News
July 27, 2017
As an oncoming car sped straight towards her, all Desiré Purnell could think about was that her children would be left without a mother.
The pregnant Awhitu woman was heading along Awhitu Rd on the morning of February 1, the first day of the school term, when a car coming in the opposite direction crossed the centre line and collided with Purnell's car head on.
"I'd dropped my oldest son, Dylan, off at school and then me and Liam, who was 19 months at the time, headed to playcentre for a few hours," Purnell said.
"I'd just found out I was pregnant the night before as I'd done a home pregnancy test. I'd made a doctor's appointment for that day.
"We were actually heading to the doctors when the crash happened."
Purnell said as she turned a corner close to her home, she saw there was a car coming straight towards hers.
"There was nothing I could do except hope we survived. It was terrifying. She was fully on my side of the road. Whether she took the corner wrong...I don't know."
The driver of the other vehicle died on impact.
One-year-old Liam was in the back of the car, safely strapped in and sustained no injuries.
But a pregnant Purnell was trapped in her seat.
"The hardest thing was hearing your child scream and you can't do anything. I couldn't move," Purnell said.
"My right foot got crushed. Immediately after I kept thinking, I need to breathe to let someone know Liam is in the car. He was screaming and I was so scared that something had happened to him. I couldn't open the door but I felt I had to get to him."
Purnell said the car's airbags worked perfectly and, along with crumple zones in her modern vehicle, helped her and her unborn baby survive.
She was left with a broken collar bone, broken ribs, a dislocated big toe and ankle. All the bones in centre of her foot were fractured.
"It's got 11 pins and a plate forever," Purnell said.
"I sustained four broken ribs on the left and one on the right. As car accidents go, I was really lucky.
"I was going to turn Liam's seat around the weekend before and they think that's what saved him - being rear facing."
The Master of Education student said she owed a lot to the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter who were called to the accident.
"The helicopter guys were amazing. They are really calm, really experienced and get you to the hospital quickly. One of my biggest fears was that I wasn't going to get there on time.
"At the hospital, I kept saying to them that I was pregnant. I was so worried about getting [treatment], but I needed to survive for my other children."
Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter Trust's Lincoln Davies said Purnell was a Status 2 – meaning her condition was serious.
"The intensive care paramedic was Chris Deacon, the doctor was Alana Harper, crewman was Richard Selby and the pilot was Dave Walley," Davies said.
Purnell now faces a long recovery and can't undergo collar-bone surgery until after she gives birth.
Now 31 weeks along with her third boy, Purnell is so grateful that her growing baby also survived the crash.
"He's strong, healthy and everything's measuring fine. We can't wait for our third little boy.
"There's a lot I've blocked out and I don't remember the impact at all. You don't expect to survive something like that."
Desiré Purnell's crash airs on Code:1, 8pm on TVNZ 1 on August 7.
