MJ Hippy Covers- Megan’s DDH Story

My name is Megan, I live in Karratha WA. I started MJ Hippy Covers because I know all too well the discomfort of wearing a brace, and the chafing it can cause.

In April this year, on ANZAC Day, myself, my husband and our two children were involved in a most horrific car accident. We were coming home from a place I love, Broome, in our land cruiser, and we were towing a camper when our back tyre delaminated; in short the tread came straight off the tyre. It was a brand new tyre. Our vehicle rolled twice and landed on the roof. This was at 12 noon. My husband and I got our two children out of the car and I went into mum mode, starting to find water bottles, hats, toys, blankets to sit on, shoes etc. I then tried to calm everyone down. Luckily someone came to our rescue within 10 minutes of our crash.

Everyone seemed fine…except me! I though I had just a severe case of whip lash.

We were in the middle of nowhere. We had to drive, with the strangers who stopped to help (who are now very great friends of ours), 1.5hrs to reach an ambulance. I was then transported via ambulance to Port headland hospital which was another 5 hrs drive away. We arrived at the hospital at 6pm. All this time I was fully conscious and talking. I was worried about everyone else and especially my children.

The part I have not mentioned, until now, was that I was 29wks pregnant. I had convinced my self that I had miscarried, and that I needed to concentrate on who was alive and that was my husband and the two children. The Doctors eventually checked to see if the baby was ok, as their first concern was for me. There was a very strong heartbeat and the tears flowed.

Once I was taken in for an x-ray the doctors yelled “DON’T MOVE! You have broken your neck!”.

So then it began. More x-rays and MRIs. I had broken my C2 Vertebrae and had chipped bits of my C1. The doctors told me, 2mm more and the chip would have gone into my spinal cord. None of them could believe I was alive and talking, let alone walking after the crash; and the baby was okay too. For the first 4 days in hospital, I had to lay on my back, and only move my arms up and down, it was torture. I was put in a Miami J brace and after 5 days I was miraculously allowed to come home, 30 wks. pregnant.

I had to stay in the MJ brace for 13 weeks all up. My baby had to be delivered by a planned C Section, with my brace still on, back in Port Headland Hospital. I came home with the neck brace still on and a 4-day old baby boy.

My brace came off 4weeks after giving birth. After 2 weeks in the brace I had a pressure sore under my chin from my brace. I now have a small scar there as a reminder of how lucky I am to still be here.

I had only had my brace off for 4 weeks, and our baby boy was only 6wks old, when we found out he needed a hip brace. You can imagine how I felt, I was completely and utterly devastated. I cried…a lot! So when I came home with him and his brace I knew I did not want him to suffer the same chafe as I did so they is how MJ’s was born 🙂

We are now both brace free and loving life. I now support Healthy Hips Australia and donate some profits from my brace covers to them.  xx

Written: October 2016,  Updated March 2017

HHA Note: We were blown away when we heard the story behind MJ Hippy Covers. Megan, we think you are an amazing women. Your resilience is astounding and we can’t thank you enough for not only supporting us but for what you do in giving back to the DDH community. X

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