Great North Air Ambulance Service

A motorcyclist who suffered a catalogue of injuries in a collision has been reunited with the air ambulance doctor who came to her aid.

Ruth Cork, 36, from Shrewsbury, was riding her motorbike on the A65 near Kirkby Lonsdale, and heading to Devil’s Bridge with her friend, who was on a separate bike, when she was involved in a collision with another vehicle.

She cannot recall the incident, which occurred on 19 August 2022, and broke several bones including her femur, sacrum, jaw, zygoma, skull and pelvis.

She also displaced and crushed a few vertebrae and had a bleed on the brain.

The critical care team from the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), flew to the scene and worked alongside the North West Ambulance Service to assess and treat Miss Cork.

She was given a blood transfusion by the doctor and paramedic from GNAAS and flown to Royal Preston Hospital in 14 minutes.

Miss Cork spent seven weeks in hospital and underwent surgery to repair some of her broken bones.

Due to having a job in the military, she was transferred to the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre at Stanford Hall and over a period of 14 weeks she regained the ability to walk again.

She said: “My recovery has been long and challenging, but I've had a lot of help through it.

“On the major trauma ward the nurses were fantastic, the doctors were brilliant and the physios at Preston got me standing up, and then when I transferred to Stanford Hall, we did a lot more work with hydrotherapy and physio work to get me back to a state of walking.

“It's been a progression from zimmer frame to crutches to stick to then having no aids at all.”

Miss Cork initially planned to run the Shrewsbury Half Marathon in October 2022, but due to her injuries she pushed it back to the following year.

She said: “I was still not technically at the point of running, so I decided I would walk, but my competitive streak got ahead of me.

“So a slow jog, walk, run type thing happened and 13.1 miles later I completed it.”

Miss Cork decided to use the half marathon as an opportunity to raise money for GNAAS and ended up raising more than £1,000 for the charity.

She said: “There were a lot of people that helped me on the route of my recovery and it was Preston that saved my life at the time, but I wouldn't have got there if it hadn't been for GNAAS. I think if I had to transfer by road, there was a chance that I might not have quite got there.”

Miss Cork recently travelled to GNAAS’ base in Langwathby, Penrith and met members of the charity’s critical care team, including Dr Mark Byers, who administered a blood transfusion to Miss Cork after her motorcycle crash.

She said: “It was a bit surrealcoming to the base, as it was coming up the same road that we went down on that day and I recognised the routes.

“I don't remember the people who helped me so it’s a bit odd and surreal, but it's very nice to come back and see what the team do, where they're based and see the kit that they use.”

Miss Cork has returned to riding a bike and has now set her sights on volunteering for the Blood Bikes, who provide a free out-of-hours medical courier service of blood and related products.

She said: “I am back on a bike, unfortunately for some people, but that’s what I find a zest for life in, and the aim now is to become a blood biker, to give something back to that as well.”

GNAAS needs to raise £8.5m a year to remain operational. To find out more about how you can support the charity visit: gnaas.com or call 01325 487263

About GNAAS

• The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and Isle of Man.
  
• They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.
  
  
• The aircraft cover an area of more than 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.
  
  
• The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.
  
  
• GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.
  
• The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.
  
  
• 2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.
  
  
• They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £8.5m a year through public donations to remain operational.

For more information visit: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/ or follow @gnairambulance on Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok