She also faced overcoming personal emotions about her body.

"Initially I was embarrassed, I wanted to cover up," she said. "When I returned from hospital, I threw out my skirts, my shoes. It wasn't until one day Mark said to me, 'You've got to own your own leg. It's yours'.

"I went to bed and I was thinking about it. I thought, I shouldn't be ashamed. Since then I haven't cared.

"Mark has given me strength I didn't know I had, amazing support and of course, love. He's confirmed that anything I want to do is possible."

Mr Errichiello said not for one second did he see his wife any differently.

"I knew it was something we could overcome...the hardest thing was coping with the thought of what happened, the pain she went through. You bounce strength off each other, as long as you're healthy and together."

The day of the incident still brings Ms Errichiello to tears.

"I remember everything. I saw the initial collision before it happened. I stood back, watched as they [two cars] both reversed into each other. I knew it was going to hit me. I thought, 'I've got to do everything I can to save myself' but there was no reaction time and it was like, bang! The actual impact amputated my leg. I was in pain but I refused to look down."

Off-duty fireman Ben Russell raced from a nearby cafe, where he had stopped for lunch.

"I was wedged between the car and the brick wall and ended up on the bonnet of the car...If you are bleeding from the main artery, you have two to three minutes to live. It was a scorching day. If it's hot, it accelerates the bleeding.

"He put his hand up my thigh and held the artery closed for 10 minutes while the ambulance arrived."

The MFB leading firefighter, who received an Australian Bravery Decoration for his work, became a close friend of the couple and attended their wedding.

Two months after making their vows, Ms Errichiello bought a running prosthesis - she simply wanted to run and be fit again.

She phoned multiple Australian Olympic gold medallist Tim Matthews at the Australian Olympic Committee for advice, but he had other plans for his new prodigy.

"Before I had even run he sent me an email, saying if you continue at the end of the year, it can lead to the Arafura Games and then the Olympics," she said.

"I thought, 'I didn't know that was do-able'. I was excited. I passed the email to all my family."

Ms Errichiello joined Athletics Essendon to train and last February, eight months after taking those first tentative running steps, she won silver in Athletics Australia's Victorian championships 100-metre sprint event with a time of 18.17 seconds.

She won silver again in the competition's national event in March but it was beating an 11-year-old world record in the 200-metre sprint at the Arafura Games in the Northern Territory on May 13 that has astonished her most.

"It was really overwhelming. I knew there was a chance I would set the world record and that's what I was aiming for."

The win has inspired her to achieve her Paralympic dream. "It would be an experience of a lifetime.

"I'm happy and it's a new found happiness and a different kind of contentment then I had before.

"From the outside looking in, it's like 'wow', but I still see myself as this girl who is running and trying to achieve goals and I don't see myself as greater than that."