Carole-Ann Wade suffered enough tragedy in just one year for anyone in a lifetime.

In 2022, the 69-year-old was hit by a truck and pinned down by it, leaving her with a shattered ankle and several broken ribs.

While she was going through rehabilitation, her husband of 43 years passed away.

"It’s hard when it happens to the people you love,“ she said. “We’ve all got to go someday, but you don’t expect anything when you love someone, so it feels so sudden.”

Despite this, Ms Wade said, she made it through her trials with the help of her faith and now finds herself in many ways strengthened by the ordeal.

She was speaking after receiving the Gina Spence Against All Odds Award for her resilience.

The award, which was presented to her on Mother’s Day, highlighted how Ms Wade combated unimaginable setbacks in a single year, made it through and was stronger after facing the immense challenges.

The Devonshire resident said that her trials began with a road crash last June.

She was riding her motorcycle on Victoria Street in Hamilton to attend her granddaughter’s high school graduation when she was struck by a large vehicle.

Ms Wade said: “He knocked me off my bike, and my leg went underneath his van.

“He broke my ribs and he broke my ankle. I’m still lucky I have my leg.”

She added: “I’d been riding for 15 years — never had a speeding ticket, never had an accident — so I was really hurt and really disappointed.

“I couldn’t even make it to my granddaughter’s graduation, so that was really sad.”

Ms Wade said that she was in the intensive care unit for about five days and in the hospital for two weeks.

She added that it took her about five months to heal from the accident and that she was told by doctors never to ride a motorcycle again.

The man who struck her was eventually charged with causing grievous bodily harm. He pleaded guilty and will be sentenced soon.

Ms Wade said that during her healing her husband, Gordon Wade, died of complications from dialysis. He was 79.

She described him as “the world to me”, adding, “he gave me everything. He would spoil his wife”.

Ms Wade said that the two met as children and had known each other for decades before getting married.

She added: “He was a good husband, father and grandfather. I miss him dearly.

“But he said he was tired and wanted to go home to the Father, and I accepted that and held his hand, and we said the Lord’s Prayer together before he passed.”

Because of all the stress, Ms Wade said she suffered a “mini stroke” that affected her balance and further complicated her ability to walk.

Her husband’s death wasn’t the only tragedy she has suffered. Ms Wade said that her oldest son, Antione Spence, died of a seizure in 1982 aged 19, and that the death of her husband brought back memories of that loss.

Ms Wade told The Royal Gazette that she got a call from one of her son’s friends at the time and was told that he suffered a seizure that later proved to be fatal.

She added: “Apparently he was having seizures for some time, but he wasn’t having them at home, so we never noticed.”

“His friends told me one day that he had an attack that he never came back from.”

Ms Wade said: “I was devastated. I was at a loss for words because I didn’t know.

“It was hard to find out he was having these attacks, and I didn’t even know.”

Despite the challenges, Ms Wade said, she got though her traumatic experiences through prayer and her faith.

She said: “I just put God in front of all my obstacles and all the pressures that I had. It’s what kept me going.”

This resilience seemed apparent to Gina Spence, Ms Wade’s sister, who runs Gina Spence Productions. She believed that her sister deserved recognition for her hard work.

It was this admiration that led her to nominate Ms Wade for the Against All Odds Award during the annual Mother’s Day Awards Ceremony to honour exceptional women and mothers.

Ms Wade said she was surprised to find out that she had been nominated, but later learnt to accept the honour.

She said: “Everything happens for a reason, so I know that God is behind all of my awards.”