Sliced in 2 ......

[MightyEagles]

... in the shower.
Turning on the shower, I let the water rush over me. It was about 2am and I'd just been out with my boyfriend Chris, 35. My one-year-old son, Jensen, was being looked after by a friend and I was staying at Chris' place.

After being at the pub, I decided to have a shower before bed. Chris obviously had the same thought. 'Room for two?' he grinned, tapping on the glass shower screen. 'Go on, jump in,' I giggled as he joined me.

Things soon got steamy in more ways than one! As we leant against the glass sharing a kiss, Chris pressed his body against mine.

Suddenly I felt my feet slipping and... BANG! The noise was like an explosion.

Blinking in shock I realised Chris and I were on the bathroom floor, covered in broken glass. 'Oh my God,' I gasped. The glass screen had shattered and we'd fallen straight through it.

I could feel pieces of glass sticking out of my back and my bottom. There was blood everywhere - splattered up the walls and running down the drain like a crimson river.

In a panic, I jumped to my feet to get away from the shards. But the floor was wet and as I did, I felt myself slip backwards. There was a single, sharp spear of glass still attached to the bottom of the shower screen and I was heading straight for it.

Everything moved in slow motion until... CRUNCH.

The glass had stabbed straight through my right leg. The limb was hanging by a thread from the inner knee. The glass had cut clean through it, exposing fatty flesh and bone.

'Call an ambulance!' I screamed to Chris, fear surging through me. Blood was gushing out of the wound and I was already feeling woozy. It was like something out of a gory horror movie.

'I can't feel my leg,' I cried.

Chris ran out and grabbed a T-shirt and began ripping it into shreds. He used it as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding. Then he wrapped towels around my leg.

'I'll get you to hospital,' he said. 'It'll be quicker than waiting for the ambulance.' Picking me up, he carried me downstairs and put me in the car.

He revved the engine and took off. We were travelling fast but I barely noticed. I was dipping in and out of consciousness. 'Stay with me, babe,' Chris cried, slapping my cheek. 'No-one's dying on me tonight.'

We got to the Gold Coast Hospital in a matter of minutes. Chris pulled up at the ambulance entrance. 'Help me!' I screamed. It felt like the life was draining out of me. I can't die, I thought as images of Jenson flashed through my mind.

Nurses came running and as I was whisked into emergency, one peeled off the blood-soaked towels. 'Oh my God,' she gasped. 'Her leg is hardly attached.'

A quick-thinking nurse put her hand inside the wound. She clamped the major blood vessel closed with her fingers so I wouldn't bleed to death.


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WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC PICTURES


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My eyes were heavy and suddenly I was freezing. Before that, it hadn't occurred to me I was naked. With my life hanging in the balance, I didn't care. Chris was wearing only a T-shirt and a towel around his waist.

Groaning, I felt a needle going into my uninjured leg before everything went black.

When I finally opened my eyes, I felt something on my face and frantically tried to pull it off. 'It's helping you breathe sweetheart,' I heard my mum Wendy say.

Recognising I was in hospital, the memory of what had brought me there came flooding back.

'Have I still got my leg?' I croaked. Mum nodded. 'You were very lucky,' she said. 'We nearly lost you.'

Suddenly a little hand was in mine. 'Jensen,' I whispered. Mum had brought him in to see me.

Chris came in moments later looking awful. 'I'm so sorry, it's all my fault,' he choked.

'Of course it's not,' I said sleepily, drifting back off.

That's how I spent the next couple of days in intensive care, waking only briefly. My leg was heavily bandaged - the emergency surgery had involved 20 doctors and 15 litres of blood. I was losing it as fast as they could pump it back in.

A week after the accident I had another operation, this time to repair the nerves, tendons and muscles in my leg. The accident had sliced them in two.

Chris was by my bedside every day. We'd only recently started dating, so I worried this would be the end of us. But it only made our connection stronger. 'If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be alive,' I smiled, holding his hand. 'I went into auto-pilot,' he said. 'I didn't even realise I'd cut off one of my toes.'

Looking down, I saw his bandaged foot and noticed the cuts all over his body as well.

'Thank you,' I smiled.

After the operation I still had no feeling in my leg and the doctors couldn't tell me much. 'You may regain movement, or you may not,' the specialist said. 'Only time will tell.'

Nerves grow back at a rate of one millimetre a week, so it could be up to three years until I get some sensation back.

I was in hospital recovering for the next three months. I had physio every day, but my leg was like a dead weight.

Chris spent every spare moment with me and even brought home-cooked meals. 'This steak is awesome. I'm so sick of hospital food!' I said.

Finally, when I was allowed home, I still couldn't walk.

Mum moved in with me to help with Jensen. She also had to help me shower and I hated it. It gave me terrible flashbacks of that blood-soaked night.

I went to physio every week and had a splint fitted to my leg to keep it straight. I learnt to walk again, but with a limp.

'I look ridiculous,' I cried.

But I reminded myself I was lucky to be alive.

A couple of months after the accident Chris moved in, taking over from Mum. He still felt guilty, but I didn't blame him. If anything, the experience showed me what a wonderful man he truly was.

Then, we got a surprise that made us both smile. 'I'm pregnant,' I announced, happy something good had come after such a terrible time.

Now, it's been 18 months since the accident and I get pins and needles in my foot, which is a good sign the feeling will return.

I'm five months along in the pregnancy, and after the baby arrives I'll have skin grafts on the scar on my leg.

We've since found out the glass in the shower wasn't safety glass, which would have crumbled into relatively harmless pieces if it broke. So I want to warn any couples out there who might be tempted by some fun in the shower. Make sure you have safety glass installed and be careful. I nearly lost my life and my leg learning that lesson.

[Punk Rooster]

when did this happen to you ME?

Is Chris ok?

Unfortunately, the image of you & Chris in the shower is not one I want to imagine...

[MightyEagles]

when did this happen to you ME?

Is Chris ok?

Unfortunately, the image of you & Chris in the shower is not one I want to imagine...

Sorry, it isn't me. It is someone else.

[Pseudo]

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WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC PICTURES


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Well? Where are they? I want the gore pics, goddammit!

[CK]

Was this in "That's Life" recently? I read it, um, someone, er, told me about it.