Leitchville's Angela Nuss was born to run.
So when doctors had the temerity to suggest she would never walk again, let alone run, a determined Angela took up the challenge — and hit the ground running.
It is only four years since the horrific car accident which left her with a broken neck, fractured C1-C4 spinal cord, posterior cerebral artery strokes, pelvic bone, rib and a lumbar compression fractures and Angela is still running.
She has to; she is entered to run a marathon.
That's 42.2 km of energy-sapping effort most people would never consider; especially after being crushed — almost to death — in a car crash.
“I believe I was born to run,” the 56-year-old mother-of-two said.
“The doctors said my fitness — I was a jogger before the accident — helped save my life.”
Rewind to March 2015, and the travelling division one nurse was driving from Geelong back to Leitchville to see her farmer boyfriend Craig at his farm.
“I was feeling refreshed and happy and singing my music in the car to It's A Kind of Magic by Queen,” she said.
“I remember going over the Box Bridge coming into Leitchville and the road just curves a little bit and that area has a history of deaths on that road.
“I always slowed down around those corners.
“The police report suggested that because of the state of the country roads, my tyre got stuck in this ditch. I was out of control of my car, veered off to the left-hand side, bumped my head, unconscious and did two flip-overs in my car.
“The car was an absolute write-off and thank God where I sat was the only part that was intact.”
After a farmer working in the paddock called emergency services, an SES crew had to cut Angela from the wreckage — just 3 km from her partner's farm.
She was flown to The Alfred intensive care unit where she had spinal fusion surgery and began the fight of her life — for her life.
“I had six pins put into my neck. In the first 24 hours I had a couple of strokes in the balance centre of my brain after a blood clot developed where they did that first surgery,” she said.
An initial grim prognosis started going rapidly downhill.
“It was die; never walk again or be on life support. Forever,” she said.
While her medical team planned how to save her, Angela was already planning to be fully recovered.
After almost two weeks at The Alfred, Angela began recovery with rehabilitation at Geelong Private Hospital, where she once worked as a registered nurse.
When she arrived, she was still in halo traction, unable to walk and being fed through a nasogastric tube.
“I knew I could take it on and recover quickly so, together with my rehab team, we developed a targeted plan,” she said.
“It started by walking around the corridors of the hospital, from a shuffle frame to a walking frame and eventually a walking stick.
“Every day I would set a goal and walk the corridors of the hospital and clock up 24 km. People thought I was nuts but I was so happy I could walk.”
Once she mastered walking and her halo was removed (after three months) her next challenge was running.
“When I first walked without a walking stick it was like I had sea legs. It was a strange feeling,” she said.
“It was so challenging running from scratch.
“It took 18 months to be able to cope with confidence, balance and head pressure to begin to road run.
“I was first running at the end of my bed on the spot hanging onto the bed post for about six months. Then slowly running on the farm. To gingerly running on the road. I was so frightened I would fall on the uneven road or on a stone, or rock and jar my neck.
“I did have a dog trip me up and I went for a sixer on my 9.56 km Island Rd run which I now do four times a week.”
Angela has since competed in various runs right around Australia, including the Cohuna's Mothers' Day classic, Cohuna Bridge to Bridge, Shepparton Running Festival, Echuca's Sweat vs Steam (12 km run) and Run the Rock at Hanging Rock, which she considered the most memorable.
“It was 10 km and the most challenging as it was up and down hills with loose rocks and it was wet and slippery in hail and cold weather,” she said.
“I nearly had to be admitted to hospital for hypothermia.
“It was the most memorable because of the sheer toughness of the weather conditions plus the steep track.”
Last year, she also completed a half marathon (21.1 km) with the Geelong Cross Country Club and placed fifth in her age group in the 5 km speed distance running at the Pan Pacific Masters Games.
“That was a thrill as I was competing against international runners,” she said.
And if that wasn't enough, this year will mark one of her biggest achievements to date as she prepares to take on a full marathon (42.2 km) at the Gold Coast.
“I am really looking forward to this and hope to complete it in four hours,” she said.
“I am now an athlete running with my inabilities and kicking goals.
“I run very often, every second day either a short 5 km to the weir and back or a 9.56 km run around Island Rd.”
While she has overcome enormous odds, the accident has caused some permanent eyesight and hearing loss, requiring her to use a hearing aide, and affected her balance, recall and memory, meaning she can't work as a nurse again.
“Lots of good has come out of something not so good, but I do miss working as a nurse because that was my calling, looking after people,” she said.
“But I'm a very positive person and I just keep thinking about the good that has come out of it. I'm alive; I look at that side of it, none of my inabilities.”
Angela said it was her positive mindset thanks to her upbringing that kept her going in her darkest times.
“I just fought to get back to normal life,” she said.
“I was thinking of my loved ones constantly. My partner Craig, my daughters Rachael and Alysha, my parents Helmut and Arnolda and my four sisters.
“I dreamt a lot of walking again. My biggest achievement is to be able to have my mobility and a good quality of life.
“I am not in a wheelchair as I could have been. I am able to walk and run. I am able to love and see my loved ones.”
Her recovery has been described as “incredible”, with doctors calling her “a miracle”.
“I always thought I'm going to beat this. I wanted to go back to my life, my parents, my children and Craig. I just couldn't give up,” she said.
“I didn't believe in bad days but I did allow myself to cry. But they were not tears of sadness; they were happy tears because I knew I was in a better position than the day before.”
Angela has always believed nothing is impossible and she is the living, walking (and running) proof.
“You need to believe in yourself, make the most of every day and never give up,” she said.
