When long-haul truck driver Glen Bennett hit a dense patch of fog on the Bruce Highway in August 2020, his world changed forever.
Driving into a highway pile-up with visibility of less than a metre, Glen's semi-trailer crashed into another truck and instantly caught on fire. Thinking only of his wife Roni and his two-year-old son Hugo, Glen threw himself out of the window as his truck became engulfed in fire.
"Hugo was two and a half years old so I hadn't been a Dad for long and I still wanted to be a dad - that was my biggest motivator," said Glen.
Glen was airlifted to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH), where a multi-disciplinary team of trauma, intensive care and burns experts worked together to mend his shattered body. He woke up after 24 days in an induced coma to learn that both his legs had been amputated due to the severity of the burns. He had also broken his jaw, cheekbone, ribs, elbow, forearm and shoulder.
"When I woke up, I was surprised to be alive. When I found out about all my injuries, I thought for sure I was going to die."
For 40 years, the RBWH Foundation has been instrumental in advancing burns treatment, trauma care and critical care research to improve the quality of life for patients like Glen.
The Foundation helped open the Queensland Skin Bank, which was the first facility of its kind in the state to store and culture grafts for burn patients.
This Giving Day, Wednesday 11 June, the good the RBWH Foundation can do, starts with you.
Donate by 11 June and your gift will be doubled for twice the impact!
Over five months on the burns ward, Glen underwent 19 operations and numerous skin grafts before beginning weeks of intensive rehabilitation. Five years later, his recovery journey continues—but thanks to extraordinary care made possible by supporters like you, Glen is defying expectations. He is walking again and recently passed his driving test, allowing him to drive with two prosthetic legs.
Every day at RBWH, our medical teams witness stories like Glen's—stories of incredible resilience, courage, and hope. But these stories aren't just about survival; they're about the quality of life that follows.
Giving Day donations don't just fund medical equipment or research; they rebuild lives and restore possibilities.
The treatments Glen received weren't available even a decade ago, and today's innovations will shape tomorrow's miracles. By contributing to RBWH Foundation's work, you become part of a community dedicated to pushing the boundaries of what's possible in patient care.
You’ll be helping ensure that when someone like Glen faces the unthinkable, they'll have access to the most advanced treatments, the most skilled medical teams, and the most compassionate care possible.
As we celebrate 40 years of the extraordinary power of giving, your support today will help ensure that patients like Glen continue to receive life-saving care and benefit from breakthrough research.
Glen still has regular appointments with the RBWH Burns Clinic.
"I was at the burns clinic recently and they said that I will be going there for the rest of my life,” said Glen.
“I don't have any issues going back to the hospital because I know I would be dead without their care."
He continues to work hard at recovery every day, with dreams of walking into a pool, walking on the beach with his son and having a shower while standing for the first time in five years.
"I have made a life, but I want to improve it. Every day is hard work, every day I have struggles, I just have less of them and they're not as bad as they used to be. I work hard at my recovery every single day, and that won't stop, because I want to live a quality life with my family."
Please donate by Wednesday 11 June and your generosity will be doubled for twice the impact on patients like Glen.
The good we can do this Giving Day, starts with you!
