adminGemma Cleghorn, (25), said she had no idea she was pregnant until she was rushed to hospital with suspected internal bleeding five months after a motorway prang — only to be told she was actually in labour.
The former NVQ assessor visited doctors six times after the accident, complaining of a bad back and swollen stomach.
However, each time the medics put her symptoms down to the bump she had on a slip-road. Now weeks after giving birth Gemma still can’t believe she’s a mother.
She said: “Every time I went to see my GP they put my symptoms down the crash.
“Even when my periods stopped they said it had been caused by the stress and trauma of the crash.
“I was terrified I would die of internal bleeding when I was rushed to hospital so at first I was relieved when they said I was actually pregnant.
“Then they said I was in labour and it hit me that I was about to give birth to a baby. I went into shock again.
“My partner just went white. We couldn’t believe it was happening, especially given the amount of time I’d spent in the GPs surgery.”
Her partner, Dave, (25), said: “Earlier that night Gemma had posted a status on Facebook complaining of a stomach ache.
“I had to go and tell everybody why. At first they didn’t believe me at first.”
Hours later their son was born and they called the 7lb 3oz baby boy Alexander.
Gemma said: “It’s a miracle he survived the accident and then went unnoticed by all those doctors so many times. I was worried about all the drugs I had taken. But he’s perfect and I love being a mum.
“I always wanted a baby one day but I never thought it would happen like this.”
Gemma, from Sunderland, was on her way to work in January this year when she tried to get on the motorway but with no gaps in the traffic came to a halt on the slip road.
Her vehicle was struck from behind by another car at 70 miles per hour and her car was a write off.
She said: “The police and an ambulance came but it wasn’t until the next day when I woke in agony that I realised I’d even been hurt.”
Gemma was diagnosed with bruising and whiplash. But despite being prescribed painkillers, as the weeks passed, her injuries seemed to get worse rather than better.
She said: “I went back to work two weeks later. The bruising had started to fade but my back was aching and I couldn’t stand for long.”
Gemma went back to her GP and was prescribed painkillers for discomfort associated with whiplash. But over the next few weeks, she visited several more times
complaining of more backache and irregular periods.
“They said that was also due to the crash because stress and trauma can stop your cycle. It made sense so I didn’t question it,” she said.
Gemma was also putting on weight, but put that down to being unable to exercise due to her injuries.
“My weight has always fluctuated and again it made sense because I hadn’t been very active since the crash,” she said.
By May this year she’d been back to her GP six times. — Daily Mail.
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