MEDICS were astounded a driver and passenger survived this horrific crash.
Among the mangled wreckage, deployed airbags and debris scattered across a ditch in Swaledale, Peter Coady was in immediate danger of dying.
Alongside him, his nephew Joe was able to escape the crumpled car with a nasty cut on a his leg and whiplash. But father-of-two Mr Coady was not so lucky.
The Darlington man had been driving along the B6270 between Low Row and Gunnerside in Swaledale when his vehicle left the road, crashing into a wall and rolling down an embankment on December 28, 2017.
An onlooker dialled 999, with Hawes and Reeth firefighters scrambled to cut Mr Coady free. A Yorkshire Air Ambulance crew were next to arrive, knowing instantly the 37-year-old was in a life-threatening condition.
Andy Mawson, director of operations at the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), said: “Peter had suffered a devastating head injury in such a remote location. Everything was against him.
“Because the injury itself will have caused issue with the way he was able to breathe, we genuinely thought his outcome would have been poor.
“Once the Yorkshire Air Ambulance arrived on scene and recognised the need for a critical care team, we were deployed immediately and were able to deliver an emergency anaesthetic to put him into an induced coma and take over his breathing.”
Mr Coady was airlifted to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, remaining in a coma for eight weeks.
He sustained a traumatic brain injury, developing into issues with finding the right words to form sentences.
Mr Coady also fractured the top and tail of his spine and his elbow and was in hospital for 11 months. He finally returned home in November 2018 and receives physio and language therapy.
Since then, Mr Coady made it his mission to meet the medics who saved his life. GNAAS’s Mr Mawson said: “To see him actually walk into the base to meet us was a very emotional moment.
“He and his wife have been incredibly strong through the whole of his recovery phase and it was a privilege to meet them under better circumstances.”
Since the crash, Mr Coady’s sister Hilary Dunne has raised £2,000 for GNAAS which last year needed £5.1m to operate.
Speaking about GNAAS, Mr Coady said: “They’re fantastic, the work they do is brilliant and they really helped me on that day.”
To donate or for more information, visit gnaas.com or call 01325-487263.
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