Schoolies warning: Drink-driver’s two-week coma, long road to recovery

But then an argument broke out, and Denzel took off for home, ignoring pleas from friends and his sister’s attempt to take his car keys.He was only a short distance from his Townsville home – so he took the back streets, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.In the year since that terrible night, the 22-year-old has spent two weeks in a coma and four months in hospital – three of those in a specialised facility for people with serious brain injuries.He has had to learn to swallow, talk, dress himself and walk again.And every day of that long, painful recovery, Denzel waited for the moment he would be well enough to tell his story as a warning to others.“I just want at least one person to change their mind,” he said this week, as Queensland students get ready to celebrate the Schoolies festival.“A lot of young people think when they get their licence, they’re invincible.“A quick drive down the road isn’t worth three months in hospital and a two-year recovery.”Police will today plead with young drivers to act responsibly during end of year celebrations, with Queensland’s horror road toll projected to climb as high as 300 for 2021.On November 21 last year, while travelling around 100km/h, Denzel hit gravel, lost control of his car and hit three trees.A resident from a nearby property rushed out after hearing the crash and found Denzel with his legs trapped on the driver’s side and the rest of his body crushed into the passenger seat foot well.Emergency services workers had to cut him from the car.Denzel’s mother, Katy Girling-King, an emergency nurse, said they had not known whether he would survive when they rushed to the hospital to be with him that night.“Knowing you can’t see him, knowing he’s in the room next door and they’re working on him. Is he dead? Is he alive?” she said.“They can’t give you information and you can’t take them away from that work – that’s taking them away from helping your son.“It’s scary and it’s life-changing and it’s in your face.”Denzel spent two weeks in a coma with five brain haemorrhages, a collapsed lung and a chipped vertebrae. Doctors thought he’d never walk or talk again.This week he reached a new milestone when he was able to run 10m.“I’m not at the place where I want to be but I’m close to it,” Denzel said.“I can’t work. I can’t drive.“The one thing I have learned during this recovery is if you want to get through it, you have to have a good mindset and good support.“I think I just realise how different my life would be if I had not made that choice to drive, I think, I’m an idiot for doing that.“Just take a taxi, call your mum, call your dad, call anyone.“Anyone that really cares about you will pick you up instead of visiting you in hospital almost dead.”Ms Girling-King said she was incredibly proud of her son, who has never shied away from owning his mistake.“He has worked so hard on his recovery, it’s amazing,” she said.“And this goal of his has been right from the very beginning – he wanted to get the message out there: no drink-driving.“And that was from the moment we got him home, back on March 10, he said, I’ve got to get it out there.“So we’ve worked all year and for him to achieve this goal and getting to where he is today … proud is an understatement. Proud just doesn’t cut it.”

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November 17, 2021 at 05:30PM
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But then an argument broke out, and Denzel took off for home, ignoring pleas from friends and his sister’s attempt to take his car keys.He was only a short distance from his Townsville home – so he took the back streets, speeding and not wearing a seatbelt.In the year since that terrible night, the 22-year-old has spent two weeks in a coma and four months in hospital – three of those in a specialised facility for people with serious brain injuries.He has had to learn to swallow, talk, dress himself and walk again.And every day of that long, painful recovery, Denzel waited for the moment he would be well enough to tell his story as a warning to others.“I just want at least one person to change their mind,” he said this week, as Queensland students get ready to celebrate the Schoolies festival.“A lot of young people think when they get their licence, they’re invincible.“A quick drive down the road isn’t worth three months in hospital and a two-year recovery.”Police will today plead with young drivers to act responsibly during end of year celebrations, with Queensland’s horror road toll projected to climb as high as 300 for 2021.On November 21 last year, while travelling around 100km/h, Denzel hit gravel, lost control of his car and hit three trees.A resident from a nearby property rushed out after hearing the crash and found Denzel with his legs trapped on the driver’s side and the rest of his body crushed into the passenger seat foot well.Emergency services workers had to cut him from the car.Denzel’s mother, Katy Girling-King, an emergency nurse, said they had not known whether he would survive when they rushed to the hospital to be with him that night.“Knowing you can’t see him, knowing he’s in the room next door and they’re working on him. Is he dead? Is he alive?” she said.“They can’t give you information and you can’t take them away from that work – that’s taking them away from helping your son.“It’s scary and it’s life-changing and it’s in your face.”Denzel spent two weeks in a coma with five brain haemorrhages, a collapsed lung and a chipped vertebrae. Doctors thought he’d never walk or talk again.This week he reached a new milestone when he was able to run 10m.“I’m not at the place where I want to be but I’m close to it,” Denzel said.“I can’t work. I can’t drive.“The one thing I have learned during this recovery is if you want to get through it, you have to have a good mindset and good support.“I think I just realise how different my life would be if I had not made that choice to drive, I think, I’m an idiot for doing that.“Just take a taxi, call your mum, call your dad, call anyone.“Anyone that really cares about you will pick you up instead of visiting you in hospital almost dead.”Ms Girling-King said she was incredibly proud of her son, who has never shied away from owning his mistake.“He has worked so hard on his recovery, it’s amazing,” she said.“And this goal of his has been right from the very beginning – he wanted to get the message out there: no drink-driving.“And that was from the moment we got him home, back on March 10, he said, I’ve got to get it out there.“So we’ve worked all year and for him to achieve this goal and getting to where he is today … proud is an understatement. Proud just doesn’t cut it.”