November 21, 2021 • 23 mins
Episode 1: Chapter 2 - William Cole - Recovery from a farm motorcycle accident which resulted in a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) - The accident & initial treatment in hospital.
In the first episode, we meet William Cole, a 25 year old farmer from Bookaar in Western Victoria. William had a farm motorcycle accident in 2017 which resulted in a traumatic brain injury. In this second chapter of the episode, William talks about his accident and we discuss his initial treatment in hospital.
Transcript and show notes are available for each episode on the podcast website: storiesofrecovery.buzzsprout.com
Shownotes:
- 10:50 - The air ambulance flew William to the Royal Melbourne Hospital. Have you got an Ambulance Victoria membership? It's possibly the best value membership you'll ever own,
- 14:40 - The article in The Standard newspaper online which includes the images of William's scans (before and after the 12 hour surgery he underwent),
- 16:40 - William was moved to the Epworth Hospital in Richmond following his surgery, to begin his rehabilitation. He stayed here working with a trauma rehab team for 3 months,
- 16:51 & 18:36 - William's trauma rehabilitation team included: A speech pathologist, a neuropsychologist (another useful description of this speciality here), a psychologist, a physiotherapist, an occupational therapist and a dietician,
- ^18:08 - Make friends with your treaters (the people treating you),
- ^21:00 - Watch movies or tv shows that you enjoy and have seen before with the subtitles and volume both turned on to help your brain reconnect the sound with the word,
- ^22:27 - Time is a great healer.
^William's main tips
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Robbie - Introduction (00:10):
Welcome to Chapter Two.
In this chapter William talksabout the accident and the
initial treatment he received inhospital.
Robbie - Host (00:32):
So then do you want to talk us through in as
much, or as little detail as youlike...the event itself?
William Cole - guest (00:41):
Yeah, yeah.
The...
well...the big crash.
It was, well, just to start off,it was really funny because all
of a sudden you're somewhere andthen you're somewhere else.
It was like teleporting.
Robbie - Host (00:51):
That was your experience?
William Cole - guest (00:52):
Yeah, it was strange just because I dunno
if it was just my pain toleranceor maybe I was bombed out on the
medication that the doctors weregiving me.
But yeah, well, on the 8th ofOctober, it was a Friday.
I knocked off work and I camehome and I was welding.
(01:15):
And when you've got your eye'in', it means you can sort of
weld anything.
So I came home to my workshopand kept welding because I was
'in form'.
Robbie - Host (01:23):
Nice.
William Cole - guest (01:23):
And then I had a mate come over.
And he was hanging out.
Yeah, he was staying for theweekend, all weekend.
He got down from Melbourne andwe were just hanging out here,
just chatting and catching upand had a beer or so, and, the
neighbours were having theirdaughter's 25th(birthday) and
they've been good family friendssince they moved in about 12
years ago.
(01:44):
And so being a good neighbour Ithought it's her birthday and
she's got all her mates, we'llgo over and say g'day.
I was catching up on their newsand yeah...
So I stayed there for about twohours or so.
Nothing too big, from about7:00pm to 9:00pm, had a bite to
eat, and they were playing someboccé out on the lawn and so I
played that...
And so I was chatting to hermother and she was just sort of
(02:08):
walking me out saying thanks forcoming.
And I was like, yeah, noworries, Allison.
Good to see you.
I chatted to her post-accidentand she said, yeah, you seemed
fine.
I think across the whole night Iwould have had two beers.
So, you know, I was quite, fine,
Robbie - Host (02:25):
Lucid?
William Cole - guest (02:26):
Yeah.
And she said I got on themotorbike fine and put my helmet
on fine.
It was just, you know, normalWill, like he's just doing his
thing.
And so yeah, I jumped on thebike and set sail off back
towards home, from that party.
And so yeah I went home withthat thought, that you know,
(02:47):
I've got to work tomorrow.
And so I was just driving homeand for me I was just went into
a black cloud, like I can'tremember, but for the
description of it, I was headinghome and I think roughly would
have been(travelling at a speedof) about 30 to 40 kilometers
per hour.
(03:08):
T he right side of my handlebarsof my motorbike, I was on a two
wheeler agricultural motor bike,and the right handle of it
clipped into a Bluestone cattlegrid, which resulted...
Robbie - Host (03:23):
So into the wall?
William Cole - guest (03:24):
Into yeah.
Into, into it.
Into a the bluestone wall.
Robbie - Host (03:30):
So you're driving past a...through the gate and
clipped the edge of the gate?
William Cole - guest (03:32):
Yeah, yeah .
Yep.
So it's just over the road wherethe crash site was.
Um, but yeah, so driving uptowards to exit the property and
drive through the entry onto myproperty and yeah, there was
these, um, there's a blue stonecattle grid.
So you drive over that to stopthe cattle obviously, getting
onto the road and, uh, yeah.
Being made out of bluestone, itobviously impacted quite hard
(03:56):
and resulted in the, um, righthandlebar jerking down hard to
the right and the wheel hitting,and, um, it, it's, it's quite
funny because there's a fewmarks on that side and then
there's few marks on that side,and some people think that I
would have hit there, and I didhit that part of the stone at
(04:17):
that time with my head.
Um, I didn't have my helmet doneup, so I think my helmet
would've came off and I hit itwith my head on the right side,
and then I've managed to stay onthe bike and drive across as it
would have bounced back acrossand driven onto the other side
of the wall.
(04:38):
But that amazes me, like Imust've somehow really got it on
a sharp angle because of thecattle grid.
Like there's, it's like when youtram track on your bicycle, it's
sorta no escape.
Yeah, somehow it must've beenover the grid and then came back
and hit it or something becausethey found the bike on the left
side, out through the exit about10 meters.
(05:01):
So I may have stayed on the bikeand fell off there or I might
have fallen off at the firstimpact or the second impact.
We're really not too sure.
I guess the fight or flightresponse takes over and...
to me, like, I cannot recallthis at all, the brain's
completely blanked it out, but I, yeah, from that accident, I
(05:23):
did get up and started to walkback towards where my friends
were having their birthdayparty.
Robbie - Host (05:30):
Because how far were you from there?
William Cole - guest (05:33):
Uh, it was about 200 meters.
Robbie - Host (05:36):
Okay.
William Cole - guest (05:37):
Yeah.
So it was, yeah.
I did have a break on the waywith the walk, cause they found
my boot, so I must've fallendown and taken my boot off and
they found a pool of blood aswell, the next morning.
So I was obviously moving quiteslowly and steadily but yeah.
And I walked back towards thefriend's birthday party and
(06:01):
jumped in to a car and jumpedinto the boot of my neighbour's
car, who was Alison, the lady Iwas talking to before I jumped
on the motorbike to sail offback home.
It was just chance of luck thatAlison actually had to catch a
flight the next morning, quiteearly and it was about 6:00 AM
(06:23):
or something.
So what did she do, she woke up,packed her stuff and jumped into
her car and heard scuffling inthe back and she was like, oh,
what's that?
That's strange.
Robbie - Host (06:34):
Is this a sedan or a wagon?
William Cole - guest (06:36):
Ah, this is a four wheel drive.
Robbie - Host (06:38):
And so you've closed the back behind you and
you're like huddled up in..., inthe back of the boot.
Yeah.
Wow.
William Cole - guest (06:45):
So, um, the brain must've been working
quite well to be able to closethe boot on yourself.
Robbie - Host (06:51):
It sounds like the return from sort of a late
night at a B&S(Bachelor andSpinsters- Agricultural Ball) or
something, where you crawl backinto the back of your ute and
crawl into your swag for thenight.
William Cole - guest (07:00):
Yeah, it was, well, it was funny because
before Alison found me, I hadstarted dreaming and these were
very vivid dreams.
Like I was dreaming that I wasat their property, but we were
having this massive party andthere was all my old workmates
from the sale yards were thereand they were drinking and we
(07:22):
were watching the cricket and inthen there were these people
from like Mexico there...
Robbie - Host (07:26):
You can still remember this two years later?
William Cole - guest (07:27):
I remember that.
And I remember I got locked inthis garage.
It was a girl called Megan.
I've never seen this face or meta lady alike before.
Another younger...I can'tremember her name and this old,
like 60 year old dude fromHungary.
Like he had like a very Europeanaccent and it was, it was
(07:50):
classic.
Um, but the funny thing in mydream was, Megan or whatever her
name was saying that she had togo to town to buy meds because I
said I had a headache and shewas like, okay, I'll run to town
and get you some medicine.
And then I can remember thedream, I was like, where's that
(08:12):
Megan chick?
And as soon as I thought thatshe popped up and she was like,
oh, here you go...
So yeah, I'll leave it at that,but, well, yeah.
Robbie - Host (08:20):
So, so what happened?
I guess, just from thestory...like you obviously don't
have the memory of any of this,but what happened at that point?
So your friend's Mum found youhalfway to the airport?
William Cole - guest (08:32):
Well, no, luckily she didn't leave the
house.
Robbie - Host (08:35):
She would have been surprised to find you
there!
William Cole - guest (08:37):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
It would have been a greatshock.
And because of the impact that Ihad on the stone, I wasn't
looking pretty.
So it would have been quite the,um, initial shock to see someone
in that state, especiallysomeone that you've known for
quite a while, but then alsojust the wonder of, you know,
what the hell happened to you?
Yeah.
(08:58):
"Where'd you come from andwhy've you been in my car and
what's going on?
Robbie - Host (09:01):
So she drove you to the hospital?
William Cole - guest (09:04):
She didn't drive me to the hospital.
She raised the alarm with herhusband and he came out to check
on me, but somehow they got meto the shower.
Robbie - Host (09:21):
So were you awake?
William Cole - guest (09:22):
I was, but I cannot remember this.
Um, very groggy, like very slowresponses like, ah, nah.
But yeah, and so they would havewoken up some others and put me
in the shower and my good mate,who was their son Elliott.
Um, he put me in the shower andhe turned it on and he thought
(09:44):
um, oh, why are you sittingdown?
So he stupidly thought he'dstand me up.
And then it was that classicrealization, as soon as you take
one step or two steps away, hewas like, maybe I shouldn't have
done that.
And he hears this massive thumpand down I go straight back onto
the ground.
But luckily in a funny sense,luckily it did happen because I
(10:07):
had long hair at the time down,past my eyes.
Um, and he looked at me and Ilooked up at him and then he
actually could see my skull.
So, um, he then just ran out ofthe bathroom, was like, all
right, nah we need to, let'scall the ambulance.
Let's just raise the alarm.
(10:27):
And, um, he woke up his oldersister and luckily she had a
few, you know, being a birthdayparty.
Some of her mates were nursesand, um, studying something, you
know, in the medical world ofthings.
And yeah, they woke up and sortatook my aid and were looking
after me with the most care,which was, very again lucky.
(10:48):
And then they had called theambulance and the first
ambulance rocked up and that wasthe local ambulance from town
and they put me in the stretcherand stuff and they were going to
take me to Warrnambool.
But through my Mum's andeveryone's around here...local
(11:08):
knowledge, they know that theroads are pretty, how you going,
like bumpy and potholes andstuff.
And they knew that someone insuch a state, they didn't really
want to risk it.
So they decided to call the airambulance and just re-jittering
back to my story, it was funnybecause Mum was there and I can
remember her being like"how areyou?
Can you feel my hand?
(11:28):
Squeeze my hand".
Um, but I was telling her that Iowed Megan money for the
medication she got me from thosedreams.
And Mum questioned me about itlike a year or two after the
accident and I was like"oh, Iwas dreaming" by then.
Yeah, anyway.
Robbie - Host (11:48):
So you got air lifted to Melbourne?
William Cole - guest (11:50):
Yeah.
So yeah, so the air ambulancecame and landed and they
strapped me up, or put me inthere and I got flown to the
Royal Melbourne hospital.
Now when I got there, I think Iwould have been seduced( sic)
into a coma at the RoyalMelbourne.
I don't know if the ambulancedid.
Um, but anyway I got flown thereand got seduced(sic) into an
(12:12):
induced coma for nine days, andthat was more weird dreaming,
but yeah, it was just strangebecause that whole...it was
about 10 days, I'd say, yeahjust solid, straight dreams and
yeah, it was a strange and funnyplace.
(12:32):
I mean I could ramble on aboutthose dreams for hours, but
there's no point.
But yeah, I can remember, wakingup.
When it came time to wake up.
And...
Robbie - Host (12:47):
Was that something that the medical team
had decided for you?
Like, were they controlling youin that state for nine days?
William Cole - guest (12:54):
Yeah.
Well they did actually try towake me up earlier and as I came
re-awoken, I was convulsingwriggling around, so it was
still obviously healing a bit.
So they put me back into thecoma for a few more days.
I don't know at what time theytried to wake me back up, but
(13:16):
yeah that might've been a coupleof days or so.
But then during being in thecoma I got all my scans and
everything.
Robbie - Host (13:25):
So they assessed everything?
William Cole - guest (13:27):
Yeah from head to toe pretty much, just
figuring out what was going on.
And well I did receive a 9, no12 hour surgery, which did
result in titanium plates andscrews in my face.
So under my jaw, holding mycheek bones together and part of
(13:54):
my eyes together and up all overmy skull.
Because from the x-rays I hadcracked my skull in many
different places.
And as a result they had tobreak more of it to be able to
fix it properly.
So I got a lot of metal up in myhead and a lot of, a fair bit of
(14:17):
plastic surgery as well.
Because there was a lot ofcracks I broke all my eye
sockets, my jaw was completelydislodged and I couldn't really
talk out of it and yeah, justcleanly snapped like my jaw,
like there was two parts to myjaw.
(14:39):
Yeah, there was a lot of, a lotof damage done.
Robbie - Host (14:43):
I'll just add in here, I saw there was some scans
on one of the articles, I thinkin The Standard of what your
scan of your skull at the injuryand then after it'd been fixed
up and it was pretty traumatic,but I must just say you're
looking very good.
You'd have no idea...like noidea anything's happened.
William Cole - guest (15:05):
If you want some good surgeons mate
I'll get you some.
Well hats off to the surgeons, Imean, they're amazing and
they're a really cool group ofguys, but as you say, a lot of
therapists and doctors call itan invisible injury because you
know, some people who recoverquite well, they'll get put
(15:25):
together back again quite well,but yeah you won't even notice
like that even happenedor...yeah.
It's yeah.
It's quite amazing.
Robbie - Host (15:34):
Yeah.
Some context for people is thatall of those other injuries,
they would have taken some timeto heal, but they would have
healed up.
And as you say, no one can seethem anymore.
So I think..., my understandingwas you were nine days in a coma
in the Royal Melbourne hospital?
William Cole - guest (15:50):
Yes.
Robbie - Host (15:51):
And then how long did you stay in the Royal
Melbourne for total?
William Cole - guest (15:54):
I was there for about two weeks
following the crash.
Robbie - Host (15:59):
Yep.
William Cole - guest (16:00):
I think about two weeks until what's it
called?
They've got some term for it,anyway, until I passed that term
of just where I'm at, like if Iwas able to go and go to the
toilet independently and sort ofbe wanting to get out of the
hospital bed, I suppose.
Because I was just sick of itbecause those days at the Royal
(16:23):
Melbourne I was just bedridden.
Just sitting there.
No TV or any distractions.
They won't allow you to havephones or anything.
So just sitting there and reallytrying to hang out.
Robbie - Host (16:35):
So they put you sort of..
did that initial work in termsof putting you back together and
then you had about three monthsin?
William Cole - guest (16:42):
So yeah, after that I got transferred to
the Epworth
Robbie - Host (16:45):
Yep.
In Melbourne still?
William Cole - guest (16:45):
Yeah, in Richmond.
Robbie - Host (16:47):
Yep.
To the trauma rehab team or whowas that to?
William Cole - guest (16:53):
I did have a trauma rehab team and we were
all in a ward together, and itwas people with head injuries
and ABI's(acquired braininjuries) and stuff.
So they could all monitor us.
No doubt there was a lot ofneuropsychologists, speech
pathologists and occupationaltherapists all crammed in and
(17:15):
around there to be able to help,because yeah, they do a lot of
thoughts and understanding andmemory and talking and, a lot of
brain function, but then alsothe OT(occupational therapy)
being yeah, work and stuff.
And if you were previousemployed and how you could ease
(17:36):
back into work and monitoringyour future days or your tasks
that you can perform.
Robbie - Host (17:42):
Yes.
William Cole - guest (17:42):
And so these guys were all working with
us to be able to understandwhere we were at, in terms of
healing after such a big crash.
Robbie - Host (17:50):
Yeah sure.
William Cole - guest (17:51):
And yeah, it was good.
I was learning...slowly learningto get back to walking at the
Epworth.
I do remember a few days I wasbeing pushed around in a
wheelchair and it felt prettyfun because you didn't have to
do much and everyone was workingaround you.
But yeah, I was slowly learninghow to walk and I became...I
(18:15):
guess my mentality was...Ibecame really good friends with
my treaters and sort of made ita friendship rather than a
patient, carer thing.
Robbie - Host (18:30):
So this is the team that are kind of around you
really sort of focusing on yourrecovery?
William Cole - guest (18:34):
Yes.
Robbie - Host (18:34):
And who did that comprise?
Like what professions did thatcomprise?
William Cole - guest (18:38):
I had a speech pathologist, a
neuropsychologist.
I had a psychologist twice.
Robbie - Host (18:44):
What was the difference between the
psychologist and theneuropsychologist?
William Cole - guest (18:46):
I think the psychologist just wanted to
chat sort of thing.
Make sure you know that you hadlike your thoughts were fine and
stuff like that.
I can't really say because sheflew in and flew out.
Like she would just all of asudden...
cause I was laying in bed mostof the day and all the people
would come into your room andthen leave and she rocked up and
(19:09):
chatted for about 20 minutes andthen another time for about an
hour.
Robbie - Host (19:12):
Okay.
William Cole - guest (19:12):
And well I was just chatting to her about
home and the farm because sheasked me where I lived and of
course I just started talkingabout the farm.
I said you need to come out andvisit it one day and dada...
And stuff like that, and webecame good friends because she
was from around here somewhere.
But yeah, I never saw her againand she never really did any
work with me.
Like we didn't really do manyassessments, or any assessments
(19:35):
or anything.
Robbie - Host (19:36):
So maybe she was just sort of assessing where you
were?
William Cole - guest (19:39):
Yeah.
Just sort of face value on firstimpression.
I'm not too sure.
She could have just been arandom lady from the street.
Robbie - Host (19:47):
Just someone who's walked in, looking for a
chat?!
William Cole - guest (19:47):
I was quite happily chatting away.
So yeah, and then, well myneuropsychologist, my speech
pathologist, a physiotherapist,an occupational therapist and a
dietician.
Robbie - Host (20:05):
Wow.
So it's quite the team.
And how often would you seethose people?
William Cole - guest (20:09):
The physiotherapist I'd see twice a
week, the neuropsychologist I'dprobably see twice to three
times...
no, once a week, speechpathology once a week.
I think.
Yeah.
All the rest were once a weekand dietician...
Robbie - Host (20:24):
So you've still got a lot of time by yourself...
William Cole - gues (20:25):
Absolutely.
Robbie - Host (20:25):
Because at this point you can't walk?
William Cole - guest (20:28):
I was getting back to walking.
When I was at the RoyalMelbourne I couldn't walk and
yeah I remember waking up and myeyes...it was just all white and
thin lines because my eyes werescabbed over and I remember
trying to walk for the firsttime and they had a couple of
the workers on the side of thenurses and yeah.
I just tried to stand up andjust fell back down and it took
(20:51):
a few sessions to be able to geta step in again.
Robbie - Host (20:53):
And, and was that because of the leg?
Ok, the leg*less(more) than thehead?
William Cole - guest (20:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Robbie - Host (20:58):
But then did you have to learn to talk again?
William Cole - guest (21:01):
Talk, well, yeah in a way.
Being able to remember...
like just how you asked thatquestion.
Trying to be able to rememberthe question and come up with a
response.
It was very delayed and could bevery random, sort of off with
the fairies I suppose, you know.
Robbie - Host (21:20):
Yep.
William Cole - guest (21:20):
And it was just more
to...yeah...concentration andmemory and being...having a good
vocabulary.
That was quite hard because Ihad to sort of start reading
again, you know, to be able toget in tune with those words.
So yeah, it was funny.
(21:42):
Well reading was proving quitetough at the Epworth, but
luckily by this time at theEpworth they gave you little
screens and you could haveNetflix and YouTube and stuff,
and I started watching a lot ofNetflix, but I started watching
movies with subtitles on.
So I would watch movies that Iknew and just read the subtitles
(22:05):
and just read it word for word,even though I'd seen the movie
and stuff, but it was just so Icould sort of get that brain
power going again, just to readthe words as they come up and...
Robbie - Host (22:16):
Connect the word with the meaning...
William Cole - guest (22:17):
Yeah, yeah, exactly right.
And it was funny with somewords, I was just like...uh,
what's that mean again...?
Stuff like that.
But I think the best likemedicine for that was time to
pass by and my brain slowlybecame less mush and started
(22:39):
to...
Robbie - Host (22:40):
Fire again.
William Cole - guest (22:40):
Yeah, exactly.
Fire again.
Robbie - Host (22:52):
That's the end of Chapter Two.
In Chapter Three William shareshis main recovery learnings.
Returning home.
Welcome to Chapter Two.
In this chapter William talksabout the accident and the
initial treatment he received inhospital.
Robbie - Host (00:32):
So then do you want to talk us through in as
much, or as little detail as youlike...the event itself?
William Cole - guest (00:41):
Yeah, yeah.
The...
well...the big crash.
It was, well, just to start off,it was really funny because all
of a sudden you're somewhere andthen you're somewhere else.
It was like teleporting.
Robbie - Host (00:51):
That was your experience?
William Cole - guest (00:52):
Yeah, it was strange just because I dunno
if it was just my pain toleranceor maybe I was bombed out on the
medication that the doctors weregiving me.
But yeah, well, on the 8th ofOctober, it was a Friday.
I knocked off work and I camehome and I was welding.
(01:15):
And when you've got your eye'in', it means you can sort of
weld anything.
So I came home to my workshopand kept welding because I was
'in form'.
Robbie - Host (01:23):
Nice.
William Cole - guest (01:23):
And then I had a mate come over.
And he was hanging out.
Yeah, he was staying for theweekend, all weekend.
He got down from Melbourne andwe were just hanging out here,
just chatting and catching upand had a beer or so, and, the
neighbours were having theirdaughter's 25th(birthday) and
they've been good family friendssince they moved in about 12
years ago.
(01:44):
And so being a good neighbour Ithought it's her birthday and
she's got all her mates, we'llgo over and say g'day.
I was catching up on their newsand yeah...
So I stayed there for about twohours or so.
Nothing too big, from about7:00pm to 9:00pm, had a bite to
eat, and they were playing someboccé out on the lawn and so I
played that...
And so I was chatting to hermother and she was just sort of
(02:08):
walking me out saying thanks forcoming.
And I was like, yeah, noworries, Allison.
Good to see you.
I chatted to her post-accidentand she said, yeah, you seemed
fine.
I think across the whole night Iwould have had two beers.
So, you know, I was quite, fine,
Robbie - Host (02:25):
Lucid?
William Cole - guest (02:26):
Yeah.
And she said I got on themotorbike fine and put my helmet
on fine.
It was just, you know, normalWill, like he's just doing his
thing.
And so yeah, I jumped on thebike and set sail off back
towards home, from that party.
And so yeah I went home withthat thought, that you know,
(02:47):
I've got to work tomorrow.
And so I was just driving homeand for me I was just went into
a black cloud, like I can'tremember, but for the
description of it, I was headinghome and I think roughly would
have been(travelling at a speedof) about 30 to 40 kilometers
per hour.
(03:08):
T he right side of my handlebarsof my motorbike, I was on a two
wheeler agricultural motor bike,and the right handle of it
clipped into a Bluestone cattlegrid, which resulted...
Robbie - Host (03:23):
So into the wall?
William Cole - guest (03:24):
Into yeah.
Into, into it.
Into a the bluestone wall.
Robbie - Host (03:30):
So you're driving past a...through the gate and
clipped the edge of the gate?
William Cole - guest (03:32):
Yeah, yeah .
Yep.
So it's just over the road wherethe crash site was.
Um, but yeah, so driving uptowards to exit the property and
drive through the entry onto myproperty and yeah, there was
these, um, there's a blue stonecattle grid.
So you drive over that to stopthe cattle obviously, getting
onto the road and, uh, yeah.
Being made out of bluestone, itobviously impacted quite hard
(03:56):
and resulted in the, um, righthandlebar jerking down hard to
the right and the wheel hitting,and, um, it, it's, it's quite
funny because there's a fewmarks on that side and then
there's few marks on that side,and some people think that I
would have hit there, and I didhit that part of the stone at
(04:17):
that time with my head.
Um, I didn't have my helmet doneup, so I think my helmet
would've came off and I hit itwith my head on the right side,
and then I've managed to stay onthe bike and drive across as it
would have bounced back acrossand driven onto the other side
of the wall.
(04:38):
But that amazes me, like Imust've somehow really got it on
a sharp angle because of thecattle grid.
Like there's, it's like when youtram track on your bicycle, it's
sorta no escape.
Yeah, somehow it must've beenover the grid and then came back
and hit it or something becausethey found the bike on the left
side, out through the exit about10 meters.
(05:01):
So I may have stayed on the bikeand fell off there or I might
have fallen off at the firstimpact or the second impact.
We're really not too sure.
I guess the fight or flightresponse takes over and...
to me, like, I cannot recallthis at all, the brain's
completely blanked it out, but I, yeah, from that accident, I
(05:23):
did get up and started to walkback towards where my friends
were having their birthdayparty.
Robbie - Host (05:30):
Because how far were you from there?
William Cole - guest (05:33):
Uh, it was about 200 meters.
Robbie - Host (05:36):
Okay.
William Cole - guest (05:37):
Yeah.
So it was, yeah.
I did have a break on the waywith the walk, cause they found
my boot, so I must've fallendown and taken my boot off and
they found a pool of blood aswell, the next morning.
So I was obviously moving quiteslowly and steadily but yeah.
And I walked back towards thefriend's birthday party and
(06:01):
jumped in to a car and jumpedinto the boot of my neighbour's
car, who was Alison, the lady Iwas talking to before I jumped
on the motorbike to sail offback home.
It was just chance of luck thatAlison actually had to catch a
flight the next morning, quiteearly and it was about 6:00 AM
(06:23):
or something.
So what did she do, she woke up,packed her stuff and jumped into
her car and heard scuffling inthe back and she was like, oh,
what's that?
That's strange.
Robbie - Host (06:34):
Is this a sedan or a wagon?
William Cole - guest (06:36):
Ah, this is a four wheel drive.
Robbie - Host (06:38):
And so you've closed the back behind you and
you're like huddled up in..., inthe back of the boot.
Yeah.
Wow.
William Cole - guest (06:45):
So, um, the brain must've been working
quite well to be able to closethe boot on yourself.
Robbie - Host (06:51):
It sounds like the return from sort of a late
night at a B&S(Bachelor andSpinsters- Agricultural Ball) or
something, where you crawl backinto the back of your ute and
crawl into your swag for thenight.
William Cole - guest (07:00):
Yeah, it was, well, it was funny because
before Alison found me, I hadstarted dreaming and these were
very vivid dreams.
Like I was dreaming that I wasat their property, but we were
having this massive party andthere was all my old workmates
from the sale yards were thereand they were drinking and we
(07:22):
were watching the cricket and inthen there were these people
from like Mexico there...
Robbie - Host (07:26):
You can still remember this two years later?
William Cole - guest (07:27):
I remember that.
And I remember I got locked inthis garage.
It was a girl called Megan.
I've never seen this face or meta lady alike before.
Another younger...I can'tremember her name and this old,
like 60 year old dude fromHungary.
Like he had like a very Europeanaccent and it was, it was
(07:50):
classic.
Um, but the funny thing in mydream was, Megan or whatever her
name was saying that she had togo to town to buy meds because I
said I had a headache and shewas like, okay, I'll run to town
and get you some medicine.
And then I can remember thedream, I was like, where's that
(08:12):
Megan chick?
And as soon as I thought thatshe popped up and she was like,
oh, here you go...
So yeah, I'll leave it at that,but, well, yeah.
Robbie - Host (08:20):
So, so what happened?
I guess, just from thestory...like you obviously don't
have the memory of any of this,but what happened at that point?
So your friend's Mum found youhalfway to the airport?
William Cole - guest (08:32):
Well, no, luckily she didn't leave the
house.
Robbie - Host (08:35):
She would have been surprised to find you
there!
William Cole - guest (08:37):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
It would have been a greatshock.
And because of the impact that Ihad on the stone, I wasn't
looking pretty.
So it would have been quite the,um, initial shock to see someone
in that state, especiallysomeone that you've known for
quite a while, but then alsojust the wonder of, you know,
what the hell happened to you?
Yeah.
(08:58):
"Where'd you come from andwhy've you been in my car and
what's going on?
Robbie - Host (09:01):
So she drove you to the hospital?
William Cole - guest (09:04):
She didn't drive me to the hospital.
She raised the alarm with herhusband and he came out to check
on me, but somehow they got meto the shower.
Robbie - Host (09:21):
So were you awake?
William Cole - guest (09:22):
I was, but I cannot remember this.
Um, very groggy, like very slowresponses like, ah, nah.
But yeah, and so they would havewoken up some others and put me
in the shower and my good mate,who was their son Elliott.
Um, he put me in the shower andhe turned it on and he thought
(09:44):
um, oh, why are you sittingdown?
So he stupidly thought he'dstand me up.
And then it was that classicrealization, as soon as you take
one step or two steps away, hewas like, maybe I shouldn't have
done that.
And he hears this massive thumpand down I go straight back onto
the ground.
But luckily in a funny sense,luckily it did happen because I
(10:07):
had long hair at the time down,past my eyes.
Um, and he looked at me and Ilooked up at him and then he
actually could see my skull.
So, um, he then just ran out ofthe bathroom, was like, all
right, nah we need to, let'scall the ambulance.
Let's just raise the alarm.
(10:27):
And, um, he woke up his oldersister and luckily she had a
few, you know, being a birthdayparty.
Some of her mates were nursesand, um, studying something, you
know, in the medical world ofthings.
And yeah, they woke up and sortatook my aid and were looking
after me with the most care,which was, very again lucky.
(10:48):
And then they had called theambulance and the first
ambulance rocked up and that wasthe local ambulance from town
and they put me in the stretcherand stuff and they were going to
take me to Warrnambool.
But through my Mum's andeveryone's around here...local
(11:08):
knowledge, they know that theroads are pretty, how you going,
like bumpy and potholes andstuff.
And they knew that someone insuch a state, they didn't really
want to risk it.
So they decided to call the airambulance and just re-jittering
back to my story, it was funnybecause Mum was there and I can
remember her being like"how areyou?
Can you feel my hand?
(11:28):
Squeeze my hand".
Um, but I was telling her that Iowed Megan money for the
medication she got me from thosedreams.
And Mum questioned me about itlike a year or two after the
accident and I was like"oh, Iwas dreaming" by then.
Yeah, anyway.
Robbie - Host (11:48):
So you got air lifted to Melbourne?
William Cole - guest (11:50):
Yeah.
So yeah, so the air ambulancecame and landed and they
strapped me up, or put me inthere and I got flown to the
Royal Melbourne hospital.
Now when I got there, I think Iwould have been seduced( sic)
into a coma at the RoyalMelbourne.
I don't know if the ambulancedid.
Um, but anyway I got flown thereand got seduced(sic) into an
(12:12):
induced coma for nine days, andthat was more weird dreaming,
but yeah, it was just strangebecause that whole...it was
about 10 days, I'd say, yeahjust solid, straight dreams and
yeah, it was a strange and funnyplace.
(12:32):
I mean I could ramble on aboutthose dreams for hours, but
there's no point.
But yeah, I can remember, wakingup.
When it came time to wake up.
And...
Robbie - Host (12:47):
Was that something that the medical team
had decided for you?
Like, were they controlling youin that state for nine days?
William Cole - guest (12:54):
Yeah.
Well they did actually try towake me up earlier and as I came
re-awoken, I was convulsingwriggling around, so it was
still obviously healing a bit.
So they put me back into thecoma for a few more days.
I don't know at what time theytried to wake me back up, but
(13:16):
yeah that might've been a coupleof days or so.
But then during being in thecoma I got all my scans and
everything.
Robbie - Host (13:25):
So they assessed everything?
William Cole - guest (13:27):
Yeah from head to toe pretty much, just
figuring out what was going on.
And well I did receive a 9, no12 hour surgery, which did
result in titanium plates andscrews in my face.
So under my jaw, holding mycheek bones together and part of
(13:54):
my eyes together and up all overmy skull.
Because from the x-rays I hadcracked my skull in many
different places.
And as a result they had tobreak more of it to be able to
fix it properly.
So I got a lot of metal up in myhead and a lot of, a fair bit of
(14:17):
plastic surgery as well.
Because there was a lot ofcracks I broke all my eye
sockets, my jaw was completelydislodged and I couldn't really
talk out of it and yeah, justcleanly snapped like my jaw,
like there was two parts to myjaw.
(14:39):
Yeah, there was a lot of, a lotof damage done.
Robbie - Host (14:43):
I'll just add in here, I saw there was some scans
on one of the articles, I thinkin The Standard of what your
scan of your skull at the injuryand then after it'd been fixed
up and it was pretty traumatic,but I must just say you're
looking very good.
You'd have no idea...like noidea anything's happened.
William Cole - guest (15:05):
If you want some good surgeons mate
I'll get you some.
Well hats off to the surgeons, Imean, they're amazing and
they're a really cool group ofguys, but as you say, a lot of
therapists and doctors call itan invisible injury because you
know, some people who recoverquite well, they'll get put
(15:25):
together back again quite well,but yeah you won't even notice
like that even happenedor...yeah.
It's yeah.
It's quite amazing.
Robbie - Host (15:34):
Yeah.
Some context for people is thatall of those other injuries,
they would have taken some timeto heal, but they would have
healed up.
And as you say, no one can seethem anymore.
So I think..., my understandingwas you were nine days in a coma
in the Royal Melbourne hospital?
William Cole - guest (15:50):
Yes.
Robbie - Host (15:51):
And then how long did you stay in the Royal
Melbourne for total?
William Cole - guest (15:54):
I was there for about two weeks
following the crash.
Robbie - Host (15:59):
Yep.
William Cole - guest (16:00):
I think about two weeks until what's it
called?
They've got some term for it,anyway, until I passed that term
of just where I'm at, like if Iwas able to go and go to the
toilet independently and sort ofbe wanting to get out of the
hospital bed, I suppose.
Because I was just sick of itbecause those days at the Royal
(16:23):
Melbourne I was just bedridden.
Just sitting there.
No TV or any distractions.
They won't allow you to havephones or anything.
So just sitting there and reallytrying to hang out.
Robbie - Host (16:35):
So they put you sort of..
did that initial work in termsof putting you back together and
then you had about three monthsin?
William Cole - guest (16:42):
So yeah, after that I got transferred to
the Epworth
Robbie - Host (16:45):
Yep.
In Melbourne still?
William Cole - guest (16:45):
Yeah, in Richmond.
Robbie - Host (16:47):
Yep.
To the trauma rehab team or whowas that to?
William Cole - guest (16:53):
I did have a trauma rehab team and we were
all in a ward together, and itwas people with head injuries
and ABI's(acquired braininjuries) and stuff.
So they could all monitor us.
No doubt there was a lot ofneuropsychologists, speech
pathologists and occupationaltherapists all crammed in and
(17:15):
around there to be able to help,because yeah, they do a lot of
thoughts and understanding andmemory and talking and, a lot of
brain function, but then alsothe OT(occupational therapy)
being yeah, work and stuff.
And if you were previousemployed and how you could ease
(17:36):
back into work and monitoringyour future days or your tasks
that you can perform.
Robbie - Host (17:42):
Yes.
William Cole - guest (17:42):
And so these guys were all working with
us to be able to understandwhere we were at, in terms of
healing after such a big crash.
Robbie - Host (17:50):
Yeah sure.
William Cole - guest (17:51):
And yeah, it was good.
I was learning...slowly learningto get back to walking at the
Epworth.
I do remember a few days I wasbeing pushed around in a
wheelchair and it felt prettyfun because you didn't have to
do much and everyone was workingaround you.
But yeah, I was slowly learninghow to walk and I became...I
(18:15):
guess my mentality was...Ibecame really good friends with
my treaters and sort of made ita friendship rather than a
patient, carer thing.
Robbie - Host (18:30):
So this is the team that are kind of around you
really sort of focusing on yourrecovery?
William Cole - guest (18:34):
Yes.
Robbie - Host (18:34):
And who did that comprise?
Like what professions did thatcomprise?
William Cole - guest (18:38):
I had a speech pathologist, a
neuropsychologist.
I had a psychologist twice.
Robbie - Host (18:44):
What was the difference between the
psychologist and theneuropsychologist?
William Cole - guest (18:46):
I think the psychologist just wanted to
chat sort of thing.
Make sure you know that you hadlike your thoughts were fine and
stuff like that.
I can't really say because sheflew in and flew out.
Like she would just all of asudden...
cause I was laying in bed mostof the day and all the people
would come into your room andthen leave and she rocked up and
(19:09):
chatted for about 20 minutes andthen another time for about an
hour.
Robbie - Host (19:12):
Okay.
William Cole - guest (19:12):
And well I was just chatting to her about
home and the farm because sheasked me where I lived and of
course I just started talkingabout the farm.
I said you need to come out andvisit it one day and dada...
And stuff like that, and webecame good friends because she
was from around here somewhere.
But yeah, I never saw her againand she never really did any
work with me.
Like we didn't really do manyassessments, or any assessments
(19:35):
or anything.
Robbie - Host (19:36):
So maybe she was just sort of assessing where you
were?
William Cole - guest (19:39):
Yeah.
Just sort of face value on firstimpression.
I'm not too sure.
She could have just been arandom lady from the street.
Robbie - Host (19:47):
Just someone who's walked in, looking for a
chat?!
William Cole - guest (19:47):
I was quite happily chatting away.
So yeah, and then, well myneuropsychologist, my speech
pathologist, a physiotherapist,an occupational therapist and a
dietician.
Robbie - Host (20:05):
Wow.
So it's quite the team.
And how often would you seethose people?
William Cole - guest (20:09):
The physiotherapist I'd see twice a
week, the neuropsychologist I'dprobably see twice to three
times...
no, once a week, speechpathology once a week.
I think.
Yeah.
All the rest were once a weekand dietician...
Robbie - Host (20:24):
So you've still got a lot of time by yourself...
William Cole - gues (20:25):
Absolutely.
Robbie - Host (20:25):
Because at this point you can't walk?
William Cole - guest (20:28):
I was getting back to walking.
When I was at the RoyalMelbourne I couldn't walk and
yeah I remember waking up and myeyes...it was just all white and
thin lines because my eyes werescabbed over and I remember
trying to walk for the firsttime and they had a couple of
the workers on the side of thenurses and yeah.
I just tried to stand up andjust fell back down and it took
(20:51):
a few sessions to be able to geta step in again.
Robbie - Host (20:53):
And, and was that because of the leg?
Ok, the leg*less(more) than thehead?
William Cole - guest (20:58):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Robbie - Host (20:58):
But then did you have to learn to talk again?
William Cole - guest (21:01):
Talk, well, yeah in a way.
Being able to remember...
like just how you asked thatquestion.
Trying to be able to rememberthe question and come up with a
response.
It was very delayed and could bevery random, sort of off with
the fairies I suppose, you know.
Robbie - Host (21:20):
Yep.
William Cole - guest (21:20):
And it was just more
to...yeah...concentration andmemory and being...having a good
vocabulary.
That was quite hard because Ihad to sort of start reading
again, you know, to be able toget in tune with those words.
So yeah, it was funny.
(21:42):
Well reading was proving quitetough at the Epworth, but
luckily by this time at theEpworth they gave you little
screens and you could haveNetflix and YouTube and stuff,
and I started watching a lot ofNetflix, but I started watching
movies with subtitles on.
So I would watch movies that Iknew and just read the subtitles
(22:05):
and just read it word for word,even though I'd seen the movie
and stuff, but it was just so Icould sort of get that brain
power going again, just to readthe words as they come up and...
Robbie - Host (22:16):
Connect the word with the meaning...
William Cole - guest (22:17):
Yeah, yeah, exactly right.
And it was funny with somewords, I was just like...uh,
what's that mean again...?
Stuff like that.
But I think the best likemedicine for that was time to
pass by and my brain slowlybecame less mush and started
(22:39):
to...
Robbie - Host (22:40):
Fire again.
William Cole - guest (22:40):
Yeah, exactly.
Fire again.
Robbie - Host (22:52):
That's the end of Chapter Two.
In Chapter Three William shareshis main recovery learnings.
Returning home.
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