US Ambassador Douglas Kmiec said his horrific car crash in the US – which left a nun dead and a priest fighting for his life – will “forever haunt” his days and nights, as he continues recovering in hospital.

In his first comments to the media two weeks after the accident in California, Prof. Kmiec thanked the Maltese for their solidarity.

The accident resulted in the death of his friend Sr Mary Campbell, 74, while his confessor Mgr John Sheridan, 94, was seriously injured.

Prof. Kmiec, 58, is still receiving treatment at UCLA Medical Trauma Centre and in an opinion piece (page 12) gives an indication of his physical and emotional pain.

He says: “In this very moment, your thoughts are sustaining me against the agonising physical pain of multiple surgeries and procedures – first to address the car crash, and since, to try to restart internal works that thus far are foolishly boycotting food of the mouth in favour of various intravenous concoctions.

“Perhaps when the sweet aroma of a ħobza tal-Malti is again within the range of my senses, my tattered American health will regain its wits.”

“For anybody who has shared the ‘good fortune’ of surviving a fatal car accident, you know there is an awful silence immediately after. The silence is especially piercing when the once round steering wheel is in one’s side and prevents one from extending a comforting hand.”

Prof. Kmiec, who has been ambassador to Malta since September 2009, was driving a Hyundai when it drifted onto the side of the road and ended up in a ditch on Mulholland Highway east of Stokes Canyon Road. He was on holiday in California with his family.