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26
Apr
‘I accepted I was probably going to die’ — Lucie Maguire on her horror tractor crash
On the evening of January 27, 2021, then-19-year-old Lucie Maguire's life changed forever.
As she was helping her mum out of her car, which had broken down and filled with smoke, she was hit by an oncoming tractor near Ripley and dragged down the road beneath its 10-tonne trailer.
Lucie, from Kirkby Malzeard, was rushed to hospital, where she spent 18 months in intensive care for treatment to injuries likened to that of bomb blast victims.
Lucie, who is now 23, spoke about the incident in the run up to her appearance on a BBC One programme at 2.15pm on Sunday.
You can read more about the programme here and watch the programme for three weeks after it is broadcast via the BBC website and iPlayer here.
She said:
It was a cold, dark winter’s night in January and I was coming back home from work with my mum.
We were on a country lane and our car started making a horrible noise and black smoke started coming into the car. I started to panic, so I ran around to the driver’s side to help my mum out of the car.
I saw these headlights coming towards us and I thought ‘oh my goodness, someone’s coming to help’. The next thing I knew, I’d been run over by a tractor. I was stuck under there, continuously going around with the wheel. It spat me out slightly down the road.
Whilst I was there I kind of accepted the fact that I was probably going to die.
Lucie in hospital with mum Sue.
Lucie had been trapped under the back wheels and dragged along the road.
She remained conscious but said that she was not in pain, and that her right leg just felt uncomfortable. She said that she just wanted someone to straighten it for her because she couldn’t.
Lucie said that it took around 15 minutes for the emergency services to arrive, but that it felt like forever.
As covid restrictions were still in place, she had to travel in the ambulance alone. She told her mum how much she loved her, and called her dad to say the same, telling him that she wasn’t afraid to die.
The next thing I remember I woke up in the ICU a month later.
I remember lying there, unable to talk. My dad was there, stroking my hair and my mum was at the foot of my bed.
I didn’t know exactly what my parents had gone through, but they had been made to say goodbye to me three or four times.
Lucie in Leeds General Infirmary
Lucie spent around a month in a coma after the incident. Three days after arriving at the hospital, the internal bleeding was so severe that her parents were told to say goodbye to her.
Lucie’s injuries were so severe that her right leg, and right side of her pelvis, had to be amputated. She was left with open wounds and a lot of internal damage. Many of her internal organs no longer worked.
The doctors were getting advice from military doctors in Birmingham, as the only thing they could compare her to was someone who had been blown up in Afghanistan.
At the time I’d woken up, I didn’t necessarily know what had happened to me and I didn’t know the extent of my injuries. There was no blood circulation to my right leg.
I remember looking at my mum and just saying ‘oh my god, I’m never going to have a leg again’. That was when it really hit me.
The pain was unbearable. I got to a point where I was begging my mum to smother me.
Lucie Maguire and her mum Sue.
Lucie spent 518 days in hospital – the longest time spent by any major trauma patient. She said it was “a record I didn’t want”.
The 23-year-old said that she was often scared and depressed, and that she regularly grieved for her old body.
She had regular surgeries. It took eight people to help roll her over and change her, and other people had to change her. Lucie thought “this shouldn’t be happening to me at 19”.
During her time in hospital, Lucie spoke regularly to someone from Day One Trauma Support, which is a charity that helps people affected by major trauma injuries rebuild their lives.
The charity, along with the NHS, provided support with her rehabilitation process – she has managed to stand up and walk with a frame but she is still using a wheelchair.
Lucie couldn’t return to her old bedroom as it was upstairs. Her mum and dad ran a village pub so they converted the dining room so she had a bed and space for herself.
She now lives in her own bungalow, close to her parents' home.
Lucie Maguire. Photo: John Clifton
I don’t think without the support I received I would be here right now.
Day One actually kept me positive in that time and gave me things to look forward to.
Coming out of hospital into my own home with no money was extremely daunting. If it wasn’t for day one, I wouldn’t have had any clue about what was out there for me.
I was informed about what benefits there were, such as universal credit, stuff that I had no idea about as a 19-year-old.
Now, I’m really enjoying my life. I cook, I bake, I’m working really hard on my rehab, I’m going out with my friends.
I know I’ve got more surgeries to come and that my recovery isn’t over, but in this past year I’ve grown so much. I’m really happy where I am.
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