A STUDENT who was crushed between two cars in determined to raise as much money as possible for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) after he was airlifted to hospital.

Karl Cleet is now in training to tackle the Great North Run in September.

The student was struck by a car when it mounted the pavement, knocked over a lamppost and trapped him underneath two vehicles near to his home in Eaglescliffe, in September 2015.

The 21-year-old, who studies policing at Teesside University, suffered multiple injuries including a fractured skull, bleed on the brain and broken ribs.

The GNAAS trauma team put him into an induced coma before his journey to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, which took just four minutes.

He said: “The GNAAS team saved my life. It is a great organisation.

“They rely solely on donations because it isn’t government funded. They deserve so much more than what they receive.”

His story was featured on the second series of Sky 1’s Air Ambulance ER last year, which showcased the incident’s dramatic aftermath and the life-saving work carried out by GNAAS.

Mr Cleet will embark on the 13.1 mile course from the centre of Newcastle to the coast of South Shields on September 10, alongside more than 50,000 other participants.

He added: “This year I wanted to get fit again and I thought it was a great way of giving back to GNAAS. It’s been a while since I’ve ran a long distance and the training will help me for a future career in policing or in the military.”

The charity is wanting to build the new base and a Medical Centre of Excellence at Urlay Nook, near Stockton, on the former Elementis chromium works site.

And it has agreed a deal for the site but it is dependent on planning permission being granted by Stockton Borough Council.

Anyone interested in joining Mr Cleet on the run should visit www.gnaas.com