Fairfield crash victim shares miraculous survival story after internal decapitation
"I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a truck barreling at us, and he was going so fast, we knew he wasn't going to stop," Joan recalled. "And then, boom, lights out. But I was still conscious. I could hear, smell, but I couldn't move, couldn't respond when they were trying to yell my name. I knew it was bad."
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Life changed in a split second over 11 years ago for Joan McHugh, now 60, of Fairfield.
On Sept. 12, 2014, Joan McHugh was stopped in rush hour traffic on I-287 in Rye. Her daughter and mother were in the SUV with her.
"I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a truck barreling at us, and he was going so fast, we knew he wasn't going to stop," Joan recalled. "And then, boom, lights out. But I was still conscious. I could hear, smell, but I couldn't move, couldn't respond when they were trying to yell my name. I knew it was bad."
Joan was rushed to Westchester Medical Center where she learned how bad: internal decapitation. Joan's skull was severed from her spinal cord.
Husband Brian McHugh was in disbelief.
"It's unheard of," Brian shared.
Joan also suffered a brain stem stroke, brain bleeds and several broken bones. One doctor initially said she'd be bed-bound and need round the clock care for life. Though paralyzed and intubated, she said she was cognizant of the conversations around her.
"I was just like, 'Nah,' you know? 'Not me,'" Joan told News 12.
She had reason to believe in herself. She made it through the crash and then corrective surgery to reattach her skull to her spine.
"The surgeon who did the work on her stated she was 3% of people who have ever survived an internal decapitation," Brian said.
Once out of the intensive care unit, Joan's treatment and rehabilitation journey began at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford. She couldn't walk, talk, eat or swallow when she arrived.
"From Day 1, we started with everything therapy I could take," Joan said.
Slowly, she began to improve.
"When I first started talking, I had a French accent, deep French accent. Everyone kept asking if I was from France or did I go there, did I have French family. I'm like, 'No, I'm from Connecticut,'" Joan said.
It's called foreign accent syndrome. Joan explained it lasted for a few years, well after she left Gaylord Hospital.
She spent about two months there, during which she learned to walk with assistance before returning home to continue what became daily work. According to Joan, she was homebound for about one year and had to wear a hard collar. Since then, she's continued to push herself.
"Just constant therapy, I mean that pretty much became my life," Joan explained. "Working out to live, to be normal—or as close to normal as possible."
For the past six months, she's been receiving treatment at Gaylord Specialty Healthcare's outpatient services in Fairfield.
News 12 met up with her there Friday for physical therapy, where the main focus has been balance.
"The motivation she has for continuing to improve herself is just beyond anything. Even when she's having a bad day, she will come in here and give it her all," said Jadean Hoff, Joan's physical therapist. "For occupational therapy, she's working on her fine motor control, her vision, just being able to navigate her activities of daily living, and then with her speech therapy, she's working on swallowing, projecting her voice and those cognitive tests that come along with her injuries."
"I remember someone said to me once, 'This is where you'll maxx out.' I was like, 'No, no it's not,'" Joan explained.
"She has come so far," Brian stated, adding that it's not easy for his wife. "It's a struggle for her each and every day."
Joan's right side is still affected from the stroke, and she can't turn her head. But what she can do is rare for such a devastating injury.
"I credit Gaylord for what they've done for her, with her and on a continuing basis. Without them, Joan would be homebound," Brian said.
Joan told News 12 her message is don't give up, even when everything is against you.
"That would be the easy way out," she said with a smile.
Joan's story is especially relevant with April being Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
The truck driver who hit her was on his phone.
