Great North Air Ambulance Service

A MOTHER is taking part in her first ultra-marathon to raise money for the charities that helped save her daughter’s life following a quad bike crash.

Clara Nicholl, 48, from Haydon Bridge, is tackling the Endurance Life North York Moors Ultra Marathon on 28 October which is 34.3 miles.

Mrs Nicholl has never covered this distance before but was determined to do something to support the Great North Children's Hospital and the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) that came to the aid of her daughter Elsie, 11, in April last year.

Recalling the incident, she said: “It was a normal day, we were emptying the muck trailer for the horses, and we had a ewe that had lambs so we went to have a look. Elsie was on the quad bike when the accelerator jammed and it took off with her. I don’t know if it hit something, but the bike landed on top of her.

“I managed to lift the bike off her and had to tell her to roll so I could pull her out from underneath.”

Mrs Nicholl contacted the emergency services and both GNAAS and the North West Ambulance Service responded to the scene.

She said: “They were amazing on the phone telling me what to do. At the time she was drifting in and out of consciousness.

“Obviously lying on the ground, it felt like forever, but it was probably only 10 minutes for the team from GNAAS to arrive from Penrith.

“They were unbelievably calm and cool and didn’t let on how bad it was.”

Elsie had sustained multiple broken ribs, two collapsed lungs, a split liver, damaged spleen and a lack of blood to the brain which caused a stroke.

The doctor and paramedic team from GNAAS placed Elsie into a medically-induced coma and gave her a blood transfusion before they travelled with her in NWAS’ road ambulance to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Mrs Nicholl said: “They worked in the land ambulance and came with her the whole journey to hospital. Elsie managed to relax, and she was even cracking jokes. They asked, how are you, and she said tickety-boo.”

Elsie underwent eight operations including a six-hour bowel operation, and had a stent fitted in her liver.

Mrs Nicholl added: “She’s pretty incredible and tough. She spent nine weeks in hospital and in September she went back to school literally all guns blazing.

“She started riding ponies again, competing in school teams and championships, and ran during sports day.”

To thank the charities who helped save Elsie’s life, Mrs Nicholl has decided to push herself out of her comfort zone and run 34.3 miles to raise money for them.

She said: “I’m a cook and I do lots of work with ‘Remarkable Women’, and one of the women’s husbands does ultra-marathons so I was talking to him about doing a challenge.

“I’ve done the Great North Run so he suggested doing an ultra because it’s more impressive. He offered to train me for free and will be doing it with me, even though it’s on his 60th birthday.

“Even if I have to walk the last ten miles just to complete it, I’m just going to go for it.

“Elsie and her big brother Sam, who is 14, have already decided they are going to run the last 10k with me.”

To sponsor Clara, visit her JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/clara-nicholl-1689325419389

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, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok