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Covering the Dandenongs in the Yarra Ranges & Cardinia Shires
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Merry Christmas AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR
Tuesday, 16 December, 2014
A Mail Newspaper Group publication
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Christmas a gift Life and death
SUNDAY marked exactly a year since Lani Brereton’s life changed forever. The Mount Evelyn resident left her parents’ Wandin home with her then nine-year-old daughter Indigo in the passenger seat next to her for what she thought would be a quick trip home. But a drink-driver ruined those plans, crossing onto the wrong side of the road, straight into Lani’s path along Bailey Road, Mount Evelyn. She woke up almost two weeks later in The Alfred hos-
pital with no recollection of the crash scene that left her fighting for her life. Lani died in the air ambulance on way to The Alfred and was revived by paramedics. Even then, no-one was sure she would ever walk or talk again. Emergency services described the crash scene as harrowing; Lani was trapped in the wreckage of the car and had numerous serious injuries. She had a closed brain injury, collapsed lungs, and a broken wrist, knee, foot and leg. Indigo remembers the accident clearly and is still affected
by recollections of the crash. “She describes it as the man forgetting where he was and must have been thinking that he was driving in America,” Lani said. “It took us a while to get her back into a car, but she’s still a nervous passenger.” Luckily Indigo miraculously received only a relatively minor scratch from the crash. As confronting as the crash scene was for emergency crews, nothing could prepare Lani’s father John for what he was about to come across. “Lani actually left something at our house, so we thought we’d
go for a ride and drop it off on the way,” Mr Brereton said. “But we came around the bend and saw this horrific car accident. We recognised the colour of the car, but it was so broken up we couldn’t recognise the make.” Mr Brereton said they soon realised the car belonged to their daughter and she was in a very bad way. “She was bleeding from everywhere possible,” he said. “All of the emergency services, they did such a great job, they are real people doing an amazing job.” He said the family held a
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vigil by Lani’s bedside every night of the month she spent in The Alfred. “When she woke up we wanted to be there,” he said. “And we were there.” Lani still has a way to go until she fully recovers, but wants to be a poster girl for those wanting to spend Christmas with their families. “It’s not worth it, no-one forces you to drink-drive,” she said. “It’s so selfish. “This Christmas will be one to remember for me – it’s the one that almost didn’t happen.”
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By MELISSA MEEHAN
Lani Brereton with paramedics James Duncan, Darelle Barrett, Mount Evelyn Fire Brigade officer Ken Mitchell and Major Collisions Unit Senior Constable Wayne Reynolds at the crash scene.
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Lani has had a long battle over the past 12 months. Source: FACEBOOK
THE bond between Lani Brereton and the emergency crews that saved her will continue for the rest of their lives. Standing hand in hand last week as Lani bravely told her story, the friendships made with paramedic Darelle Barrett and others who first attended the crash scene are obvious. Mount Evelyn firefighter Ken Mitchell, who was the first responder, said the crash was confronting, but the fact Lani’s parents were there allowed the scene to remain calm. “She was in obvious pain, but there was a calmness about it all,” he said. “Many of us thought she might not make it. “Crashes happen all year round, but at Christmas, that’s when families really notice an empty space at the dinner table.” Lani said the emergency services crews had now become part of her family and she couldn’t thank them enough.