Parenting

Woman in horrific motorbike accident finds out she’s pregnant and has to choose between saving her leg or baby


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A woman caught in a horrific motorbike was faced with a choice no one should have to make – saving herself or her unborn child.

Caitlin Conner, 29, from Texas was shocked to discover that she was four weeks pregnant while being urgently treated.

The marketing executive was told that she’d need extensive surgeries to save her leg but the multiple high-risk procedures would put her baby at risk.

The surprise pregnancy meant that Caitlin had to have minimal anaesthesia during the six reconstructive surgeries she endured to try and save her leg, as well as limited pain medication.

In the end, she decided to have her leg amputated than to go through any more risks.

After the accident – which happened while she was enjoying a nice summer’s ride with her boyfriend Jaylon – Caitlin didn’t know whether her partner was okay.

While he recovered at a separate hospital that he was flown to, Caitlin called him to say she was alive and that she was pregnant.

During her pregnancy, Caitlin was determined to learn to walk again before welcoming her daughter.

She learned how to walk with a prosthetic and Caitlin also found a passion for parasports, such as para-cycling, running and swimming.

Caitlin with her daughter Tinley, 5 (Picture: MDWfeatures / Caitlin Conner)

Explaining the accident, which happened on 12 June 2014, she said: ‘It was a nice evening and the weather was kind, so Jaylon and I decided to hop on the motorcycle to go to his parents’ house.

‘There was a young woman driving who didn’t see us on the bike which we later learned was because she was texting while driving.

‘She started coming out into the left lane and we saw her about to hit us. She was trying to gun it to get across and we never stood a chance against whatever was more important on her phone.

‘I flew off the back of the bike, Jaylon went with the bike. I remember rolling and skidding to a halt. I sat up and looked at my leg and my left ankle was turned inward.’

Caitlin was flown from the motorbike aged just 23 at the time (Picture: MDWfeatures / Caitlin Conner)

Cailin was then airlifted to hospital where they asked her if she was pregnant. The last thing she remembers is saying that she wasn’t but they’d been trying for a baby.

The mum-to-be had broken bones in her left foot and distal tibia, a severed artery and a major road rash.

As a result, she had six reconstructive surgeries to take the bone out of her hip to fill a golf ball-sized hole in her ankle.

She added: ‘After two weeks and six surgeries, I decided not to keep trying to save my leg. I knew the moment I saw it at the scene that it was gone.

Caitlin’s leg in a brace and a cast before she opted to amputate it (Picture: MDWfeatures / Caitlin Conner)

‘I had to do everything with minimal pain medicine, anaesthesia, and antibiotics to make sure the baby stayed safe which was dangerous and painful. I knew I had to be as calm as possible to keep the baby from being affected by stress.

‘As soon as I learned I was pregnant, I had someone else to take care of, so I didn’t focus on myself. Everything was about the baby. My leg didn’t define me as a person, but the baby would.’

Caitlin admits that learning to walk with a prosthetic was difficult as her body was changing as her weight fluctuated.

The effect of pregnancy on her spine also impacted her balance but she was sure to learn to walk before daughter Tinley was born on 13 February 2015.

She said: ‘I just wanted to be able to run and play with her, or to be able to run and grab her if she ran off. I did as much physiotherapy as I could until I was too heavily pregnant.’

Caitlin went on to walk and started CrossFit, before discovering her passion for parasports, such as paracycling, running and swimming.

She hasn’t let the accident define her (Picture: MDWfeatures / Caitlin Conner)

Since becoming a competitive para-athlete, Caitlin has founded a non-profit called Be More Adaptive which provides resources for adaptive sports allowing more people to get involved, as well as providing funding and volunteers for events to create a more accessible community.

‘Recovery was a long road as I had to learn how to walk four times. The first after amputating, another time after my spine started changing from pregnancy, then again after I broke my leg in a fall, and lastly, I had to learn again after delivering my child,’ said Caitlin.

She started a non-profit called Be More Adaptive which provides resources for adaptive sports (Picture: MDWfeatures / Caitlin Conner)

‘After that, I started walking 5K while pushing Tinley in a pushchair. I hated how I looked, and I felt weak.

‘Then I started doing CrossFit because I needed to build muscle. I started doing as many sports as possible just to see what I could do and I found a love for triathlons, swimming, cycling, skiing, figure skating and boxing.

‘The best thing you can do in life is try! I was so complacent in life before and it shouldn’t have taken the losses it did to start living life.’

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