NHS Glasgow volunteer's remarkable recovery from 0.5% survival chance
Lauren Feeney is using her incredible four year recovery to help others
A woman who had just a 0.5% chance of survival after being seriously injured in a car crash has made a remarkable recovery, and is now helping other NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde patients.
Lauren Feeney was the passenger in a car which collided with a 32-tonne truck on Hogmanay in 2019, and suffered a number of horrific injuries, including 26 broken bones, eye injuries, internal bleeding, and brain damage.
The other three people in the car died in the crash, while Lauren’s injuries were so severe, the police officer who was first on the scene described her body as being “like jelly”, and she spent a month in a coma.
The 29 year old now lives with a brain injury, sight problems, reduced function in one leg meaning she needs to wear a brace, and other permanent injuries, however despite this, she volunteers for two days a week at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH).
Just a 0.5% chance of recovery
When she is not there, she can be found out running, swimming five days a week, and is training with the Scottish National Para Swimming Squad. To top it all off, she wants to become a motivational speaker to inspire others to overcome their own challenges.
Before the accident, Lauren had moved to London to complete her training as cabin crew for British Airways, and she was just a month into her dream job when the accident happened.
She does not remember the crash, saying: “When I hear about what happened, it’s like listening to a story about someone else, or watching a TV show.
“It was horrible so maybe it’s better that way.”
Lauren spent two months in a London hospital before being transferred back to Glasgow just as the pandemic struck.
"The staff who cared for me were just fantastic"
She spent four months at the QEUH, first in the orthopaedic department and then in the Physically Disabled Rehabilitation Unit (now called the Neurorehabilitation Unit), before she was allowed to continue her recovery at home with her parents.
She spent two years receiving a range of therapies saying: “Mum and dad had been told not to get their hopes up, that my life would be severely limited.
“They were planning for a life of care.
“But the staff who cared for me were just fantastic, they were such an amazing support for me that I’m not sure where I’d be without them.”
Lauren was unable to go back to being cabin crew, so began volunteering with the QEUH instead.
She said: “I started volunteering at the QEUH R&R Hub just over a year ago and, to be honest, I feel so lucky to be here.
“Before cabin crew I worked I hospitality, and I just love being around people and helping them, so being here is perfect.”
Lauren wanted to stress it has not been an easy road, saying: “The aftermath of the accident means as soon as I get stressed or overwhelmed, it gets really tough.
“Plus I can’t walk as well as I used to, and I’ve got constant problems with my sight, so days can be a bit of a challenge.
“But I don’t want sympathy, or to make a big deal of things.”
"My life's great now"
Dr Teng Cheng Khoo, Lead Clinician and Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine at the NRU (formerly PDRU), paid tribute to Lauren and the work she has put into her recovery.
He said: “It is amazing how far Lauren has come. She sustained significant traumatic injuries from her accident, and not every person who went through what she did would be able to bounce back in such a way.
“One of the main reasons for Lauren’s phenomenal recovery and re-integration is her ongoing motivation and the hard work that she has put in over the years.”
Lauren finished by saying: ““I bear no ill will. I am where I am and my life’s great now.
"I just want to be the best person I can be and to help others.”
