Trapped, voiceless for six hours - Daveanna-Kay Granville remains motivated, happy

Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer

On January 2, 2007, Daveanna-Kay Granville was deemed dead by passers-by, lying motionless in a mangled car which had been hit head-on by a trailer in the Bog Walk gorge, St Catherine. She was pinned down for six hours.

"To be honest, I heard Mommy screaming, 'My baby dead, my baby dead!' I kept on saying, 'No, Mommy, I am not dead', but nothing was coming out. I tried talking, but no one was hearing," Granville said.

She was travelling in a Nissan Sunny with her mother, cousin and aunt when the crash occurred. "I was going home to Linstead and a trailer slammed into the vehicle and I was trapped inside. Both legs were trapped. They had to use a crane and manpower to remove me," Granville said.

She remembered onlookers saying, "Everybody inna that dead", but her relatives were later helped from the wreckage and taken to hospital, leaving Granville trapped. Persons said she was dead, because she was unable to move.

Still breathing

Then someone went up to Granville, put his hand at her nose and realised she was still breathing. "The top of the vehicle was on my windpipe. Both legs were trapped, as well as my neck. The only thing that was free was one of my hands. The top of the vehicle was on my neck, after my legs were sawed out," Granville said.

She was screaming, but no one seemed to hear because of the damage to her windpipe.

"My neck was broken. I had an injury to my spinal cord. I damaged my cervical vertebrae. The C5 and C7 were damaged, with C6 fully fractured. It had to be removed, along with a piece of my hip bone. I was totally paralysed at first. I was just able to move my eyes and mouth at the time. I lost total sensation. I wasn't able to feel any part of my body," Granville said.

She was hospitalised for months, followed by extended therapy. "I was at Kingston Public Hospital (KPH) for six to seven weeks, then I came home for a week. I was to go to Mona Rehab, but they didn't have any bed. So I had to go home and then return to rehab for eight months. I was able to go home on weekends after two months," Granville said.

The rehabilitation

The recovery process brought her to tears. "The first time I cried was when I was at KPH and my bed was being elevated for the first time. I was slender before, but I lost a lot of weight. After I went to Mona Rehab, I learned to breathe and how to sit up. I saw other persons in the situation who I could talk to. I learned how to gain some mobility, so that was exciting," Granville said.

She is unsure if she will ever walk again, but takes solace from being alive. "My doctor said, with God's help, I have come a far way and I improve every day. But in case I don't walk in the future, I have life so I can encourage someone," Granville said.

The crash site is on her regular route home and, at first, she was traumatised. Granville has also developed a fear of large vehicles. "Sometimes when I am beside a trailer, I automatically jump, and whoever is driving would ask, 'Are you OK'?" she said.

Granville said her mother's health deteriorated following the crash. "My aunt and cousin are OK, but my mom did not deal with the situation well. She suffers from post-traumatic stress and suffered a stroke. I think it is from seeing her daughter in a wheelchair," Granville said.

The trailer driver

Granville said she never met the driver of the trailer. "I don't know him. The thing is, I think he is living his life comfortably. I remember the first time I was to have a mediation session with him, I actually fainted," she said.

Despite being a paraplegic, Granville said she is treated no differently by her family and friends. "I don't want it to be about the sad aspect. I still have life. I am motivated. I have my friends and family around me and they treat me the same way. I have grown stronger from this experience. Jehovah never gives you more than you can bear," she said.

Granville is now reading for a B Ed in Language Education at the University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

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