A Perth couple who both lost their right legs in a horrific motorbike crash have opened up about their long, painful road to recovery – and the staggering new challenges they now face.
Dean and Sharon English, both seasoned motorcyclists, were enjoying a ride through WA’s Wheatbelt in September when tragedy struck. As they rounded a bend on Great Eastern Highway near Meckering, about 130km east of Perth, their bike collided with an oncoming vehicle towing a caravan. Dean had been riding, with Sharon on the back.
The collision was so severe that both were airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital in critical condition. Placed in induced comas and undergoing multiple surgeries, the couple awoke to find they had both lost their right legs, Dean’s amputated at the hip, and Sharon’s below the knee.
Their bodies broken and their lives changed forever, the couple spent nearly five months recovering side by side in hospital.
“Some days it’s really, really difficult,” Dean told 7NEWS. “We have our private moments where we sit there and have a cry. If I didn’t have Sharon with me, I’d be absolutely wrecked.”
Their fight to rebuild their lives is now twofold: physical recovery and financial survival. While Sharon, as a passenger, qualifies for third-party compensation, Dean does not. Despite 33 years of service as a prison officer, he had no private health insurance and now faces the daunting task of proving he wasn’t at fault to receive any support from the Insurance Commission.
To do that, he’ll need to pay tens of thousands of dollars for a private investigator – money the couple simply doesn’t have, especially now that Dean’s paid leave has run out and he’s on leave without pay.
As Dean continues intense rehab at Fiona Stanley Hospital, trying to learn to walk again on a prosthetic while coping with a shattered hand and missing finger, Sharon has returned home in a wheelchair. She too hopes to one day walk again with a prosthetic, though doctors warn she may require further surgery first.
Despite everything, their gratitude and determination remain remarkable. On their GoFundMe page – which has raised nearly $45,000 – they shared a heartfelt message: “We would like to thank each and every one of you for your support and generosity. It is a very humbling experience and we truly thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
Dean also praised his long-time workplace, revealing the prison commissioner has promised him a job when he’s well enough to return.
“I want to get back to normal,” he said. “This isn’t normal. It’s not what I was like.”
The couple are using their experience to warn others about road safety. Dean urged all riders to wear proper protective equipment, which he believes saved their lives. “We wear the best of equipment all the time, and I would urge anyone who rides a motorbike to make sure they wear proper PPE,” he said.
WA’s road toll is at a decade high, and for Dean and Sharon, the cost is deeply personal. But in the face of unimaginable loss, they are refusing to give up – leaning on each other, on the kindness of strangers and on hope for a future where “normal” may look different, but is still within reach.
Images: GoFundMe
