CRASH SURVIVORS - Alicia Brodber lives again; clinically dead for 20 minutes after crash

Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer

In clinical terms, Alicia Brodber died a day after her 22nd birthday.  That was on June 6, 2010.

She is making good use of her second chance at life. With a first degree in philosophy, Brodber is now a second-year law student at the University of West Indies, Mona campus.

She was considered clinically dead for 20 minutes after she arrived at hospital, unresponsive. Shortly before, Brodber had been flung from the back seat of a sport utility vehicle (SUV), which flipped three times and then landed on top of her.

The crash happened when Brodber's friend, who was driving, attempted to overtake a vehicle on Constant Spring Road and the driver of another vehicle disobeyed the NO U TURN sign close to the Sandy Gully Bridge. In the resulting situation, the driver lost control of the SUV.

Brodber said she has no memory of the crash and has to depend on eyewitness accounts. She passed out immediately and woke up in hospital.

There were five persons in the SUV. "I went through the back window ... I was flung from the car and it landed on top of me, but didn't crush me. They said it landed with two wheels on the sidewalk, so it was kind of lopsided. They said if it did not land like that, it would have crushed me," Brodber said.

"One of the occupants saw my two feet under the car. Some men lifted the car off me and there was whole heap of blood around me and I was gasping for air and I had a stare, but I wasn't focused and people said I was dead," Brodber said.

A nurse who was travelling in another vehicle came quickly to Brodber's aid and she was taken to Andrews Memorial Hospital. "I had several broken ribs and both lungs collapsed. I had bruises and internal bleeding from ruptured spleen and my liver was bruised, but there were no broken bones. To get the blood out of my lungs they had to do what is called incubation," Brodber said. That is where a Dr Espinoza came into the picture, as Brodber was on the verge of being declared dead.

IN THE BRINK OF TIME

"They were about to pronounce and cover me, when Dr Espinoza said something about trying," Brodber said she was told. She was then defibrillated and her vital signs returned. "The heartbeat came back and everything, and from there I was transported to the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI), where they did an MRI to see what was happening inside. I also did a splenectomy to remove the spleen," Brodber said. She was in surgery for two hours.

"All I remember is waking up in hospital in ICU at UWHI," Brodber said. She was restrained, as she had pulled out a tube. She was also unable to talk because she had to breathe with the support of a ventilator. Brodber was burnt by the vehicle's muffler during the crash and still has scars. "I have third-degree burns under my arm and second degree burns under my side and under my left breast, but you can't see the injuries unless I show you. They were white at the time," she said.

Brodber spent one month and a day in intensive care. It affected her state of mind and memory. "When I woke up I was confused, because I was tied to this hospital bed and I saw my parents smiling at me ... I thought it was a dream and then I realised I kept waking up in this place. I couldn't remember, so if you told me I met in a car accident I would keep asking again," she said.

Brodber said after she was discharged she had respiratory problems. "Getting up was a struggle, much less to walk, and I thought this was it for the rest of my life," Brodber said.

Revisiting the crash site was challenging initially. "At first I used to tensed up. Every time I pass there I think about it, or if I am going to pass there. When I hear the screeching of vehicles or smell tyres, it's like something clicks, and that's like the only memory I have of the day," Brodber said.