A serious collision in wet conditions with an oncoming vehicle left the then 45-year-old in a critical condition – with a fractured skull, broken collar bone, spinal injuries and a punctured lung only the start of her long list of injuries.

Ms Tuckey was lucky to survive after being trapped and rushed to Batemans Bay Hospital where nurses spent close to an hour working to resuscitate her.

She then spent eight weeks and Christmas recovering in hospital.

The crash was one of three incidents on the stretch of road, known as the ‘mad mile’, in the space of four weeks.

“I can’t remember anything of the accident,” Ms Tuckey said.

“I left work, got petrol at the Moruya Shell servo and that’s the last thing I remember.

“Then, I woke up three weeks later from an induced coma.

“Learning of my injuries and what had happened to me, after I came out of the coma, was a big deal to go through.”

Now, more than eight months after the horror afternoon, Ms Tuckey still has a long way to go on her road to recovery.

“I still suffer severe back pain and just the trauma of it all. It’s the emotional trauma more than anything,” she said.

Rushing to be by her side were daughters Brianna, 17, and Katrina, 14, who spent three weeks with their mother at St George Hospital in Sydney not knowing if she would pull through.

“The nurse told my girls to say goodbye to me in case I didn’t make it; I wouldn’t wish that on any other family because of the mad mile,” Ms Tuckey said.

“I wouldn’t want to wish the experience – the hospital, the coma, the injuries – on anybody.”

At the time of the crash, daughter Brianna said her mum’s survival was nothing short of a miracle. 

Ms Tuckey couldn’t agree more.

“I was lucky there was a team of specialists down from Sydney at Batemans Bay Hospital at the time. I may not have been here if it wasn’t for them,” Ms Tuckey said.

Now she’s thrown her support behind Fairfax Media’s FIX IT NOW campaign, which aims to pressure the federal and state governments to upgrade the Princes Highway to the Victorian border.

She believes urgent fixes are needed in highway black spots, including the notorious mad mile stretch.

“I’ve travelled that road a million times plus and I always thought it was a fairly safe road to drive on, if you were cautious,” she said.

“I guess it doesn’t matter how many times you drive on a single road, something can always happen. 

“It’s not a good stretch and the fact it has the name ‘mad mile’ says something has to be done about it.”

She said her concerns now lay with her eldest daughter Brianna, who had recently started learning to drive.

“(Unsafe roads) are taking people’s lives,” she said.

“It is a scary thought that not only my daughters will drive on that road, but also other people’s children.

“When the crash happened, I could’ve been taking Brianna on a driving lesson with Katrina in the back seat – that’s what scares me more than anything.”

Watching last year’s fatal Boxing Day crash from her hospital bed was a stark reminder of what could have been.

“One of the first things I thought about when I woke up was, ‘Have I killed someone?’. That was one of the first things I asked the nurse,” she said.

Aiding Ms Tuckey in her recovery was a community of supporters – both at the hospital and beyond.

“If it wasn’t for the support of the community, and their wishes and thoughts –  I think has helped me a lot,” she said.

“I moved here from Canberra and one thing I’ve learnt down here, is the community is always there for you.”