Pregnant mum survives motorbike crash after medics faced choosing between saving her or her baby and walks again as her daughter starts toddling

A mum whose “one last” motorbike ride at seven months pregnant ended in a horror crash that left doctors facing a possible choice between saving her or her unborn baby defied medical predictions by walking  again just six months before her daughter learned to toddle.

Leen Degezelle, 44, whose bike skidded off a road into a lake, had her baby delivered 10 weeks premature by emergency caesarean after being helicoptered to hospital, so doctors could work on her shattered body.

For the next two weeks, she was kept on a ventilator in intensive care while her tiny girl Yoona – who weighed 4lb 13oz when she was born on 15 May 2016 – was given ventilation in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Incredibly, both she and Yoona, now five, pulled through – and Leen can now walk with the help of a stick and has gone on to have another baby Luka, two.

Medical administrator Leen, of Ghent, Belgium, who is married to Ben, 36, a food advisor, said: “The crash shattered the left side of my body. It’s a miracle both Yoona and I are even alive.

“When I reached hospital after the accident,  I remember a doctor coming in and explaining to me that they would need to get the baby out first so that they could work on me.”

She added: “It wasn’t ideal because I was only seven months along and I worried she might be too premature to survive.

“At the time, I was in shock and in so much pain that what they were saying didn’t even register with me.

“The doctor told my husband that they would try to save us both, but that if they had to choose, then they would take care of me first.”

For Leen, who also has an older daughter, Kyara, now 18, by a previous relationship, the day had begun so very differently with a fun motorbike ride –  the last she planned before she had her baby.

An experienced biker, who had been riding since she was 30, she had no concerns about setting off on a day long ride with her Sunday club of about 10 people.

Leen said: “At the time, I was 30 weeks pregnant and my motorbike clothes were starting to get too tight for me.”

She added: “The weather was so nice and sunny and I decided it would be the perfect day for a final ride before I had my baby.

“I went out with the motorbike club, I was part of. We went out riding once a week every Sunday. I absolutely loved it.

“It was so freeing to get out on the bike and clear my head. I felt safe on the motorbike because I was experienced and I was always careful.”

Setting off at around 10am, all went well at first.

Leen said: “It was good fun but at some point, around noon, there was a malfunction with the gas on my bike. Suddenly I had no control over it and I started accelerating.

“My bike hit a barrier on the side of the road and it launched me into the air, I fell into the lake on the other side.”

She added: “I don’t remember anything after that.

“I was told my friends who I bike with tried to reach me to pull me out, but it was too deep, so the fire department had to get a boat to reach me.

“I vaguely remember that it really hurt to get me out of the water and then the next thing I recall is me lying in the ambulance.”

After being assessed by paramedics, Leen was flown by helicopter to the nearest hospital with a trauma centre, Lille University Hospital.

After trying to work out what was best for both her and her baby, medics decided they needed to operate on Leen.

She said: “Eventually they decided I was in critical condition and that I needed emergency surgery.”

Yoona was delivered by emergency caesarean that day while Leen was under sedation.

Then while her baby was taken to a neonatal unit for ventilation, Leen had further surgery.

She said: “Most of my left side was broken, my collarbone, shoulder blade, most of my ribs and my left foot. I also had a spinal cord injury. I still have feeling in my legs because the spinal cord isn’t severed, but it’s displaced which means my stability is very badly affected.”

Two metal rods were placed along her spine with eight screws to prevent further damage to it.

Leen then spent two weeks in intensive care on ventilation.

She said: “I was fully conscious during that time but on a lot of medication.”

She added: “When they brought Yoona in to see me it was bittersweet. Even though she was so small she was still heavy for me with my injuries, so I was only able to have her on my chest for about five minutes.

“I was on morphine and in so much pain that I didn’t really get to enjoy the excitement of having a newborn.

“Luckily, Yoona was doing really well, which is a miracle, although I wasn’t really aware of it at the time.”

She added: “She was able to go home in July but that same month I was transported to the Ghent University Hospital rehabilitation centre.”

When her rehab started, the outlook was very grim.

She said: “During those first few months, I could only move my toes slightly and a neurosurgeon told me that I’d probably never walk again.”

She added: “It took a long time,  retraining my body to perform even the simplest tasks like dressing myself and getting myself out of bed.

“It should have been a special few months spent taking care of our newborn and enjoying our family but instead, I wasn’t able to look after Yoona.”

Due to Leen’s injuries, Ben’s parents took care of her baby girl during the first year of her life.

She was brought in to visit her mum regularly in the rehab centre and the prospect of being back home with her, was the driving force that helped Leen to take her first steps in August 2016.

That December, she finally made it home in a wheelchair, although Yoona stayed with Ben’s parents until she was well enough to care for her.

Leen said: “I knew I had to get myself to a point where I could I look after Yoona and have her home.”

Ben and Yoona in 2016 (Collect/PA Real Life).

She added: “I just kept pushing myself with physiotherapy, knowing that the end goal was to have my daughter back home with us.

“In May 2017, I finally felt mobile enough to look after her.

“Having her back home was incredible, she had not long since taken her first steps, so it was quite emotional.”

Gradually, Leen grew stronger until she was able to manage without a wheelchair most days.

She said: “Now, I have good days and bad days. Sometimes I don’t even think I need the walking stick, but I still use it so that people around me give me some space.

“If I fell over or if anyone was to knock into me, it could make my injury a lot worse, so I have to be careful with that.”

She added: “The sensation in my legs is different now, too. I could go outside with no trousers on in freezing winter because I wouldn’t feel the cold, or if I could easily scald myself with burning hot water in the shower because I wouldn’t feel the heat, so I have to be careful.”

In March 2019, Leen discovered she was pregnant again.

She said: “I had some initial worries about being pregnant with my injuries but the first four months were fine.”

She added: “Towards the end of the pregnancy, I was experiencing more instability and needed to use my wheelchair a lot more often.

“The plan was to have a caesarean but my waters broke a month early.”

On 27 November 2019, Leen delivered her daughter Luka naturally.

She said: “I feel incredibly grateful for the progress I’ve made and the fact that I have three healthy kids.

“Despite being premature, Yoona is doing really well and is just like any other kid and I feel very lucky to be alive to watch my family grow up.”

But, despite her remarkable recovery, Leen is yet to ride a motorbike again.

She said: “Never say never, but the last time I tried to get on a motorbike, I couldn’t lift my left leg high enough to sit properly on it.

“It’s a real shame because I love motorbikes so much. It was such an escapism for me and I really enjoyed the bike rides out with the club.

“When the weather gets warmer each spring, I sometimes see the group riding past on their bikes and I feel so envious. I do miss it.”

“For now, I have to accept that it’s not my thing anymore but maybe one day I’ll get back on a motorbike again.”