Jane and Lisa's story.
At the time of the accident, I was working, but my sister wasn't. She was very family oriented and looked after her children and grandkids nearly every day.
One Saturday night in September 2023 Lisa and I drove out with her husband Edward to get some food. On the way back three miles from home, approaching an accident black spot at a roundabout, there was a terrible crash. The car rolled, and Edward died at the scene.
Lisa pretty much died as well.
She had a stroke on the scene of the accident, an air ambulance attended to her, and Lisa spent seven weeks in the intensive care unit. Her arm was nearly amputated.
I had been sitting behind Lisa on the back seat. Luckily, we had been using our belts, without them we would not have survived. I was in hospital for two weeks myself.
Lisa suffered catastrophic brain injuries. The doctors gave Lisa 72 hours, she was so close to death. She was in a coma for seven weeks, in hospital for four months in total. Before she woke up, we didn't know if Lisa would be able to talk, or feed herself. Everything was unknown. She couldn't swallow and eat when she first came around.
Lisa had several operations on her hand and her arm, she can't use them. She suffered a fractured back. She had three neck fractures and wore a neck brace for three months.
Lisa was going downhill. At that stage she couldn't walk, she missed her family, she was getting depressed, so we brought her home.
I couldn't care for Lisa; her family did all the care. Lisa doesn't remember anything about the accident, and she can't remember the previous two years before it.
Lisa's family stepped up to care for both of us. Lisa's kids went to the hospital every day, it was really hard for everyone, especially as they'd also lost their father.
In all this I just felt lost, we were all in shock. Edward's accountant found Helen's law firm for us and contacted her. My nephew Jamie spoke to Helen initially, and we met her in January 2024. If it wasn't for Helen, I don't know what we'd do. We're eternally grateful to her.
Helen got together a brilliant team to help us out. They took the load off for everyone. The team gave us more than just legal help, and Helen was always at the end of a phone. For the first time we felt safe, we felt reassured that we were being handled, but there was no stress on us. It gave us security to know that Helen was handling everything for us.
When we first spoke, Helen was very considerate. She understood what we were going through and was very empathetic to our situation.
Helen hired an excellent case manager for us. We had an occupational therapist, a neurological occupational therapist, physiotherapist, psychologists, and rehabilitation support. Helen got us this support from the insurance company. Nothing was too much for Helen- she was always in the background. She got every single person we needed for our recovery.
We had many, many appointments with people appointed by the defendants and our lawyers over 2 years. We were being assessed (especially Lisa-she went to Harley Street, Moorfields, NHS hospitals). It was so gruelling. The rehabilitation worker accompanied Lisa to these appointments. It was very difficult because she was not mobile, and partially sighted.
We were treated well by the defendants, and our case settled in April 2026, and we're very happy with the settlement. Lisa will have to pay for her rehabilitation from the settlement for the rest of her life. Without it we don't know where she would be. It's the settlement that makes this possible.
My settlement gives me stability and security in my life for the future, and will help me to face the world, I have a few choices now.
Lisa and I have just come back from holiday together, us 2 and her rehabilitation support worker. We went to Marbella, and stayed in a quiet hotel by the beach, just the three of us. After all we'd been through we just needed some R and R.
