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Simple mistake that led to woman 'losing her forehead' in car crash
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A woman lost her entire forehead in a car crash after making one simple mistake that many others also do.
In 2007, Gráinne Kealy was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend's Jeep when black ice caused the vehicle to skid and crash into a wall at 120mph, per The Sun.
Despite the airbags deploying upon impact, Gráinne was left with severe injuries to her forehead due to one small detail - her feet had been on the dashboard when they crashed.
The force of the airbags inflating had pushed her feet violently towards her face, resulting in her knees slamming into it with severe force, causing extensive injuries.
"I broke every bone in my face," Gráinne told Fabulous. "When I was rushed to the hospital, doctors had no choice but to remove my forehead.
"I had nothing in place of my forehead. My head sunk in and I looked a little strange."
As well as multiple facial fractures, Gráinne also suffered from a cerebrospinal fluid leak from her brain, necessitating 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 recounted.
Following successful surgery, Grainne faced complications a year later, requiring further medical attention.
It wasn't until 2009 that she received a custom-made 'new forehead' crafted from Italian ceramic.
A decade after the life-changing crash, Gráinne shared a photo revealing how she had healed after the plastic surgery processes she'd undergone following the accident.
She revealed the longer-term impact of the traumatic brain injury caused by the crash, telling the Mirror: "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, Gráinne has campaigned to raise awareness of the dangers of having your feet on the dashboard while traveling in a car.
In a Facebook post once again sharing her story, she wrote: "I sent out an email a few years ago in the hope of preventing anyone from going through what I have had to go through.
"The sad truth is that I know the message hasn't reached far enough. The more people I talk to about what happened to me the more I realise I have to do more... so I am asking you all to please pass it on."
In the post, she shared photos of her injuries.
Gráinne also called out several celebrities for sharing images of their feet on a dashboard, including Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, and Hailey Bieber, as well as Katy Perry for having the imagery in her music video for 'Roar'.
She expressed concern to Sky News about celebrities posting such images to "millions and millions of people," explaining: "I can't compete with that but I still feel like I have to try.
"It breaks my heart to think of anyone having to go through the hell myself and my family have had to go through.
"If it takes me sharing my story and my photos, as scary as they are, then so be it."