Daniel

Daniel Swain - SCI Australia Ambassador

Daniel Swain has no memory of the accident that changed his life forever. At the age of 23, about to marry his long term partner pregnant with their first child, proud owner of his first home and making good money in a job he loved, Daniel literally didn’t know what hit him.

After six years working with a road maintenance crew for the Transfield company Daniel had been promoted to the specialist paving team. He normally operated one of the heavy rollers or a sweeping machine but on this particular night shift, on March 10th, 2004, a casual worker had failed to turn up and Daniel was switched to a different job. As the crew carried out repairs to the F3 freeway near Berowra, Daniel was in charge of the most visible piece of equipment on the road, the – the ‘Arrow Ute’, a four wheel drive utility mounted with a large illuminated arrow warning approaching traffic to change lanes. However, the huge flashing arrow wasn’t sighted by the driver of the speeding northbound semi-trailer. He was later judged to be asleep at the wheel when his rig collided with the ute, completely crushing the vehicle and trapping Daniel inside. Ambulance rescue teams took forty minutes to cut Daniel from the wreckage – one part of the accident he remembers vividly.

“A man who was driving past and saw the accident pulled over and came to help me,” Daniel said.
“I had cuts all over my face and upper body from the shattered glass and there was blood every where. He held my head still and probably saved me from further spinal damage. I remember placing my hand up behind me and feeling the bull bar of the semi resting against my head. For some reason my legs were on the passenger seat beside me. I was told this happened on impact and I was lucky not to lose them.”

Daniel was taken to Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital where he was found to have a shattered vertebra at the T/12 level, just below the shoulder blades, resulting in a crushed spinal cord. He also suffered two broken ribs, multiple lacerations and severe bruising. This meant seven weeks in the hospital spinal unit, four weeks in special rehabilitation and a further nine months of private rehab at home.       

A return to work in a part time office position was a difficult transition for a previously fit and active sportsman with a love of football and skydiving. Even this employment proved impossible with the onset of chronic pain after six months. Despite this Daniel has maintained an upbeat positive attitude, and his role as an ambassador has given him new drive and purpose.

“I want to help people understand what it means to have a spinal cord injury, and how important it is to be more careful in our lives and to look out for the welfare of others”, Daniel said.