A grandmother who was injured in a crash involving a lorry is making a claim for compensation after being left unable to play with her grandchildren.
Merilyn Turbervill, 55, suffered serious injuries, including head trauma, broken bones and a torn-off ear when a 20-tonne lorry smashed into her Toyota as she returned home from a shopping trip.
She has now spoken three years after the accident, telling of her ongoing problems, including headaches, memory loss and depression.
The brain damage she suffered has affected her senses, with her hearing being so sensitive she is unable to listen to music or watch TV. She has also been left without the ability to taste or smell.
Merilyn said: “I keep wishing that I’d died in the accident – because of the way I’ve been left.”
She now suffers with depression, and has tried to kill herself on three occasions.
Her husband Stephen has trouble leaving Merilyn alone as she suffers from panic attacks.
She said she just wanted to return to the way life was before the accident.
Merilyn added: “I was a likeable, bubbly person and I enjoyed life.
“I enjoyed my grandchildren and playing with them. I would talk to everybody on the checkouts and everywhere, I was a very friendly person. I hope one day to be that person again.”
The accident happened on 19 March, 2009, as Merilyn returned to her home in Pontypool after going shopping in Abergavenny.
The lorry pulled out of a junction and crashed into the side of her car. She had to be cut from the wreckage, and spent three months in a coma at the Royal Gwent Hospital.
After coming out of the coma, she had a year-long recovery process, during which she had to re-learn how to read, walk, write and talk.
She said: “I’ve been suffering terribly, even now. It’s really, really bad. I get excruciating headaches night and day, 24 hours a day really. I’m taking tablets.
“Now the tablets I’m taking are making me walk unsteady with my balance and I’m falling – and I’m putting loads of weight on because of them, so that doesn’t help.”
Merilyn is now seeking damages of £300,000 from the lorry driver, accusing him of negligence.
