A mother-of-three was left paralyzed from the waist down after a horrific camping accident which would have ended in tragedy if not for her family’s quick actions.
Lee Cattanach, 46, was enjoying a weekend with his partner, three daughters and friends on the Murray River near the Riverina town of Toccomwal in New South Wales over the long weekend. Easter.
The Melbourne mother approached the bonfire located near the edge of the cliff to warm her hands.
As he took a step back, he misjudged where the river bank was in the ink-black night, away from the fire, and fell five meters down the cliff into the river.
Lee Cattanach (pictured with her youngest daughter, Tegan) is paralyzed from the waist down
‘I just didn’t realize how close the fire was to the edge, it was dark. I took one step back, just one step, and that was it,” Ms Cattanach told 7news.com.au.
The next thing he noticed was the “bubbling of water” after falling five meters almost into the river.
“My head was under water when they (her family) got to me and I was unconscious,” Mrs Cattanach recalls.
Luckily, her daughters Aly, 26, and Tegan, 15, were by the fire and ran to her aid.
“They had to lift my head out of the water without trying to move me too much,” Mrs Cattanach said.
His partner Mick called triple-0, but after realizing the ambulance would have trouble finding the secluded spot, he got in the car to guide the paramedics to the scene.
Even though Tegan suffered panic attacks, Mrs Cattanach’s daughters took turns keeping her head above water.
As thick fog prevented helicopter assistance and debris in the river prevented boat rescue, paramedics were faced with the dilemma of how to get the immobilized Mr Cattanach to the steep bank.
The Murray River campsite where Ms Cattanach suffered the life-changing accident
It took three hours to get a spinal board to which they could strap Ms Cattanach and “abseil” down the ravine.
“Every pull they did was excruciating pain,” he said.
Ms Cattanach was taken to Shepparton Hospital.
She has no memory of the ambulance ride and woke up in the hospital with Mick at her bedside.
He had broken his T11 and T12 vertebrae, severely damaged his spinal cord, fractured three ribs along with his sternum, and had a collapsed lung.
After being transported to Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital for major surgery, Ms Cattanach remains paralyzed from the waist down.
It is unclear if he will ever walk again.
Following surgery, Ms Cattanach was admitted to the ICU at Melbourne’s Austin Hospital before being transferred to the spinal recovery room.
“I just want to go home,” said Mrs Cattanach as she begins the arduous road to recovery to try to regain her balance and be able to move from the chair to the bed independently.
As Mrs Cattanach could no longer work as a pub manager, her daughters started a GoFundMe page to help the family financially manage and pay for increasing medical costs.
Mrs Cattanach (pictured centre, right) with her three daughters Aly, 26, Amy, 17 and Tegan, 15.
“My mother was/is a great soldier, she is independent, stubborn, positive, with a happy and outgoing personality, she always laughs, smiles and always lived life to the fullest and strives to make everyone around her happy, putting others first,” wrote his daughter Tegan.
“Always happy to help, even if there was nothing positive left for him, he would find a way.”
Lee Cattanach’s economic labor rights will run out next month.
“Her manual car will be too difficult or unsuitable to convert into a car she can drive while paralyzed,” her daughter wrote.
“We don’t know how long recovery will take, months, years, or the realization that he may never recover.”
Fundraising will also help Lee Cattanach focus on rehabilitation.
“Regaining her independence will be priceless, so any donation of any amount will be greatly appreciated,” her daughter added.
As of Saturday night, $13,308 had been raised toward the goal of $20,000.
Melbourne mum Lee Cattanach (pictured) doesn’t know if she’ll ever walk again