Woman becomes best-selling author after horrific car accident

A woman has become a best-selling author after her legs were broken in an accident.

Emily Koch suffered two broken legs and ligament damage after being hit by a car in London. Despite being initially angry at the man who hit her, especially after months of rehabilitation and physiotherapy, she now says the accident actually led to her following her dream.

Emily Koch will soon release her second novel Keep Him Close and her debut book If I Die Before I Wake was named one of Waterstones paperbacks of the year in 2019. Both novels are set in Bristol where Emily lives, and Keep Him Close, a story where a woman befriends her son’s killer, features a prison she passes every day.

“The accident galvanised me to write,” said Ms Koch. “It made me realise that life is too short not to do the things that you love. The writing came several years afterwards but if I hadn’t had that accident there’s a good chance I’d still be sitting at my desk in an office thinking ‘oh, one day I’ll have that great idea and write a book’.”

“Having to be wheeled to the toilet by your father at the age of 22 or being unable to sleep due to the pain and discomfort of wearing leg braces – it was tough and for a long time, I found it really hard to cross roads,” Emily explained. “There were moments in the early days of my recovery when I did get angry and shouted at [the driver]. Even though he wasn’t there, I directed my frustrations at him. But I’ve managed to let that anger go. I think if I met him now I think I would say thank you.

“But I’d also tell him to drive more carefully.”