Mother who survived car crash, learned she was pregnant and recommended abortion turned down advice and had first baby

 

• Natalie broke her neck twice and her back in four places. Doctors didn't know if she would walk and talk again
• She was astonished to be told she was four-weeks pregnant when brought out of a coma - she had thought she couldn't have any more children
• Gave birth to baby Max earlier this year

Natalie Lander, 31, from Walsall, West Midlands, was only four weeks pregnant when she nearly died in a car accident driving to work in July 2011. She found out the news after she came out of a coma and said it spurred her on to recover as quickly as possible. 

But Mrs Lander, 31, and husband Marcus were not willing to give up so easily – and a year on, having amazed doctors with her progress, she has given birth to a healthy boy named Max.

Mrs Lander’s car spun out of control on a wet manhole cover as she drove to work in July 2011.

Her back was broken in four places and her neck in two, and she also sustained a smashed pelvis, damage to her vocal cords and brain injuries.

She was cut out of the car and airlifted to hospital, where doctors told her husband, a 37-year-old civil engineer, that they didn’t know if she would survive. 

The wrecked car: Natalie broke her back in four places and her neck twice as well as smashing her pelvis

Natalie and Max

But she came out of a coma, and doctors carried out a routine scan to check she was not pregnant before starting further treatment – and it showed that she was.
It was all the more surprising because Mrs Lander has Polycistic Ovary Syndrome, which makes it difficult to conceive.She has a four-year-old son, Alfie, but thought she couldn’t become pregnant again.Mrs Lander, from Walsall, said: ‘When I found out I was pregnant, I was torn between being overjoyed and terrified.

'I was so worried that Alfie wouldn’t have a mum who could look after him properly, let alone another baby.‘The doctors recommended that we could consider terminating the pregnancy, but we wanted to fight for our baby.’She added: ‘I was terrified that the accident would somehow have affected my baby.

Natalie was involved in the horrifying accident as drove to work in July 2011

'I was paralysed down my left hand side, and could barely speak in more than a whisper because of the damage to my vocal cords – nobody could tell me how far I would recover.’While pregnant, Mrs Lander underwent four months of  intensive physiotherapy, which helped her learn how to walk and talk again.
‘I was trying to concentrate on getting myself better, but I was so worried about the little baby growing inside me,’ she said.‘Medics kept telling me he would be fine, but I wouldn’t believe it until I held him in my arms.’Max was born in March, and after a lot of hard work both mother and baby are doing well.Mrs Lander has even gone back to her job in sales a few days a week.Doctors are thrilled at their progress, although they have warned it will take Mrs Lander another year before she is fully recovered.
But she added: ‘I can’t ever thank them enough for saving my family.’