EXCLUSIVE
A Sydney beautician who fell from an 11th floor unit has broken her silence about her traumatic experience and revealed how her tormented past led to the terrifying fall.
Irish national Imelda O’Brien, 30, owner of an eyelash salon in Bondi Junction, was rushed to hospital with a broken back, ribs and leg after the 2am fall last night. January.
But she has now revealed how she remained paralyzed and unconscious in the dark for half an hour after landing on the fifth floor deck – but managed to raise the alarm.
In an interview on The Bear, Ireland’s biggest podcast, O’Brien denied speculation that she had been drinking heavily before and insisted she was now sober.
He also revealed details of his family affected by the tragedy, which saw his teenage sister die when she fell off a cruise ship, followed by the death of his own heartbroken father.
“When I fell, I passed out on the road and then about half an hour later, I think I woke up,” he said.
‘At that moment, I was paralyzed. I remember getting to the hospital and thinking, can I walk?
Sydney beautician Imelda O’Brien had been with friends before jumping off the balcony.
Imelda O’Brien (pictured) was saved by a fifth floor terrace when she broke her fall from the 11th floor Bondi balcony, but still suffered a broken leg, ribs and back.
O’Brien says his childhood trauma returned
He added: “I landed on someone else’s balcony and then obviously had to scream for help.”
And a woman came out of the balcony and called the police and then called the ambulance.
‘I broke my lower back, I broke my leg, there’s a big, huge scar there. And then I tore ligaments, tendons and broke my ribs.
Ms O’Brien’s tragedy-ridden life began with the death of her sister 18 years ago, which in turn led to the suicide of her heartbroken father, Paul, seven years later.
‘In 2005 we went on vacation to the United States. We went with four different families. And then we went on a cruise to the Caribbean,” he explained.
“There were about three days of vacation, my sister fell overboard from a balcony.”
Mrs O’Brien was 12 and her older sister Lynsey was 15 at the time.
‘There was a waiter who was serving my parents and he was off shift. And then he asked my sister if she wanted to come to the club,” he said.
‘There are more than 21 in the United States. Then he took two of them to the nightclub, where the other family’s daughter, Carla, was. And she was 17 and Lynsey was 15.
“And then he poured about 16 cocktails for my sister.”
Ms O’Brien returned to Ireland in June
Ms O’Brien recently shared details of her tragic life after her sister Lynsey’s death triggered the suicide of her heartbroken father Paul (pictured with Lynsey) seven years later.
O’Brien self-published a book on cruise ship safety.
She revealed that her father had not noticed his daughter’s disappearance until the bartender brought her back, barely conscious after all the cocktails she had drunk.
“I was just furious because she was drinking,” Mrs O’Brien said. ‘She couldn’t even stand up. So we went up to the room and my dad put her to bed.
Moments later, O’Brien saw his sister on the balcony of her room.
“I could see her swaying too much,” he said. “So I had to run out and grab her, but I couldn’t pull her back, because obviously I was on 12 and she was on 15.
“And then I had to let her go.”
It took the cruise ship two and a half hours to turn around and launch the search and rescue.
Lynsey’s body was never recovered and O’Brien says the waiter disembarked the ship in Mexico and was never questioned or charged.
The death devastated his family and tortured his father.
O’Brien launched a campaign on cruise ship safety standards in the wake of the tragedy and published a book about it, ‘Lysey’s Law: Coffin Cruise Ships and Obama.’
He never truly recovered from her death and endured a “living nightmare” until he took his own life in 2013, after a gruesome series of previous attempts, witnessed by Ms O’Brien.
“When you’re younger, you block out a lot of things,” Ms. O’Brien added. ‘People don’t realize that trauma arises later in life.
“I had four overdoses when I was 16, 17, 18 and 20 years old.
“For years I used to leave counselors if I didn’t like them, and then I moved to Australia.”
Ms O’Brien headed to Australia in 2019, desperate for a fresh start and initially found happiness in her thriving business and healthy lifestyle.
But she admits she was still haunted by her past.
“I just hit rock bottom and ended up jumping off an 11-story balcony,” he said.
O’Brien spent five months in hospital after the accident and, having almost fully recovered from his injuries, returned to Ireland in June.
“I was in the hospital,” he admitted. “First I was upstairs and then they put me in a mental institution.
“I just wasn’t happy, you know when you’re just not happy in a place.”
‘I should have gone home sooner, but I felt like home wasn’t the right place either. But now that I’m back, I feel like it is.”
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