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The Bachelor NZ’s Claudia reveals the accident that changed her life

The Bachelorette opens up about her broken heart and how close she came to death.
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When Claudia Hoskins first met Zac Franich, she revealed she’d once broken 19 bones. But what the bubbly blonde didn’t confess to the Bachelor that night was how she’d narrowly avoided death in a brutal car crash shortly after discovering her then-boyfriend had been unfaithful.

After being pulled unconscious from the wreckage of her mangled vehicle in rural Auckland, the reality star, 21, now knows just how lucky she was to survive. But at the time of the accident, in January last year, Claudia took her life into her own hands when she intentionally drove her car off the road and into a power pole.

“I wasn’t thinking about the consequences it would have on my family, my friends and my boyfriend – I just made a split decision in the moment,” the Bachelorette tells Woman’s Day. “All I remember thinking was, ‘How am I ever going to recover from this?’

“I didn’t think I could ever be happy again and I didn’t want to deal with the fall-out of the relationship. I just wanted the moment to be done. So I saw power poles and went for it.”

Moments earlier, Claudia and her partner of 18 months got into an explosive row when she claims she discovered he was cheating on her with a number of women.

“I found a conversation on his laptop that he was having with his best friend bragging about all the girls he’d been getting with in the last few weeks,” recalls Claudia, who says the messages of his sexual escapades were very explicit.

“I went into this state of complete and utter rage. I was devastated – it was like something came over my body. I was screaming and yelling at him. I didn’t know what was happening, so I got in my car and left.”

After the horrific smash, an ambulance rushed Claudia to North Shore Hospital, where doctors noticed her pupils were drastically different in size and they feared the impact of the crash could have caused brain damage. While scans ruled this out, her injuries included breaks in her left arm, foot and collarbone, six crushed ribs, punctured lungs, a fracture in her spine, and damage to her spleen and liver.

Surrounded by family and friends, Claudia spent two weeks in hospital – where she underwent lung surgery, an operation to realign her collarbone and an extensive rehabilitation programme – before she was sent home to recoup.

The most beneficial part of her recovery, however, was visiting a psychiatrist who told Claudia she was showing traits of borderline personality disorder, a mental-health condition marked by instability in moods, behaviour and self-image.

Leading up to the accident, Claudia admits she was feeling out of sorts.

“In the last few months of our relationship, I was going into a bit of a different headspace,” she says.

“My emotions were always up and down – I was in a full-on, committed relationship and I was under pressure at work.

“We discovered that relationships are a real trigger for me and typically I either feel really strong love or really intense sadness. I started learning dialectal behaviour therapy, which teaches you to take control of your thoughts and emotions, and in turn make rational responses.

“While being cheated on triggered the emotional state I went into on the day of the accident, I don’t hold my ex responsible for my actions. I now know I have the tools to handle another situation like that a lot better.”

The day after Claudia returned home, the guy she’d always counted on – who barely visited her in hospital – texted to tell her he was going on a date with someone else.

It felt like “rock bottom” for the Bachelorette, who was working so hard to find her happiness again. Fortunately, her family, closest friends and even her ex’s parents – who stepped up in their son’s absence – rallied around her.

“They were like, ‘You’ve stared death in the eye and made it through – you are meant to be here and we all care about you.’ The outpouring of love is something I’ll never ever forget.

“While the accident was such a s—-y time for me and my family, and I hate that I could let myself do something like that, it really was a turning point in my life,” she tells. “I’m such a stronger person for what I’ve been through. I’ve finally realised my happiness doesn’t have to be dictated by the guy I’m dating. I’m happy being me.”

With her troubles behind her, Claudia feels ready to open her heart and find love again.

“I’m so proud of the way I compose myself on the show. My mum usually watches the episode in tears because she can’t quite believe how far I’ve come,” she says.

“I’ve spent the last year working on me and focusing on finding self-love, and now is a good time to share that love with someone else. As for Zac possibly being that guy … Well, fingers crossed!”

Where to get help

Call Lifeline on 0800 543 354 or Depression Helpline on 0800 111 757, or free-text 4202 to talk to a counsellor about how you are feeling or to ask questions.

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