More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A mum left seriously injured following a head-on crash with a drink driver is urging people to think twice before getting behind the wheel after a night out.
Chloe Dean, 28, from Ruckinge, was driving along the A28 near Bethersden last year when ex-motorbike professional James Camier ploughed into her car - forcing her off the road and into a hedge.
She was cut out of her vehicle and taken to King's College Hospital in London - requiring three blood transfusions on the way.
Camier - who tested three times over the limit five hours after the accident - was jailed him for three-and-a-half years and banned from driving for 81 months.
The mum-of-three suffered life-changing injuries including broken legs, a shattered elbow, multiple breaks to the pelvis, a broken sternum, arm, jaw, cheek bone and eye socket, and internal damage to the spleen, kidneys and heart.
She continues to rebuild her life 18 months on, and is now sharing her story in the hope of preventing further accidents caused by drink drivers - providing a wake-up call to anyone who’s considering drink driving this Christmas.
The 28-year-old said: "When I arrived at hospital it was a free-for-all to find out everything that was wrong with me.
"They were continuously finding additional, extensive injuries, and as they fixed one thing something else would be discovered.
"Doctors decided to put me into a medical coma as I was due to need a lot of surgery and it was safer to keep me under."
In the first week alone, Chloe had eight operations with some lasting up to 12 hours.
Once the larger operations were complete, doctors woke her from the coma, and following three months of surgery and intense physiotherapy to learn to walk again, she was allowed to return home to her family.
Over a year-and-a-half on, Chloe is still striving to get back to full health and has hope that Camier will learn from his mistakes.
She added: “He had a huge amount of alcohol in his system and now he’s in prison as a result of the accident.
"I have no hard feelings and I’d like to think the prison sentence will change his opinion of drink-driving and that he’ll be able to take positive action and learn from the experience.
“I hope he realises the impact drink-driving has, not just on the person directly involved, but the family and friends behind the scenes who are affected.
"The pain spreads a lot further than I think some people realise. And he has a family too, who will also feel the repercussions of his behaviour.”
With Christmas just around the corner, she’s now urging others to drive safely and not to risk having even one drink before getting behind the wheel.
She said: “For me now, it’s about passing the message onto others so they can learn before it’s too late.
“If you’re going for a night out and you can afford to drink, you can probably afford to get a taxi or the train home, or organise a lift. You don’t want to spoil anyone’s fun over Christmas, but I think it’s all about being aware of how your actions can affect other people.
“I’m very lucky that I’m still here, but I could have potentially been leaving my children and not been here to enjoy a family Christmas.
“Now I’m trying to live my life with no limitations, be positive and do all the things that brought me joy before the accident.”
The fire service is also urging people to drive sober this Christmas or to find other ways of getting home safely if they’ve been drinking or taking drugs.
'I’m very lucky that I’m still here, but I could have potentially been leaving my children and not been here to enjoy a family Christmas...' - Chloe Dean
Sean Bone-Knell, Operations director at Kent Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Chloe’s story is a powerful one, but it's something she should never have had to go through.
“Drink drivers not only endanger themselves, but all other roads users as well, and as Chloe says – the pain and impact is felt by the whole family and wider network of friends when some is killed or injured in a road crash.
“So we’re pleading with anyone considering drinking and driving to stop, think and opt for alternative transport.
"Have fun this Christmas, but please don’t get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking.”
For more real life stories, click here.
