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Outlook: Walking away from the crash that killed my friends

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Walking away from the crash that killed my friends

30/01/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, Walking away from the crash that killed my friends

Lech Blaine on guilt, grief and accepting his luck after surviving a fatal car accident

Australian Lech Blaine on guilt, grief and accepting his luck after surviving a fatal car accident. In the aftermath, he found himself the focus of intense media scrutiny.

In 2009, aged 17, Lech Blaine and six school friends got into a car for a short ride home. Within minutes, they were in a fatal collision. Three of his friends died, two were brain-damaged, the driver had broken bones. Only Lech came out of it without a scratch. Within hours, he found himself at the centre of a national news story and social media speculation. Traumatised by the event, he felt guilty, numb and lucky; he may have been physically okay, but the psychological scars would take many years to heal.

Lech's now a writer.  His book about the accident and his recovery is called Car Crash.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Jo Fidgen 
Producer: Katy Takatsuki

(Photo: Lech Blaine. Credit: James Brickwood)

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