One moment changed India and Rory Hunter’s lives forever. Yet, through sheer grit and determination, they transformed that turning point into a bold new chapter – building not just a life, but a home and business that radiate creativity, optimism and purpose, writes Jessica Jonzen
THE BOOT ROOM IN THE EXTENSION OF INDIA AND RORY'S GLOUCESTERSHIRE HOME. IMAGE: JOEY KENDAL BROWN
There are moments in life that arrive without warning and change everything – unremarkable, ordinary days that suddenly fracture into before and after. Psychologists sometimes call them crucible moments: experiences so intense they test our character and force a profound recalibration of what matters most.
For India and Rory Hunter, that moment came in October 2018, only months after their wedding, when Rory – then 25 – was struck by a motorcycle while crossing the road on his way home from work. He sustained a complex traumatic brain injury and spent six months in hospital, marking his 26th birthday in a coma. For weeks, it was not clear whether he would live or die.
For the best part of 2018, Rory was in hospital with India by his side. “It halted everything; it was a real sliding doors moment,” she says. “I think about it so much. That night, he was going to Tesco’s to pick up some bits that we'd not got the day before. And I just think, ‘gosh, if I'd had some extra cucumber in the fridge, maybe this never would have happened.’ You have those thoughts, but ultimately you can't think like that.”
Recovery, when it came, was incremental and exhausting. Rory had to relearn how to walk, talk and swallow – "everything, really." He lost around 75 per cent of his eyesight and is now registered blind. Brain injury, India explains, is unpredictable; no one could say with confidence what their future might look like. Fatigue remains a defining factor. “You gain a completely new perspective on what’s important,” she says. “And on how you want to live.”
At the time of the accident, Rory had been building an impressive career in London construction, working on high-end residential projects for ultra-high-net-worth clients and earning a reputation for his meticulous planning and calm authority on site. India, meanwhile, had developed a strong visual instinct through her work as a production manager for a furniture maker based at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour. Both had left school at 18 with no grand plan but with a shared work ethic and entrepreneurial instinct.
RORY AND INDIA HUNTER AT HOME. IMAGE: JOEY KENDAL BROWN
In the months after Rory left hospital, as they began to imagine a different kind of life, London no longer felt like the right place to call home. The city’s noise, speed and visual intensity were overwhelming for Rory, making recovery harder. Their decision to leave the capital raised more than a few eyebrows. “Our families thought we were completely mad,” India says. They had built their careers there; their network was there; the logical choice would have been to stay put and rebuild within the familiar.
But the couple were determined not to let the accident redraw the boundaries of their future. “We were very conscious that we didn’t want what had happened to crush our dreams,” India explains. “If anything, it made us more determined to build the life we actually wanted.”
