Bethany Benson wants everyone to know the dangers of putting your feet on a car’s dashboard. It was something she always did and it ended up changing her life forever. She has no recollection of the August 2010 car accident, but then learned that she and her boyfriend got into the back of a semi-truck fast enough to smash the car like an accordion.
Photo source: Facebook
They were wearing their seat belts, which saved their lives. But Bethany had her feet up on the dash and had fallen asleep and when the airbag deployed. So when the airbag inflated at more than 300 km per hour, her feet were rammed upwards and through the thick glass of the windshield, and her knees were slammed backwards into her head.
“I always used to put my feet up in a car,” she said. “It’s easier on the back if you have your feet up. I never even thought that it could be so dangerous.”
Her left eye socket and left cheekbone were cracked. Her nose was broken. Her spleen was removed. Her brain began bleeding. Eight bones were broken in her left foot and three bones in her right foot.
Her injuries have also had a lasting effect even though they’re no longer visible. She is on multiple medications, in constant pain and an irreversible change to her brain patterns as result of the brain injury. She’s had to relearn motor skills, speech and is sometimes unable to control her moods.
“I got back a different daughter,” her mother, Mary Lachapelle, told Driving. “I lost a sweet 22-year-old who worked full-time and put herself through university. She was on a great path. I got a 13-year-old with anger issues.”
