Galit Sabag returned to Whanganui to try to reconnect with those who helped save her life 31 years ago. Photo / Bevan Conley
Galit Sabag returned to Whanganui to try to reconnect with those who helped save her life 31 years ago. Photo / Bevan Conley
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A life-threatening car crash 31 years ago left an Israeli tourist in a coma for eight days in Whanganui and now Galit Sabag has returned to New Zealand.
It is partof a quest to reconnect with three nurses - Carla Brown, Corrine Clark and Rachel Phillips - who helped her while she rebuilt her strength in what was then Wanganui Base Hospital.
"I'd like to say that I'm so grateful for all the treatment that they gave to me and wanted to say they all fixed me up right and I'm so, so happy to come back."
When she was 22, Sabag had been travelling for more than 18 months and, after meeting up with a friend, the pair planned to spend four months hitchhiking their way around New Zealand.
On December 20, 1988, Sabag and her friend caught a ride in Raetihi with a Rotorua man.
The man's 1970 Holden Kingswood and a 12-tonne truck and trailer unit carrying sheep collided on Barrett's Corner, 20km south of Raetihi.
The Kingswood's occupants were airlifted to hospital in Whanganui by a Wanganui Aero Works helicopter. The Barrett and Taura Transport Company truck driver was not injured and the truck only suffered minor damage.
All three in the Kingswood had broken femurs, Sabag's friend had a broken jaw and Sabag split open her forehead and fell into a coma.
The Israeli Embassy contacted Sabag's parents and told them they were unsure if she would survive.
During the eight days she was in a coma, Dov Shalev, an Israeli man living in Whanganui, visited and spoke Hebrew to her, following a doctor's advice that speaking to Sabag in her first language may help her regain consciousness.
Sabag with a doctor who helped to save her life when she fell into a coma for eight days. Photo / Supplied
Sabag's parents and brother travelled to New Zealand and the day her brother arrived at the hospital Sabag woke up from the coma.
"All those people from Whanganui, sending flowers and chocolates and really it was amazing, and I woke up but my head wasn't in the right place," she said.
Her parents eventually went back home to Israel and her brother remained with her for about two months.
Sabag had a 42cm pin holding her right femur together and she was wheelchair-bound for a number of months.
Once home in Israel, Sabag had an operation to get the pin removed but remained in a wheelchair and began physiotherapy.
"Now I'm running and I'm doing everything but it took a year to recover and walk by myself without crutches."
She said her forehead took a bit longer to heal.
"What stays with me permanently is I am completely deaf in one ear now from the accident."
The 1988 Whanganui Chronicle article about the car crash. Photo / Bevan Conley
Sabag said having been able to hear properly for more than 20 years meant the deafness had taken a lot of getting used to.
"When I would go to parties with lots of noises, I read lips, I can't hear nothing. To go to weddings, to go to places where there is lots of noise, it's a mess, it takes time to get used to."
But she lives her life with high spirits and is now married with two sons and manages a retirement centre that older people visit to participate in activities.
"My husband is very supportive. I miss him so much but he knows I'm strong and said that's your dream, you go for it."
Her eldest son is also travelling around New Zealand and she said this encouraged her to travel to Whanganui to reconnect.
"I went to the hospital and I was so excited, like my heart was beating like crazy because it looks completely different now."
She had to wait until December 29 for a nurse to be available to talk to her and look at her photos; however, the nurse did not recognise any of the nurses Sabag was looking for.
Sabag returned to her Whanganui homestay very disappointed and David Bebarfald, her homestay host, decided to put out a message on Facebook to try to find the nurses.
Through his contacts, they were able to track down Carla Brown, who now lives in Western Australia, and Sabag is waiting to be put in contact with her.
Sabag took photos to Whanganui Hospital in the hope someone could help her find the nurses who cared for her. Photo / Bevan Conley
On New Year's Eve, Sabag headed to the South Island to meet up with her son but is still hopeful she may be able to contact Corrine Clark and Rachel Phillips.
"You are such amazing people in New Zealand, you're good people, so nice and polite.
"You're so patient. You just give the feeling that you care about people and I said all the time to my children 'what you give is what you get and it's all about connecting people'."
Anyone with information about the nurses' whereabouts can contact David Bebarfald on 022 161 0256.
