A woman who has helped Dubbo residents celebrate and grieve is considered lucky to be alive after her car and a truck collided at Narromine.
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Civil celebrant Sue Curley has been receiving treatment at Dubbo Hospital for a fractured skull, broken collarbone, seven broken ribs and two fractures in her pelvis.
Husband John Curley, a Dubbo accountant, has thanked motorists, Narromine residents and first responders who went to her aid on May 4.
He considers his wife lucky to be alive and reports that she will “recover”.
“Amazingly, there is no damage to her internal organs,” Mr Curley said.
“The bones will all knit without any real intervention.”
Mrs Curley was returning to Dubbo from Nyngan when the crash occurred.
Police report that her vehicle was shunted for about 70 metres.
Mr Curley has been told that people comforted his semi-conscious wife as emergency services personnel travelled to the scene of the crash.
He said his wife had no memory from the time she stopped to buy groceries in Narromine to “waking up at the hospital”.
Her vehicle, a Kia Cerato, was a write-off, Mr Curley said.
He deduces that a “couple of chunks cut out of the car” was a necessary part of the rescue.
Transferred by ambulance to Dubbo Hospital, Mr Curley said his wife had been moved from “emergency to intensive care” where the focus was on ensuring her lungs were not compromised by the broken ribs.
At the time of speaking to the Daily Liberal, Mr Curley was by his wife’s bedside in the surgical inpatient unit.
“She has had a little bit of surgery for the fractured skull,” he said.
Mrs Curley’s injuries are down her “right hand side”. She will be confined to a wheelchair during her recovery.
Her husband said a procedure had been carried out to relieve pain which occurred “whenever she moves”.
“I am hopeful she will be out in a few days if we can work out how to look after her at home,” Mr Curley said.
Mrs Curley, who has multiple part-time jobs including teaching yoga and pilates at gyms, is receiving visitors who are helping to keep her spirits up.
On Thursday police told the Daily Liberal that the investigation into the crash was continuing.
