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The woman crushed by a dolphin in a freak boating accident was able to breathe by herself for the first time yesterday - but family and friends fear she faces a long road to recovery.
Kelly James, 27, is still in intensive care in Auckland City Hospital nearly a week after a 300kg bottle-nose dolphin leapt out of the water and landed on top of her while she was cruising in a boat off the Coromandel.
The Pukekohe woman had two heart-attacks as the Westpac Helicopter rushed her to Auckland on Tuesday but more details of her horrific injuries were revealed yesterday.
Her injuries include: bruising to the brain fractured vertebrae, every rib broken, pelvis cracked in four places, both lungs collapsed, lacerated liver and facial injuries.
Her parents George and Michelle James flew from Noosa, on Australia's Sunshine Coast, to be at her bedside on Friday and are staying with her grandfather, Peter Phillips, in Remuera.
Yesterday was the first day James was able to breathe without assistance.
Phillips and other family members declined to talk as they were too upset. "Her mother is very distressed," he said.
The injured woman's partner Dion Lawson, a former Counties-Manukau rugby player, was on the boat off the shore of Slipper Island, near Pauanui, with her and other friends. The dolphin leapt 5m and landed on her. She was struck in the chest and fell to the deck, while a male friend was thrown from the boat and Lawson and a female friend were knocked backwards.
A childhood friend of James, who asked not to be named, said James was born and bred in the Karaka countryside.
Only family had been allowed to visit her in the intensive care unit, but the friend said Kelly had drifted in and out of consciousness this week and spoken only a little.
Her head injuries were less serious than first thought and she was hopeful any neurological damage suffered would not be long term.
"It's horrible. A random dolphin landing on top of you is not something you expect to happen to someone.
"From a medical point of view, I think she's going to have a long road to rehabilitation in front of her.
"She's a fighter though, I'm sure she'll be fine."
Relatives, who did not want to be named, said she was in a stable condition in hospital, despite suffering life-threatening injuries.
"They're horrific injuries, it's a freak accident. It was a shock to all of us," said one.
Marine biologists and dolphin experts have described the accident as incredibly rare.
One went so far as to say the odds were 3 million to 1, and have reminded boaties that the sea mammals, although friendly, are wild animals.