Love me tender

“We went on honeymoon to Victor Harbour [south of Adelaide] in a borrowed car and I fainted on the first romantic stroll we took together as husband and wife.”

They smile broadly at the recollection, but their smiles belie what proved to be a trying time. It took Lesley two years to completely heal from her wounds – and to pluck up the courage to climb behind the wheel of a car again. She also felt the legacy of her car accident when she gave birth to her daughters, Sarah and Clare, in 1980 and 1983 respectively. Both were born by Caesarean as a result of Lesley’s injuries to her pelvis. Clare’s birth in a small rural Queensland hospital was traumatic, with a labour lasting 18 hours and medicos fearing Lesley might die.

“They didn’t realise the extent of my determination,” says Lesley, as she and Karl relive her blinding pain and vomiting, a last-minute drive from Caloundra to Nambour for an emergency Caesarean and, finally, after the hubbub and hysteria had died down, Clare’s birth, culminating in a photo in the Nambor Times as ’Baby of the Week‘. Karl and Lesley shrug their shoulders in bemusement at the recollection of that crazy week.

“I think all those difficult things that happened so early in our relationship were a blessing,” says Lesley. “It made us strong and resourceful and gave us both the opportunity to show each other what we’re made of.” Karl nods in agreement. “I’d be lost without her,” says Karl. “She knows how much I love her.”

Karl and Lesley had no idea that the rocky start to their married life would get a whole lot rockier. “After a few years of living in Adelaide, we made the decision to move to Queensland to start a milk bar and fish and chips business in Caloundra on the beautiful Sunshine Coast,” Karl explains.

“I’d been working as a motor mechanic while Lesley worked in office administration, and we both felt like a change.” He shivers at the memory. “After two years, our lease ran out and a developer took it over. We were diddled.”

Lesley’s face grows pained as she remembers the efforts she and Karl went through to fight the case in court. “We didn’t have the resources to take on the developer. He knew what he was doing – we were just minnows getting in his way.”

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