Concerto of life: Patrycja Radzi-Stewart hopes her story acts as a warning.
JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
PARRYCJA Radzi-Stewart was feeling good – she had just attended a job interview, her first since applying for casual library positions.
But shortly afterwards, her world went blank, waking in hospital a week later without even realising why.
“It’s still a mystery,” Patrycja recalled this week. “The movie in my head stops at that point.”
It was only later that Patrycja discovered that she had literally been hit by a bus while driving along Gheringhap St to return to her Waurn Ponds home.
The bus ploughed into the left side of Patrycja’s car, ending up only a metre from her.
She received a massive blow to the left side of her head, causing three skull fractures and depressing bone pieces into her brain, but amazingly, no other significant in juries.
But the brain injury was so serious, Patrycja was airlifted to the Royal Melbourne Hospital where she was placed in an induced coma for three and a half days.
“It was strange, because it wasn’t the way I’d normally go,” Patrycja said. “I still don’t know what happened and probably never will.”
As she slowly improved and moved from intensive care to a neurological ward, Patrycja found her speech badly affected.
“I had little ability to put words together. I knew inside my head what I meant, but my mouth did not make the right sounds. I am bilingual and it affected both languages.”
The brain injury also affected her walking ability. “Even after therapy, it took me 30 minutes to walk five metres. I had no sense of falling.
“I could see a wheelchair outside my room but I looked at it and thought ‘no’. I knew that if did not push through now it might never happen.”
There was a ray of hope that the music teacher discovered, however. Her husband Graeme brought in her violin one day.
“When Graeme brought in the violin I just started playing,” Patrycja said. “I just started a violin concerto I’d only just learned before the accident.
“I am thankful that my music wasn’t affected by my brain injury – it gave me hope.”
Such has been her progress that earlier this year Patrycja graduated from the Tasmanian Conservatory of Music.
She played solo violin in a Tasmanian Discovery Orchestra concert and is the lead violin in the Geelong Community Orchestra.
Patrycja is finally feeling good again – she later learned she did get the job, and was encouraged to let the library know when she was well enough.
“That’s something else to look forward to. It gives me confidence,” she said.
And she had her driving assessment recently and was expecting a letter from VicRoads giving her the all clear to get behind the wheel again.
