“I cannot shower, I cannot feed myself. I cannot brush my teeth.”
Those were the words of crash victim Cherie Mammone in a victim impact statement as the driver who crashed into her car after going through a stop sign in 2021 faced Melbourne County Court.
Kim Goh, 44, of Point Cook, pleaded guilty to a charge of negligently causing serious injury.
“I do not enjoy my life. Life is miserable,” Ms Mammone said in a victim impact statement that was read to the court by her sister-in-law.
In the statement, Ms Mammone also spoke of how she was always in bed now, or was confined to a wheelchair when she was out of it.
The court heard Goh was driving east on Poplar Ave at Orrvale, when he drove through a stop sign in his Rav 4 and crashed into the side of Ms Mammone’s Hyundai, which was being driven north on Orrvale Rd on May 10, 2021.
At the time, Goh was working for Telstra and was following his GPS to Cobram where he was meeting a customer.
The prosecutor told the court there was a vehicle-activated flashing light warning sign for the intersection ahead, as well as six rumble strips and a stop sign on either side of the road at the intersection.
Crash investigations showed Goh started to brake between 0.02 and 0.07 seconds before he reached the intersection, and he was still travelling at 91km/h when he collided with Ms Mammone’s vehicle.
The then 22-year-old Ms Mammone suffered injuries including severe traumatic brain injuries with haemorrhages, facial bone fractures, a traumatic cardiac injury, fractured ribs, multiple pelvic fractures, a laceration of the liver and a lumbar spine fracture.
Ms Mammone now lives in a care facility.
“The wheelchair — that’s as good as she will physically get,” the prosecutor told the court.
“She may be able to feed herself in the future but that’s the best level she will get to.
“It’s as bad as it gets for a person who has escaped an accident with her life.”
Ms Mammone’s mother and sister also had victim impact statements read to the court.
In hers, Ms Mammone’s mother said her life had changed for the worst that day.
She said it was “unbearable” sitting by her daughter’s side in the intensive care unit.
“I sat by her side day after day, frightened that she would still die,” she said.
“My heart breaks that our beautiful girl will not have her life back the way it was before.”
Goh’s defence counsel David Laschko said his client — a father-of-three who moved to Australia from Malaysia in 2009 — was sorry for what had occurred.
He read aloud a letter of apology from Goh to Ms Mammone and her family.
Mr Laschko said it was the first time his client had travelled on that road and “he maintains the set-up and signage at the scene is a contributing factor”.
“He said he did not see the stop sign until it was too late,” Mr Lashko said.
He also spoke of a report by an expert that said if there were more rumble strips, the speed limit was dropped to 40km/h and the intersection was staggered “the collision would likely not have occurred”.
Mr Lashko also told the court a Greater Shepparton City Council engineer had told the committal hearing into this matter the intersection was “particularly bad and had been the subject of accidents before and since”.
The court was also told Goh had PTSD since the crash, and he had two autistic children who needed extra care and attention.
The matter will come back to court for further plea and sentence later this month.