A patient with ‘the most complex trauma injuries’ treated and rehabilitated by King’s College Hospital has thanked staff for their care after being discharged thirteen months to the day after her life-changing car accident.
Macy Window, from Essex, was airlifted to King’s in June 2020 after her car aquaplaned in bad weather and hit a tree at high speed while she was driving home from university to celebrate her father’s birthday.
Medics gave the nineteen-year-old just a two per cent chance of survival due to the extent of her injuries, which included a severed artery, punctured lung and multiple fractures, including both upper leg bones, pelvis and ribs.
After arriving at King’s she underwent 14-hours of life-saving surgery and spent six weeks in an induced coma.
Macy was in critical care for seven months and had more than a dozen surgeries. Last month, after acute intensive rehabilitation, she was discharged after nearly 400 days in the Denmark Hill hospital. She will now continue her recovery at a specialist neuro-disability centre.
“I would like to thank the surgeons, doctors and nurses on Frank Stansil Critical Care Unit who worked tirelessly to save my life for the first few months,” she said.
“As well as the therapists who worked so hard to change my life and improve the quality of my life throughout my whole journey at King’s.
“Together, they have all made such a difference and they are the reason I am the way I am today.”
She added: “I made good relationships with staff across the several wards I had been in, be that nurses, speech therapists, occupational therapists, physios and psychologists, but I’m happy to be moving on to the next stage in this very long journey.
“I feel proud of myself for coming this far from where I started a year and one month ago to the day.”
Martine Balmir, therapy lead for major trauma, described Macy as the most complex major trauma patient the therapy team has rehabilitated at King’s.
“With rehabilitation as complex as Macy’s, the only way to succeed was to put her at the centre of her care: working on Macy’s goals at her own pace and building trust.
“I’m so proud of the therapy team for the outstanding rehabilitation they delivered. Therapists had to tap into that positive rehabilitation mind-set.
“It was a very emotional moment to watch her leave the hospital sat up in her wheelchair smiling, because I know how difficult it has been and how much work it took on both sides – from Macy and the therapists – to get there,” she said.
“I hope Macy knows how proud King’s staff are of her recovery and resilience, from the surgeons who saved her life, the nurses who cared for her 24/7 to keep her alive, and the therapists who helped her re-learn to hold her own head up, sit, roll, eat sweets or wipe her own tears.
“We all look forward to hearing about Macy’s continued progress on her rehabilitation journey.”
Looking to the future, Macy hopes to complete her English Literature degree and volunteer her time to help other patients.
“I am in the early stages of my rehab journey so who knows what the future holds for me and my physical state but I remain hopeful.
“I would like to work with young and long-term patients in hospital to improve their quality of life and have the opportunity to share my story so that it may help make a difference.
“ I feel like this happened to me so that I am able to help others, which is what I want to do in life. In a strange way it has given me some purpose.”
Follow Macy’s rehabilitation journey on Instagram @macywindow and JustGiving www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/macy-window