General News
14 July, 2023
Second chance, and a life-saving lesson
Noah Chambers learned at 18 just how fragile life is after he almost bled to death after a single-vehicle car crash. He was in the back seat of a car being driven by a friend, travelling between Warracknabeal and Horsham, just after 1am on May 30...
Noah Chambers learned at 18 just how fragile life is after he almost bled to death after a single-vehicle car crash.
He was in the back seat of a car being driven by a friend, travelling between Warracknabeal and Horsham, just after 1am on May 30, 2021.
When the driver tried to make a tight left turn while travelling too fast, the car ploughed through a give way sign and into a spoon drain before coming to rest in a paddock.
The driver and front-seat passenger escaped without a scratch.
Noah said he felt pain straight away, but did not think his injuries were too serious.
“I thought I must have broken ribs or something because I was having trouble breathing, but I thought I was fine to just go home and rest,” he said.
“As the ambulance took me to hospital to get checked out, the pain got worse and worse.”
Noah was diagnosed with a Grade 5 ruptured spleen - the most severe possible - and was told he had already lost 2.5 litres of blood.
“They told me I would have been dead in another 45 minutes because of how much blood I’d lost,” he said.
“Looking back now, I realise how lucky I am to still be alive, because the outcome could have been very different.”
He also suffered a collapsed lung and fractured ribs, and has been left with a 32-centimetre surgical scar down the middle of his torso.
Prior to the crash, Noah said he had not thought much about how quickly life could take a turn for the worst.
Now he is urging others not to be complacent because “things can change in a split second”.
“You hear stories about bad things happening to other people, but most of us think ‘that’s not going to happen to me’,” he said.
“It can happen to any of us - and it can be from something as simple as someone misjudging how quickly they’re travelling while trying to take a turn.
“One small lapse of judgement can change your life drastically - or someone else’s.
"Everyone needs to remember that, because it could be you next time.”
Road Injuries lawyer Sue Emery, from Slater and Gordon, is representing Mr Chambers in a compensation claim through Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission.
Under the "no-fault" insurance scheme anyone injured in a transport accident in Victoria is eligible to make a claim, even if the accident was their fault.
“I represent a lot of clients like Noah whose lives and health have significantly changed as a result of a road accident,” she said.
“We all need to slow down, drive to the conditions and without distractions, to reduce the number of road deaths and injuries."
Noah was completing Year 12 at the time of the crash.
He has since moved to Queensland where he is studying a degree in environmental conservation and management.