Sera Akar was permanently scarred after a car crash involving her father, who was taking medication at the time.Source:Supplied
Sera Akar was permanently scarred after a car crash involving her father, who was taking medication at the time.Source:Supplied
A brave Melbourne teen is telling her story after a single decision by her father after school left her scarred for life. Warning: Graphic
WARNING: Graphic.
Sera Akar remembers the moments immediately after she woke up in the passenger seat of her father's car.
Hanging from the smashed windscreen in front of her was a clump of hair. Blood ran down her face. As she puts it, she had effectively been "scalped".
Moments earlier she had been pleading with her father to swerve out of the bike lane and back on to the busy Princes Highway at Narre Warren in Melbourne's southeast.
Sera Akar was permanently scarred from a crash in 2018 on the way home from school.Source:Supplied
"I remember yelling at dad, saying, 'Wake up! Wake up! We're going to crash!'" the 19-year-old recalls.
"He started veering right, we hit the median in the middle of the highway and got rear-ended by another car. I felt us being pushed forward, towards a pole. I completely blacked out after that."
She will never forget that day in February 2018 and how a trip home from school almost killed her. The scar that runs deep across her forehead is a daily reminder.
While her father was never charged over the tragic accident, he subsequently lost his licence and can no longer drive while on the medication.
Sera, now 19, is telling her story, having successfully reaching a settlement for compensation after bringing a claim through the Transport Accident Commission.
Shine Lawyers reached a settlement with the TAC on Sera's behalf but cannot disclose the amount.
The teen, who has an acquired brain injury and PTSD, wants people to know the warnings her father ignored before getting behind the wheel.
'DAD NEVER VISITED ME IN HOSPITAL'
Sera's father's heart medication came with a warning. It advised patients not to get behind the wheel after using the nasal spray because one of the side effects was making people drowsy.
His family says he was warned about driving on the drug by doctors, by the pharmacist and by a friend who was taking the same medication.
He was uninjured in the crash because the vehicle had a driver's side airbag – but Sera took the full force of the collision.
Sera Akar has gone through multiple surgeries and laser treatments.Source:Supplied
She says her father still doesn't understand the seriousness of what happened – even after his licence was suspended because of his medical condition.
Which is why she has taken it upon herself to share this important message: "I just want people to realise that if you drink, take drugs, or medication that can make you drowsy, it's life-changing.
"Even if all you do is sit at home, it's saving lives and your own life. I just want to get people to realise that even if it's a small drug or something that you think doesn't have as much of an effect, don't drive. Don't get into any sort of vehicle."
Perhaps the hardest thing for the teen to understand more than two years, five rounds of surgery and 18 laser treatments later is why her dad did not visit her in hospital.
"Unfortunately for the duration of my stay in hospital he didn't plan or try to visit," she says.
CARS, BUSES, TRAINS ARE TERRIFYING NOW
The scar is improving. Family members will tell Sera how good it looks these days, but Sera can't see the changes.
"There's no denying that I don't feel better about it," she says. "When I see it, it does make me upset. Other people's opinions can't change that thought."
The post-traumatic stress disorder Sera suffers shows itself most when she is forced to travel.
"It's mostly being in a car," she says. "When I'm in a car I can only think about the driver losing consciousness like Dad did. Whatever car I'm in, even if it's a good drive, I still get the image that I'm going to be crashing into a tree. It isn't just cars. It is buses and trains, too."
Nicole Ward, legal practice manager at Shine Lawyers in Dandenong, told news.com.au Sera's story is a terrible reminder of how important it is for people to obey the warnings on prescription medication labels.
"If you get behind the wheel while under the influence of prescription medication, you're a danger not only to yourself and your passengers but other road users, too," she says.
"Through no fault of her own, our client sustained lacerations to her face that will leave permanent scars and she continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Motorists in Victoria are lucky to have a scheme provided by the Transport Accident Commission that compensates people in Sera's unenviable position, but this crash could easily have been so much worse."
