Rebecca Collie had the world at her feet, but when a quad bike accident severed her spine in April nearly taking her life, she was left disheartened and facing a future drastically different to anything she had ever imagined.
The day had started like any other on the family Coleambally property.
Rebecca, or Beck as she is known to friends and family, was home having taken two months off work to help her father on the farm as she often did, according to her sister Sarah Kisela.
“They hadn’t started the harvest yet because it was too wet, so dad was out fixing fences and doing odd jobs and Beck was driving the quad bike through one of the paddocks looking for sheep,” Mrs Kisela said.
It was then as Beck negotiated a bank, something she had done a hundred times before, that the quad bike lost its balance and flipped back on top of her.
“There was no speed, there was no silliness, it was just a freak accident,” an emotional Mrs Kisela said.
On her own, Beck lay in the paddock unable to move or breathe.
Somehow she managed to use her phone to dial the last person she had called, her brother who was working on a different farm.
“I’ve done something bad,” she told him, “I’m dying.”
When Beck’s father found her it was not a moment too soon.
“She had turned blue and was almost unconscious,” Mrs Kisela said.
The accident had broken Beck’s back, severing her spinal cord and leaving her paralysed from the bellybutton down.
She is now in the Royal Talbot Rehab Centre in Melbourne, her home for at least the next four to six months, preparing for a future dramatically different than what she had imagined.
“It has been tough for her to deal with, she is such an active person,” Mrs Kisela said of her sister.
“This has knocked her character and her encouragement.”
Two things helping Beck get through the devastating aftermath of the accident are her mother and father, who have not left her side since the accident.
“We are a very strong family network, she has been there for all of us in tough times, she was our rock,” Mrs Kisela said.
“Mum and Dad have had to leave the farm to be there but the nearby neighbours have all contributed to help, getting the harvest off and putting the crops in.
“A big thank you to the community for that, I know some of the locals are even doing their own fundraising to help her out.”
They are funds Beck will desperately need in the months and years to come, unable to work at the moment she still has a mortgage to pay, mounting medical bills and a home and car requiring drastic changes before she can use them.
With this in mind her sister has set up the bank account Beck’s Future Fund after being inundated with people asking how they can help. If you would like to donate to help Beck the BSB number is 805 022 and the account number is 03653989.
Mrs Kisela and her husband will also host a ‘gameshow’ fundraiser in Wagga in the coming months.
If anyone has any questions, or a message for Beck they can call Mrs Kisela on 0428 548 583.
