Linda: They said it was nothing, but it is

Linda was quite nervous during the interview and felt that she had nothing to offer and would be wasting my time. I used the process of obtaining consent to help her feel at ease and emphasised that what she had to say would be of value. The interview started tentatively but Linda quickly settled as she began to tell me about her experience.

Linda told me that her accident happened when she was stopping at a red light and the car behind, instead of stopping behind her, continued and went into the back of her car. She was annoyed about the accident because of the inconvenience and the stress caused by the financial outlay required for repairing the car and reclaiming the money back when it was not even her fault. At the time of the accident she thought she was ok, however, a few hours later her neck began to hurt and then her back started to ache. This continued throughout the evening and led to her making an appointment

According to the doctor, it was „a classic case of whiplash and they didn‟t use collars anymore‟ and gave her exercises to do instead. She was shown how to do the exercises and told to „do them regularly and not keep still because of the pain‟. Linda was told what she needed to get for her pain, and to buy it from the chemist as that would be cheaper. She was also advised to take tablets for the first two weeks and then to use the pain relieving ointment. Linda felt that her injury was treated like

„something and nothing‟. It was an everyday occurrence, you just have to go away and get on with it. Linda said, „I was so shocked from the accident as well and upset and it was probably treated like you‟d cut your finger‟.

The whiplash injury affected Linda‟s life through the restriction she experienced with her bodily movements and normal postures. The injury also disturbed her sleep as she could no longer sleep in her usual position because of the pain in her neck and lower back. This also prevented her from finding more comfortable positions. Movements made during sleep would also wake her up. Linda enjoys running and for a couple of weeks was unable to run at all but has been able to start running again as she does not have to turn or twist. Linda did not take any sick leave from work as her work does not involve carrying or lifting, and she found that if she restricted her movements when getting up, sitting down, or doing things with the children, at the school where she worked, she was able to manage. For example, she would position herself so she could see all the children instead of having to turn when speaking to a child. Linda was surprised when she found that several months later, certain household tasks like cleaning the bathroom tiles caused her problems and certain movements continued to be problematic. For example, when watching a television screen she has to sit facing it straight on and not look at it by turning her head from the side otherwise it would

cause pain. Linda described the pain she experienced from her injury as tolerable, which she rated as „5‟, but certain movements could increase the intensity of the pain up to „8‟. Linda does not like taking painkillers and attempts to manage the pain through restriction of movement and using different positions. This was evident throughout the first two interviews where Linda kept her head very still. Before the final interview Linda had been to see a physiotherapist and was using exercises to try and improve movement and lessen the pain. She described the pain as „discomfort and crunches rather than pain‟. By crunches she meant the “creaking and cracking” of the bones in her neck.

Initially, Linda described herself as still being a confident driver and her driving behaviour had not changed. Over the time of the interviews, Linda, who still describes herself as a confident driver, has found her driving behaviour has changed. She finds she is always thinking about the accident and has become nervous in the car. The change in driving is related to when she has to brake or slow down in traffic as she has become fearful that the other cars are going to go into the back of her car. Linda now finds herself braking earlier than she should do in the hope that the car behind will see her brake lights and respond by stopping and not going into the back of her car.

Linda found herself claiming compensation because she put on the insurance claim form that both her and her passenger sustained an injury. This resulted in the claim automatically being transferred to the legal claims department. Linda felt angry about this as she had not actively sought to claim compensation and she also found the

problems with her movements several months after the accident she was referred to a physiotherapist for treatment by the insurer‟s solicitor. At that point, she felt as though her injury had finally been taken seriously and that it wasn‟t „something and nothing‟.

A year after the injury, Linda does not see herself as being fully recovered and thinks that she is as recovered as she will be. She rated her recovery as being 75% as she no longer has a full range of movements and still has problems with carrying out certain movements and positions. Also Linda has been told by the physiotherapist „that‟s as much as we can do now there‟s nothing else I can do‟. Linda sees herself as having adapted to the injury and that all she can do is just carry on.