After Near-Fatal Car Crash, Woodbridge Woman Writes Book On Grief

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — After she was nearly killed in a horrific car accident in 2019 — which took the lives of two of her childhood best friends — a Woodbridge woman decided to write a book about surviving grief and enduring loss.

The woman is Zakiyyah Austin, who lives in Avenel. She also owns the Farmers Insurance Agency in downtown Woodbridge.

Her book is called "Good Grief: Finding Light in the Emotional Depths of Life."

"I’m a survivor of a fatal auto accident that took place on my birthday weekend in 2019," Austin shares. "Myself, along with my best friends and sister (five in total) took a weekend trip to Atlanta, GA to celebrate and escape some things we all were dealing with at home."

Austin was a passenger in the car. The crash occurred within the first 24 hours of the road trip, and one woman was killed instantly.

Austin and another woman were placed on life support; Austin survived but her friend did not, making it a total of two women that were killed in the crash.

All three surviving women had to undergo several serious surgeries. Austin was hospitalized for three months, first in Georgia and then at JFK Medical Center in Edison.

Having survived, Austin said she felt she had to write about the experience. Other writers contributed to the book, as well.

"The book is a multi-author collaboration. We share our most personal feelings that we endured at the time of losses, and what measures were taken while grieving to heal and progress beyond our darkest moments," she said. "Stories of losses due to miscarriage, suicide, pet, illness and instantaneous events are shared. It is a thoroughly great read."

"I speak about how I felt losing two of my best friends and the guilt that suffocated me, and how I rebounded," she continued. "I also speak about the losses I took prior to that, which were heavy as well."

The scars from the accident will last forever.

"I went home to a hospital bed in my living room and the electric stair lift for three months. But I don’t deserve to complain. However; I am still on a healing journey," she said. "Being a parent to two teen daughters helped me fight very hard to pick myself up, because I was certainly sinking ... There are so many survivors who have been where I’ve been and some who will travel that painful road … this book is for you! Embrace survivorship, it is God’s gift."

Her book was released December 9, 2022.

You can find "Good Grief: Finding Light in the Emotional Depths of Life" on Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/whatisurvived