‘After my car crash, I thought I had nothing left to live for. I couldn’t have been more wrong’

THERE were dark times after a horrific car crash when Debbie Stewart feared she had nothing to live for.

Exactly nine years after her accident, and after the last in a long series of skin grafts and operations, she admits she could not have been more wrong.

On a late February morning in 2009, as she drove from her home in Neilston to her work in Paisley, her car spun out of control, and skidded along the road on its side with Debbie’s head hanging out the window, her face scraping along the road.

Debbie was virtually scalped and faced years of surgery to repair her injuries.

She said: “This year, I finally had my final op and I’m now recovering.

“That should be the end now. It’s been a long time coming.

“Nine years ago I wanted to die. I was in such pain I thought I wouldn’t survive, and I was OK with that. Then they told me my injuries would probably affect my fertility and I wouldn’t be able to have children.”

After surgery at Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital, Debbie was transferred to the spinal unit at Glasgow’s Southern General, now part of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Govan.

She was on morphine, banned from looking at her face and encased in a back brace which prevented any movement for four months.

Debbie now 37, said: “What was there to live for? I didn’t know if I’d be paralysed.

“My face was horribly disfigured, I couldn’t shut one eye. I’d lost my eyebrow, cracked my teeth and when I saw my face, I looked like a monster.

“Worst of all, I’d probably never be able to have children because of all the damage. What was left to live for?”

But fate had other ideas. Within weeks, Debbie discovered she was pregnant.

Debbie said: “I was overjoyed. This was my reason to go on. Despite everything I had been blessed, after all.

“Without any shadow of a doubt, my sweet, funny, drama queen daughter Sydney, is the reason I’m still here.

“Her dad and I are no longer together but Sydney and I have built a good life.

“From the absolute depth of despair and depression, I’m at the end of this painful and challenging road.

“But I remember the accident as if it was yesterday. I was driving to work in Paisley when I lost control on a bend. My car skidded and flipped on to its side with my head hanging out the window scraping along the ground.

“I didn’t realise I was badly hurt. I was more concerned about the damage to the car and being late for work.

“A man in the car behind rushed to help and he was a physio at Ross Hall Hospital.

“He kept me awake by talking to me, and he visited me in hospital. I’ll never forget the kindness I was shown.”

Debbie credits her mum Janice, 60, and her sister Michelle, 41, a mum of five, for being her lifelines.

She said: “I’m very grateful. When my mum was told about the accident she had to wait hours to find out if I was dead or alive. That must’ve been torture.

“All I want to say is if anyone is feeling life isn’t worth living, take heart. You don’t know what’s around the corner.

“As soon as I found out I was pregnant, the hormones kicked in and I had a brilliant pregnancy.”

Seven-year-old Sydney may never fully appreciate the hope and joy she brought into Debbie’s life.

Debbie said: “Since Sydney arrived my life has got better and better. I was a recluse at one time because I didn’t want people staring.

“Now my scars are fading and I’m no longer so self-conscious. At one stage, I wouldn’t leave the house after a wee boy called me a monster.

“Now I’m a karaoke presenter at weekends as well as my job working with the same company in Paisley.”

While romance is not on the horizon, Debbie hasn’t ruled it out.

She said: “It would be nice to have a partner but Sydney seems much keener than me about it.

“It’s not the first time she’s nudged me when we’ve been out, and whispered,“What about him?”