In September 2007, when I was 25, I worked full time as a picture framer. On the way to work I was involved in a five car pile-up. My vehicle was hit in the front and the rear. I sustained whiplash and smacked my head hard on the front shelf, where the visor and rear view mirror are located. A hot coffee in the drink holder erupted all over me and the inside of the car and the whole front of my vehicle was smashed in.

Police arrived to inspect the scene and no one appeared to have sustained any serious injuries so an ambulance was not called. My car was towed and I was escorted to the hospital, where I was put in a neck brace and underwent blood tests and a spinal check.

This was the first accident I had ever been in, and I was in total shock. Despite my emotional state and the fact that I felt extremely tired, the doctors told me that I should be fine and I was discharged that day. I reported the accident and how I was feeling to my employer and then went straight home and slept. The next day I was called in to work and I managed to get through the day, although I was feeling very shaky and physically sore.

The following day I came to work again, however I began to feel deep physical discomfort and was mentally very confused and agitated. When customers came in to have work framed I could not understand their requests or what colours they had chosen. In the workshop I was unable to perform or remember the basic measuring and maths needed when cutting mat boards, glass and frames. I burst into tears and my manager took me aside. I explained to her how I was feeling and that I felt physically distressed and could not remember what people had said to me, nor measurements I had just taken. She gave me the rest of the week off, which I spent in bed sleeping.

A week later my physical symptoms worsened, my head, neck and spine ached, my legs began to tremble and I occasionally found it hard to stand up. My short-term memory was not working and I felt exhausted, emotionally unstable and cried a lot for no apparent reason.

At this point I realised that I would not be able to continue to work my job and so I lodged a workers’ compensation claim. I was connected with a rehabilitation officer and had a CT scan done of my spine. I was assessed as having sustained severe soft tissue trauma associated with the whiplash and that my head injury had caused brain swelling which was causing my emotional distress and had damaged my right temporal lobe. I was put onto a “personal injury plan” of two chiropractic sessions a week, one counselling session, massage therapy and two sessions a week of neuropsychology “brain re-training”. I also had weekly meetings with my rehabilitation officer and GP, to monitor my recovery.

My recovery took longer than anticipated. Despite not feeling capable of returning to work, my rehabilitation officer pushed for me to go back in November, two months after the accident. I was given the task of answering the phone and helping customers, working five days a week for five hours each day. This was very tiring for me and I had to continually have breaks. I felt bullied by my fellow workers because they made fun of me saying I looked all right and that I was faking the whole thing.

I asked to continue with the neuropsychology sessions as they were having beneficial effects on my mental state and memory retention, but the sessions were stopped. I was also made to see a different chiropractor and massage therapist, because my rehabilitation officer was unsatisfied with the speed of my recovery. I felt very uncomfortable with my new therapists and actually experienced negative physical effects after one of my chiropractic sessions. I was beginning to get distressed because I felt that my rehabilitation officer was breathing down my neck.

I decided to quit my job at the picture framers’ and also close my compensation case because I was finding the stress of the situation and people’s expectations a hindrance to my healing. I went back to my original therapists and applied for casual administration jobs that were simple and physically light. It took another year and a half until my body and mind were back into shape and I was able to live and work without pain and distress.

Editor's note: This isn't the end of Lara's story. She will be writing a series of articles for RTWMatters.