Dominique Vallette revisited her near-death experience in The Star. She was seeking a nurse involved in her treatment and sympathetic family members who accommodated her during a lengthy rehabilitation.
Vallette was in traction for three months in Christchurch Hospital’s spinal unit after the car she was driving lost control on ice on Haast Pass and slid down a ravine on June 12, 1972.
Then 18, she was eventually able to walk from the hospital before spending more recovery time in Christchurch before returning to her home in Noumea, Caledonia.
Vallette reconnected this week with Rosemary and Philip Doherty, the children of a couple who let her stay at their house after she was discharged.
Bean, who is in his 90s, had a distinguished career at Burwood Hospital's spinal unit, which was moved there from Christchurch Hospital in 1979.
A small library named in his honour features at the New Zealand Spinal Trust Resource Centre in Burwood.
“(Bean) remembered my case very well. He had very precise questions as to the physical consequences of the accident,” Vallette said.
“I have no memory of him at all, but we are certainly going to meet.”
Vallette, who turns 70 in May, will now ramp up plans to host a gathering when she returns to Christchurch during her current overseas trip.
“It’s just extraordinary. I feel elated. I was surprised. I take it as a gift of life,” said Vallette, who arrives in New Zealand later this month after travelling through Asia.
Rosemary Kraushaar (nee Doherty) was also rapt to learn of Vallette’s reunion idea after losing touch with her in the late 1970s.
After being alerted to The Star report, she reminisced about Vallette with her mother Helen, who turns 93 on February 16.
“We had all sorts of memories going, we were in tears thinking about Dominique,” Kraushaar said, before emailing Vallette, who is currently in Cambodia.
“You lose contact with people, but you don’t forget the memories.”
“My dad (Jamie, who died in 2002) spoke conversational French so they also had a wonderful connection,” she said.
Kraushaar, 71, had no doubt Vallette would be able to walk again.
“She was a very determined young lady. I could see she was determined this was not going to be her life.”
Philip Doherty, who lives in Whangārei, may also see Vallette after she arrives in Auckland.
Vallette is also trying to track down Sue Osborne, a nurse on ward 13B, and Barbara Chapman, a young teacher who spoke French with Vallette in hospital after reading about her plight.
“A girl wrote to me thinking she knew Barbara Chapman and she sent me a picture, but it was not the right Barbara,” Vallette said.
