Melody Hanham survived a car crash that left her paralysed. She doesn't want other people to end up like her.

Waking up in hospital, Melody Hanham, 19, found her body scarred and shattered, and facing life in a wheelchair.

The Northland teen has a "foggy" memory of the horror crash that broke the vertebrae in her lower back, along with her sternum, six ribs, and more than 30 bones in her legs and feet.

She also suffered a ruptured spleen and lacerated liver, a traumatic brain injury and her broken ribs pierced her lungs, causing them to collapse.

Hanham said she was not wearing a seatbelt. She was now urging other young people not to end up like her.

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It was not known what caused the serious car accident on State Highway 14 near Whangarei at 2am on April 21.

"As the car was flipping I remember hearing my best friend scream and seeing my boyfriend's head dragging outside the window."

Chris McKeen Melody Hanham has incomplete paraplegia and is slowing regaining the feeling in her legs.

She said it was scary to wake up in hospital, not understanding why she was there or what happened.

"Those first moments of waking up I didn't feel as much pain as people might expect.

"There was just this kind of burning pain on my stomach from where they had removed my spleen but I couldn't feel my legs."

Chris McKeen Melody Hanham managed to survived a horrific car crash. Now she is advocating for road safety.

LEARNING TO WALK

Hanham spent five days in an induced coma at Middlemore Hospital, more than 30 hours in surgery and 10 weeks in hospital.

She has incomplete paraplegia, with doctors telling her the worst case scenario was she would never walk again.

But six months later she has taken her first steps, but was yet to regain all the feeling in her legs.

"I was told around the six month mark I might be starting to stand up, they didn't expect I'd be walking."

Supplied Melody Hanham waiting for surgery in Middlemore Hospital.

Hanham needed her walker to take her steps.

"Everyday it's getting easier and I'm becoming more independent. When I first came home I had to have two people help me at all times, to lift from my bed to my wheelchair, now I can do it myself."

These little victories kept Hanham hopeful one day she would return to her former self and achieve her dream of being a midwife.

"I don't want my injuries to hold me back."

Supplied Melody Hanham's spleen was surgically removed as it ruptured during the crash.

"I'VE MADE PEACE WITH IT'

The cause of the crash was not known, she said.

"My best friend and I were asleep and my partner was driving," she said.

"We don't know what happened as he sustained a severe brain injury when the car flipped so it's one of those things where I probably will never know the answer.

"It's okay, I've made peace with it."

Supplied The car Hanham was travelling in caught fire soon after she was rescued from the wreck.

From the town of Opuawhanga, north of Whangarei, she said the months in hospital were hard on Hanham and her family.

"During my time in the Auckland spinal unit, all I wanted was to go home.

"I live so far away and I missed everyone. My dad and partner would come down every weekend and my mum stayed down there with me the whole time sleeping at the homes of different friends and family."

SHARING HER STORY

It was too early for Hanham to know what the future would hold as it took 18 months for nerves to completely heal.

Hanham said she knew her body may never return to the way it was before, but was adjusting to her new normal.

She has spent time documenting her recovery on Instagram and said she hoped to make other young people aware of the importance of road safety.

Chris McKeen It's been hard for Melody Hanham to learn to rely on others again as she recovered from her injuries.

"There weren't any drugs or alcohol involved in our crash, but I know there are a lot of young people out there who have driven while high or hopped in a car with a drunk driver.

"I want them to know what happened to me could be the outcome for them."