A WOMAN who was cut free from her car and overcame a heart defect is proving that she is a ‘woman of steel’.

Hospital radiographer Laura Reid was driving to work when she came off the road and hit a tree in September 2014.

The 24-year-old suffered serious chest injuries including seven fractured ribs and a punctured lung.

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) flew its doctor-led trauma team to the scene. She was given advanced care on the roadside before being airlifted to James Cook University Hospital.

Miss Reid remained there for ten days, seven of which were spent in the high dependency unit where doctors could closely monitor her condition.

Now she is set to take on the Great North Run to show her appreciation for the charity which helped save her life.

She said: “My organs took a bit of a battering. I can’t really remember much about the accident, however, I recovered well and I was back at work within seven weeks.”

A year after the accident, Miss Reid, a diagnostic radiographer at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, took the decision to improve on her health and fitness, but this brought to attention a further health issue – a hole in the heart.

“After a session at the gym I was suffering from chest pains so I went to A&E. I had a scan at James Cook and they found that my heart was massively enlarged,” she said. “It was too big to leave so I went to Freeman Hospital in Newcastle where I had open heart surgery.

“I felt brilliantly afterwards. Beforehand, I didn’t think I had any symptoms to indicate that I had a heart problem but now I realise that it’s not natural to get out of breath so easily. My heart rate used to be sky high but now it’s normal.”

Back to full health, she is determined to raise money for the GNAAS.

She added: “I have some really good training sessions but some days I just think ‘how on earth am I going to do this?’

“I’m a mixture between anxious and really excited about it, but I hope it will be an unbelievable experience.

“GNAAS saved my life, they are an incredible service and this is my way of paying them back, whilst ticking something off my bucket list.”

Jim Entwistle, GNAAS spokesman, has praised the efforts of the fundraising medic.

He said: “Having lived through what she has, Laura would be forgiven for sitting at home and wrapping herself in cotton wool. Instead, she’s out there training for a half marathon.

“Laura is a woman of steel and we are honoured to have her as a supporter.”