A young woman who was paralysed in a crash which killed her boyfriend is now aspiring to become a model to show “the strong woman” she has become.
Brave Sarah McCann, now 20, was travelling in a car with her boyfriend, Jamie Foord, when it left the A272 and smashed in to a tree in October 2009.
Jamie, 18, of North Chailey, near Lewes, died in hospital hours after the accident close to Scaynes Hill, near Haywards Heath.
Sarah, then 17, was whisked to hospital and had to spend weeks in intensive care and months in a rehabilitation unit.
Tragically, she was left paralysed from the waist down and has been left in a wheelchair.
Three years on, Sarah has revealed that she is finally coming to terms with the events which could have destroyed her life.
Sarah has moved into her own home in Burgess Hill, she has a fiance, Jay Vicars, 22, and has finally got behind the wheel again for the first time.
Modelling dream
Sarah’s dreams of becoming a beautician were unfulfilled, because she was unable to carry out massages and had to give up her course at Sussex Downs College in Lewes.
However, she has been recently signed by modelling agency Models of Diversity, which specialises in people with disabilities.
She is set to perform on the catwalk at an Ideal Home show and her agent, Angel Sinclair, said people would jump at the chance to hire Sarah.
Yesterday, Sarah said: “I still can’t remember anything about the crash.
“At the beginning I really wanted to be able to remember what had happened, it was really frustrating, but now I am glad that I can’t.
“I was at Jamie’s house and we were meant to stay in, but I guess we had decided to go out and see friends.
Bright future
“For a long time I bottled things up. It is only this year that things are starting to get better.
“I’ve started driving again, I have met my boyfriend and we have now got engaged.
“We were going to get married in next June but we have a lot to do around the house first.
“I can’t work because I have to take a lot of time off sick, I have carers and I need a lot of support.
“But I want to model because I want to show people that you can do things if you are disabled.
“Being in a wheelchair is a knock to your self-confidence. I want to show others the road I’ve faced, and how I’ve become the strong woman I am today.”
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