Kelley Martin was 19 and had just graduated from a prestigious dance school when a speeding driver brought her dreams to a grinding halt.
She was celebrating the end of her studies when the accident happened as she crossed a dark street in Auckland’s city centre. The driver of the car that smashed into her was doing 60 to 65kph, hadn’t put their headlights on and was adjusting the car stereo at the time.
“I was thrown onto the car and went head first through the windscreen – my head pretty much landed on the driver’s lap while my legs were still outside on the bonnet,” says Kelley, who suffered horrific injuries as a result of the impact.
She escaped brain damage, but was left with a leg smashed in four places, broken ribs and a shattered shoulder. Worst of all, her doctors told her that her broken bones meant she’d never dance again.
While going through seven painful operations, including replacing her broken ribs with six metal ones and having a metal plate put in her shoulder, Kelley faced a second health crisis – her eating disorder.
Until the accident, she’d been in denial about it but nurses at the hospital noticed her pitifully thin frame and Kelley was forced to admit the truth. At 1.73m, she weighed just 49kg and had been surviving on chewing gum, milk and soup. She was also running obsessively every day.
“I probably would have kept going like that until I was stopped,” she admits. “The accident forced me to deal with my eating disorder. The nurses noticed something was wrong and I was told that if I didn’t start eating, my bones wouldn’t heal and I’d never walk again. It was a turning point. I realised what I was doing to my body.”
Determined to dance again, Kelley went through years of gruelling rehabilitation and counselling to reach her goal. Last year she fulfilled her long-held hope of opening her own dance studio, Dare To Dance. She also teaches aerobics, Pilates, yoga and Zumba at a leisure centre in Stanmore Bay, north of Auckland.
Her incredible achievements against the odds were recognised when Kelley was named the winner of the first Lesley Pearse New Zealand Women of Courage Award. With New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, UK author Lesley Pearse launched the award to recognise everyday heroines. Kelley will fly to London to meet Lesley as part of her prize. She also receives $500 worth of Penguin books, a subscription to the Weekly and a $500 donation to the charity of her choice – the SPCA.
The brave young woman was nominated by her husband Zane’s former wife, Christine Chan, who was impressed by Kelley’s quiet determination to rebuild her life.
“Nobody would guess she is a girl who has dared to live despite a reckless tragedy,” Christine wrote when she nominated Kelley, who wed Zane in 2008, just three months after they met and eight years after he had split up with Christine.
Zane was the catalyst for Kelley last year being able to overcome one of her biggest challenges – learning how to drive.
“I had a huge fear of driving – I couldn’t even sit in a driver’s seat without panicking,” Kelley says. “The first time I got into the car with the driving instructor, I burst into tears. I didn’t want to inflict pain on anyone else.”
With Zane’s love and support she finally passed her licence test, but Kelley’s modest about her courage and achievements. “I’m thankful that I have a very supportive family and grew up believing you never get given more than you can handle,” she says.
She also believes the accident possibly saved her life, as her eating disorder may never have been discovered without it.
Even now, she refuses to get on a set of scales because of the risk of a relapse. “I know that is probably one of my triggers so I don’t ever weigh myself. If I get weighed for surgery, I close my eyes because I know how quickly it could start again,” she admits.
Kelley and Zane would love to have kids one day, but she is unsure if her metal ribs can accommodate a growing baby. For now, she’s concentrating on her dance studio.
“I didn’t think I could ever pull it off,” she says with a smile. “A lot of people say to me, ‘You are so brave and you’ve been through so much,’ but I don’t think that at all. Life is full of ups and downs. It’s how you deal with what is thrown at you that matters.
“Make small goals without thinking too far ahead and you’ll surprise yourself.”
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