But that is exactly what happened to Cath Alderson after a horrific car crash left her not only in intensive care for 10 days, but also with far reaching mental side affects.

Mail reporter EMMA GREENHALGH spoke to her.



CHRISTMAS is usually a time for family to spend together and enjoy themselves.

But for Cath, fate put her in the wrong place at the wrong time on Boxing Day 1998. It was a split second which changed her life.

She was travelling with her husband Tony Alderson, 55, in their Volvo to do some shopping in Durham when they were involved in a collision near a quarry between Haswell and Sherburn.

Cath, 54, was rushed to the University Hospital of North Durham, in Durham, where she spent a week and a half in intensive care with a punctured lung, head and internal injuries.

She said: "I was conscious but I was in shock. I was not aware of what was going on and I did not realise how ill I was."

Two weeks later Cath, whose job had been to make wallpaper display cases, returned home to Warwick Place, Peterlee.

Her physical injuries healed and she thought the worst of it was over.

She said: "I really thought it was just a case of bones healing and then you would go back to work. I did not take into account how it would affect me mentally."

But Cath started to experience memory loss where she would go into a daze and lose chunks of time.

She said: "I could lose two or three hours of time. I would not know what had happened in that time."

Later on Cath came to understand from her psychologist that this was called 'loss of concentration.'

"That went on for nine months before I mentioned it to anyone.
"I could be anywhere - that was the scariest thing. I could be in the shopping centre and it was embarrassing because I did not know what had happened in that time.

"It happened in the hairdressers and I had to come out straight away. I had to get out of that shop so I came out with my hair half cut."

She said the embarrassment developed into a fear of going out. Soon Cath would only leave the house once or twice a week because her husband insisted.

"The fear was that it would happen and then over time it was a fear of going out."

Cath started to see a psychologist and was diagnosed with mild agoraphobia.

"It was not just a case of being bored sitting in the house. If Tony was out I would lock the door and if anybody came up the path I would hide.

"It was uncharacteristic of me because I had always worked.

"I went from being an extremely independent person to having lost all confidence."

Despite being on tablets it was eight years before the problem truly started to get better when she was introduced to a cognitive therapist at the University Hospital of Hartlepool.

She said the nurse referred her to Mental Health Matters, an organisation that helps people with mental health needs in everything from employment and housing to community support and psychological services.

Mental Health Matters in turn directed her towards Learn East, based in Lee House, Yoden Way, Peterlee.

Cath, who has two sons Christopher Alderson, 26, and Mark Alderson, 32, had thought of volunteering in a charity shop but was put on a course called Working in the Sector.

She said: "Getting into Learn East was a turning point. It transformed my life.

"It was a five week course to allow me to volunteer and that five weeks never came to an end."

Cath went on to do a level two certificate in literacy and numeracy and achieved a qualification in supporting adults for which she helped out during maths and literacy lessons.

She got the Learn East personal achievement award and East Durham award of achievement.

Now she has achieved a level three in adult literacy support and is now working towards a Preparing To Teach award.

She said the support and friendliness of the staff gave her a feeling of safety and confidence and she slowly started to recover.

She said: "I went to Learn East because I had problems of my own and they were absolutely fantastic and I have gone on and on and on.

"Initially it started because I needed help myself and I so much love the people I met out in the community.

"I have achieved things I never thought I would."