A woman, who lost her forehead when her knees slammed into her face in a car crash, has finally finished her reconstructive surgery 14 years later.
Grainne Kealy had her feet up on the dashboard while sitting in the passenger seat of her boyfriend’s Jeep in 2007, before the car skidded on black ice.
The ice caused the car to veer off course and it crashed into a wall at 120mph.
Although the impact of the crash triggered the airbags to inflate, the force of the inflation pushed Grainne’s feet towards her face.
This caused her knees to slam into her face with full force, leaving her with horrific injuries.
She claims she broke “every bone in her face” and when she was rushed to hospital, doctors had no choice but to remove her forehead.
Speaking to Fabulous magazine, Grainne said: “I had nothing in place of my forehead. My head sunk in and I looked a little strange.”
Doctors discovered she also had a cerebrospinal fluid leak from her brain, meaning she needed treatment from a neurosurgeon.
“They told me that I had pushed in and up my face and they would have to basically pull it all out and put it back together,” she said.
Although the operation was a success, Grainne found herself back in hospital a year later after suffering complications.
Finally, in 2009, Grainne had a ‘new forehead’ fitted, which was custom-made from Italian ceramic.
Now, more than a decade after the crash, Grainne, who was 22 at the time, has finally completed plastic surgery and says her doctors are pleased with her progress.
But the lasting effects of the traumatic incident are still with her as she battles a brain injury.
She said: “I constantly lose words while in the middle of a conversation. This can happen to me 20 times a day.
“I get headaches when too many people are talking around and I sometimes find it difficult to stay focused.”
Since the accident, Grainne, now 36, has used her story to warn other people never to put their feet on the dashboard while travelling in a car.
In particular, she’s called out celebrities who take photos posing with their feet on the dashboard for encouraging others to do the same.
She wrote: “To say this breaks my heart would be an understatement. I feel helpless looking at these photos.”
