Episode 12: November 3, 2026
Click to Watch the Episode on YouTube, Spotify or Apple Podcasts
What does it really mean to survive an impaired driving crash when the life you knew is gone forever?
In June 2013, Pat Henman and her 19-year-old daughter Maia were struck by an impaired driver while travelling home through British Columbia. Both survived catastrophic injuries, but survival was only the beginning of a lifelong journey through physical trauma, emotional recovery, and systems that would forever change their lives.
In this first of two episodes, LIVID! host Amanda Bickell speaks with Pat Henman, Canadian actor, advocate, and author of Beyond the Legal Limit: Surviving a Collision with a Drunk Driver.
Pat shares the ordinary moments before the crash, her last memory of Maia driving toward the highway, and what it was like to wake from a coma nine days later to a life she no longer recognized.
Through Pat's remarkable openness, we explore the hidden consequences of impaired driving that rarely make headlines: catastrophic injuries, permanent disability, chronic pain, psychological trauma, rehabilitation, and the overwhelming burden of navigating medical, insurance, and criminal justice systems while trying to recover.
We also hear about Maia's extraordinary determination to return to university despite her injuries, and the ways in which both women struggled to reclaim independence and rebuild their lives.
Pat challenges the idea that surviving a crash means recovering from it. As she explains, the consequences of impaired driving don't simply disappear when someone leaves the hospital.
"It's a forever story. It's not just a survival story."
Coming in Part 2
Our conversation continues as Pat shares more about the criminal justice and insurance processes, the long-term consequences of the crash, Maia's life and experiences with chronic pain, and the systemic changes Pat believes are urgently needed.
Read Pat's Memoir
Beyond the Legal Limit: Surviving a Collision with a Drunk Driver is Pat Henman's deeply personal account of the crash and its aftermath. It is an emotionally difficult, and extraordinary book that Amanda highly recommends for anyone seeking to understand the true human cost of surviving an impaired driving crash.
Order or find the book through Caitlin Press, independent bookstores, or the book information link below.
https://www.indigo.ca/products/beyond-the-legal-limit
ISBN: 9781773860497
Follow LIVID!
If this conversation has changed the way you think about impaired driving and its victims, please follow or subscribe to LIVID! on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.
Following the podcast helps more people discover these stories and ensures you don't miss Part 2 of Pat's interview.
Topics: Impaired driving in Canada, drunk driving survivors, Pat Henman, Beyond the Legal Limit, impaired driving victims, catastrophic injury, chronic pain, trauma recovery, rehabilitation, victim advocacy, criminal justice, insurance, road safety, British Columbia, MADD Canada.
