The aftermath of a horror smash on a south-west road lives on for survivor and his family.

His mum Lesley said her son’s injuries were so severe that for the first 48 hours they didn’t know if he’d make it.

Daniel, 31, and his pillion passenger Liz Harris, 50, were riding to Warrnambool with a group of friends and had just visited the Twelve Apostles, which was jam-packed with tourists, when the accident happened.

“There were five bikes. I was the third bike back and my friend Joe, who was behind me, saw everything and copped a lot of shrapnel,” he said. “From what my mate tells me I got about a kilometre up the road to where the accident happened and woke up in ICU a week and a bit later.”

Daniel’s mother Lesley was working from home that day when she glanced out the window and noticed a police car pull up outside her Werribee house.

The drive to The Alfred hospital where Daniel had been flown was a blur for her and her husband.

When they arrived they were quickly whisked into a room where the head of surgery came to tell them that they were operating on Daniel to try and stop the bleeding.

They were told that he was in such bad shape that the next 24 to 48 hours would be touch and go.

“He had broken toes, broken ankles, broken legs, broken pelvis, fractured ribs, punctured lungs, broken jaw, a fracture to his skull and his right arm was degloved and there was no way known they were going to be able to save his right arm,” Mrs Imbesi said.

“He lost his right arm and unfortunately he’s right handed so he’s had to learn a lot of things again like even just writing his name.

“It was hard and it’s still hard. I struggle a bit. I watch him try do the everyday, day-in, day-out jobs and he really struggles,” she said. “Even preparing a meal is hard for him.

“It’s just one hell of a nightmare. It’s unbelievable it’s even happened. It’s just very upsetting as you can imagine. It’s just one bad nightmare one thing after another.”

Daniel doesn’t remember the accident. “The first thing he said to me was: ‘Mum what happened? Is everything OK?’ How do you tell your son that he’s lost his arm? It’s just heartbreaking.”

When he woke up in hospital Daniel said he didn’t know at first if he was dreaming or if what was happening was real. 

“You wake up and you don’t know what’s happening or where you are. It’s like you’re having a nightmare,” he said.

It wasn’t until later that day, or possibly even the next morning, that he found out that he’d lost his arm. His pillion passenger had lost her right leg.

Daniel had to undergo numerous operations and procedures while he was in hospital. “He was having an operation basically every second day,” Mrs Imbesi said. An infection where he lost his arm had to be cleaned out every second day.

Daniel’s last operation was two weeks ago, he is now out of the rehabilitation facility and has had to moved back in with his parents while he recovers.

“He walks with a limp. He has constant swelling in his legs and his feet. He has to really take things easy. He’s not in a good way,” Mrs Imbesi said. He is reliant on painkillers to numb the pain to get him through the day 

Now Daniel, an electrician who loved to ride his motorbike and go fishing, is not sure what his future holds. “It’s totally stuffed. Thinking ahead on what you’re going to be able to do in the future. All the goals and hobbies,” he said.

“I love my bike. I don’t know if I’ll ever get back on it.

“There’s things that you can do but you wouldn’t be able to do on your own anymore. I can’t just get in the car and hook the boat up and go. I have to have someone with me. 

“It just feels like everything I do now everyone’s controlling. They’re deciding for me. You no longer have that freedom.” 

The simplest of tasks can take what seems like forever to do, he said. Daniel said he planned to get a prosthetic arm but while videos of robotic arms he has seen on YouTube look impressive, from what he’s been told it is not a reality for him.

His arm was amputated just below the shoulder, and a prosthetic would be more like an aid to help him do things like holding a loaf of bread so he can cut it with his left arm.

Even leaving the house comes with it’s own mental battles. “You feel like you’re hiding behind your sunglasses, people watching you. What are they thinking?” 

Mrs Imbesi said one of the hardest thing was not really knowing what caused the accident. 

“Even though it was split second, the amount of damage that it can cause. It’s totally affected two people’s lives, not to mention their families,” she said.

“It totally changes everything. It’s just horrific.”

Daniel said that it was hard reading that the court had been told the accident was due to momentary inattention. “It’s like you’re living with his mistake for the rest of your life which is the hardest part,” he said.

Daniel wants something to be done about making the Great Ocean Road safer and wants drivers to think about what they’re doing behind the wheel.

On his trips to rehab three times a week, Daniel said it seemed like every second person was on their mobile phones while driving.

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