We'd spent the day exhibiting at the UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative which was wonderfully successful for us. We made great connections with midwives, lactation consultants and related industry professionals and I had a chance to sit in on some interesting lectures. That part of my trip was wonderful!

My precious youngest son, Noah James, who was then 23 months old was with us. We have three older adopted children (from our days as foster parents in California) then lost eight straight babies before finally welcoming Noah James into our family. He has already missed death a few times; from a frightening birth where he had to be resuscitated, to exposure in the NICU, to an MRSA virus that took the life of another baby, to a dreadful fall at one year old. So having him in this accident was particularly distressing. He was hard to get here in the first place and seems to be frequently in the wrong place at the wrong time!

We'd rented a self catering cottage outside of Glasgow on a rural road called the A760.

I was driving to pick up some friends at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow, when I was hit head on by a drunk driver on a very small country road. There were walls on either side of the road, right up to the edge of the tarmac, so there was nowhere to go to avoid the collision. It was about 9:30 at night and it was sleeting badly, with many large puddles on the road. I was driving pretty slowly to avoid them, which turned out to be the reason we survived - had we been going at speed, we almost certainly would have been killed. The police constable who took all the statements told me that he expected there to be fatalities as it was.

The drunk driver, and his three companions, were from the north of England and were, ironically, staying at the same self catering cottages as us, on a remote farm outside of Lochwinnoch. They were in the area for work purposes and had, apparently, all been out drinking heavily. They drove around a curve in a large work van and I had no room to avoid them or to go off the road. I positioned the rental car I was driving as best I could so that the impact would be as far away from my baby as possible, which, thankfully, happened. 

The car was completely written off, and a lot of my exhibition items and personal property were destroyed. Of particular significance to me was that my newly won BPA ‘Best in Home Product' of 2008 trophy/award was broken. All in all there was well over £20,000 of damage.

Thankfully, Noah James got away with a cut on his chin, a contusion on his shoulder and a horrific fright. He was terrified to get back into a car and has developed a strong attachment to a blanket my grandmother made, and he never liked blankets or cuddly toys before. He also still has nightmares and wakes up asking where I am and often where everyone in the family is. Thankfully, I still use the co-sleeper cot that I sell and so he is right beside me. I am lucky to be able to have him so close and comfort him.

I, on the other hand, did not escape so luckily. I had several cracked ribs and both clavicles, cuts, friction and chemical burns, unbelievable bruises and contusions, neck and back injuries, and an almighty concussion that left me unable to work for 6 weeks and unable to remember many, many things, including my own children, when it first happened. I have only just returned to work and am not back full time yet.

No-one knows how long it will take to heal. My ribs and clavicles and bruising are mostly better. My concussion is much better, but I still struggle with word retrieval, headaches and memory lapses. My neck and back are a total unknown as to whether they will ever be right again.

I also have nightmares and some apprehension when driving at night, but, overall, I am doing okay in that department. Relief that I did not lose my child seems to override some of the emotional repercussions I could be having.

As for the driver he was arrested on many counts. The Scottish justice system seems very different to my experience in America and I am not privy to many of the details of the case at the moment because he has been arrested and charges are pending.

For more information visit www.sierradistribution.co.uk or telephone 01603 278 235