376: What if a car crash shattered your world?

This Is Actually Happening

Wondery

True Crime, Tiah, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 9.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When a sudden car crash shatters her world, a woman’s grief and struggle to keep living leads her to an unexpected rebirth of love.

Today’s episode featured Polly Vickery. If you’d like to contact Polly, you can email her at [email protected].

Polly is on Instagram and Facebook @PollyVickery

Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Ellen (Elly) Westberg, Aviva Lipkowitz

Content/Trigger Warnings: Child death, Spousal death, Graphic accident details,

Medical trauma, Grief and bereavement, Suicidal ideation, Survivor’s guilt, Anxiety/PTSD, explicit language

Social Media:

Instagram: @actuallyhappening

Twitter: @TIAHPodcast

Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com

Website for Andrew Waits: andrdewwaits.com

Website for Aviva Lipkowitz: avivalipkowitz.com

Website for Ellen Westberg: shedatespodcast.com

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Intro Music: “Sleep Paralysis” - Scott Velasquez

Music Bed: Cylinder Four

Services

If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988

National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to exclusive episodes of This Is Actually Happening
0:05.0	by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.
0:09.6	This Is Actually Happening features real experiences that often include traumatic events.
0:13.9	Please consult the show notes for specific content warnings on each episode
0:17.0	and for more information about support services.
0:33.3	I just felt like I was living in this weird alternative universe, and then every in and or again it would hit me that this isn't a weird alternative universe. This is
0:37.9	to narrow your life.
0:45.9	From Wondery, I'm Whitmyssldine. You're listening to This is Actually Happening.
0:56.0	Episode 376.
1:00.0	What if a car crash shattered your world?
1:06.0	It's your man Nick Cannon, I'm here to bring you my new podcast, Nick Cannon at night.
1:16.9	Every week I'm bringing out some of my celebrity friends and the best experts in the business
1:21.3	to answer your most intimate relationship questions. So don't be shy. Join the conversation and head
1:26.4	over to YouTube to watch Nick
1:27.8	Cannon at night or subscribe on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast.
1:52.8	My dad's dad's dad died when he was quite young and he had to go out to work.
1:57.2	He started working as a chef and then he went on to become a baker.
2:03.5	And I believe that's what he was doing when he met my mum. My mum was a window dresser so she used to travel around all the shops changing all the window displays, dressing all
2:09.7	the models, making all the shops look nice. They were together for about 10 years before they
2:17.1	had me and my twin sister, Charlotte. We were together for about 10 years before they had me and my twin sister, Charlotte.
2:20.8	We were born in Bristol and it's just the two of us.
2:25.8	We're not identical twins.
	...

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