and
specialist support to those who find it difficult to enter or return to
employment.
The service offers a range of courses with some
designed to cater for people who may have mild learning difficulties, mental
health issues or those looking to re-enter the workforce after a long period of
unemployment.
Applicants do not require formal entry qualifications
but must be referred by FÃS or the Health Service Executive (HSE).
For further details, contact the Swords centre at
8404120, email swords@nln.ie or log on to www.nln.ie
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