Couple’s remarkable rehab journey following motorcycle crash

Dean English and Sharon Wreford have been together for seven years.

Like most couples they've shared life's highs and lows but in September last year, they faced complete devastation.

While on an organised motorcycle ride with 14 others along Great Eastern Highway near Cunderdin, Dean was driving and Sharon his pillion passenger, when just minutes from their planned lunch stop they collided with a caravan being towed by a car.

"It was really confronting – our lives changed in an instant," 59 year old Dean said.

"I lost my right leg almost up to my hip and my right index finger, and the rest of my right hand was severely damaged. Sharon lost her right leg below the knee."

They have since undergone multiple surgeries each, with Dean in hospital for five months while Sharon spent a month as an inpatient.

After initially being admitted to the Royal Perth Hospital State Trauma Unit following the accident, the pair was transferred to the Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) State Rehabilitation Service (SRS) to begin their rehabilitation journey.

Now largely confined to wheelchairs, they both require prosthetic limbs with Dean receiving his in January this year. Sharon is still waiting on fractures to heal before she can receive her prosthesis.

FSH SRS Amputee Senior Physiotherapist, Nicole Steer, said Dean and Sharon were on two very different rehabilitation journeys and the team was currently working with Dean as an outpatient.

"We're helping Dean to refine his walking with his new prosthetic limb and to further build his strength, balance and fitness so he relies less on his wheelchair," Nicole said.

"Both Dean and Sharon bring such good energy with them to their gym sessions and they really motivate each other, not to mention other patients who are going through similar experiences.

"I've been a physiotherapist for a long time and I've never worked with a couple who has each lost limbs before. Their shared story is both heartbreaking and inspiring."

In addition to his physio sessions, Dean regularly sees the Occupational Therapists at FSH for his hand therapy.

The couple still has a long way to go with their rehabilitation and are navigating their “new normal” with modifications made to each of their homes to make them wheelchair accessible.

Sharon has had to move in with Dean to help as his carer and Dean has had to stop working as a prison officer.

"I love my job of 33 years," Dean said.

"Now I can't work, I can't drive and I can't use my body the way that I used to. We've both suffered life changing injuries.

"The accident has brought us closer together – we wouldn't be here without each other or the ongoing support of our families, friends and colleagues."

Having been around motorcycles since he was a child, Dean also credits the extensive safety gear they were wearing with saving them from any further harm.

Sharing a passion for motorbike riding since their very first date all those years ago, they'd like to get back on the open road but they both agree it would only be on a trike.

Watch the Channel 7 news coverage below

Keep up to date with our news and achievements

Find out more on Facebook (external site) or LinkedIn (external site)