The Crash

In 1987, Radio New Zealand journalist Sally Wenley's life changed. Aged sixteen, she was on a school sports trip when the coach crashed, killing two students, and leaving the author a paraplegic. Decades later, she confronts the tragedy in a powerful, moving, and deeply personal account, revealing how repressing trauma fails to address its consequences. Along the way, Wenley reveals such details as how some students weren’t allowed to attend funerals, and the boarding school’s principal discouraged parents from seeing their daughters after the tragedy, as well as her personal road to recovery, including becoming a mother and undergoing risky spinal surgery to reduce her pain. But whilst her physical wounds were addressed, to Wenley it seemed her “brain injury and psychological impacts were brushed aside.” A brave, bold, and ultimately uplifting memoir, told with a frankness and insight that make for a compelling read.
- Adam Fresco